Master 30 Johnson and Johnson Finance interview questions covering FP&A, treasury operations, and healthcare sector analysis.
Question 17 of 30
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Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
This question is layered and can be interpreted in many ways. How you will interpret this question will give your interviewer insight into your outlook on the world. Not only is the interviewer trying to get an idea of who you are, but also an idea of your communication skills. They're keeping a keen eye out for any red flags. In the simplest terms, in this scenario, the last thing you want is to plant the seed that the difficult person in this scenario was you.

Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
When relaying your example, pay close attention to the nuance of this question. They want to know your reaction to the situation and how you communicated. Objectify the situation, exhibiting an emotionally mature perspective, and describe how you navigated this terrain, ultimately leading to a successful resolution. Avoid assigning blame. You don't want to come across as part of the reason you didn't get along. Focus on the positives and how the overall outcome benefitted the team. You want to come across as a people person with enhanced communication skills. This question is meant to assist in evaluating your non-defensive communication skills and your aptitude for diplomacy, de-escalation, and negotiation. Take care to exemplify this mentality.

Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
"I was working with someone whose parents were going through a divorce. This person was distracted, feeling insecure, and sensitive. They also started missing class. I guess they were feeling a bit victimized by what they were going through and projected that at me since we were partnered together on a project. I didn't feel their negative outlook was doing them any good, so I tried to offer a more objective lens. It wasn't appreciated, and they lashed out at me, misinterpreted my concern as insensitive, and accused me of using a tone I didn't intend. After things de-escalated, I explained I was just trying to help, since I cared about them and didn't want their problems to go from bad to worse. I think this embarrassed them. A couple of days later, they apologized for the incident. I told them there was no need to apologize. We hashed it out and had no trouble moving forward and are still friends to this day."

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Written by Kevin Downey
30 Questions & Answers • Johnson and Johnson

By Kevin

By Kevin