Tell me about a time you worked closely with someone you didn’t get along with.

This question assesses your professionalism and emotional intelligence, primarily whether you maintain your focus on the team goals or let your ego get in the way of performing according to the expectations of the job. Proceed with caution when navigating this question. Offering several examples of difficult co-workers you worked with could accidentally betray your narrative and suggest you were, in fact, the problem employee.

They're trying to determine how easy you are to work with and how adept your mediation and nondefensive communication skills are. Being able to non-defensively communicate with a wide range of personalities is a trait of strong leadership. Investing the time to work with employees who take more effort to get on the same page makes for a much stronger team. This brand of team collaboration broadly enhances work relations.