What would you do if your supervisor did not properly communicate information to you?
Communication is a two-way street, and being on the wrong end of communication can happen to anyone. In my experience, hiring managers want to see that candidates can handle both the positive and negative aspects of communication in the workplace.
"Whenever I have had a supervisor who does not properly communicate with me, I first tried to learn their communication style and emulate it. I also made every attempt to ask questions and document instructions in writing as much as possible to make sure I understood."
"I try to be independent and find as many answers as possible on my own. As much as I would love to always work with supervisors who are great communicators, that is not always a realistic ask. I also try to repeat instructions to verify that I'm correctly hearing and interpreting what the supervisor wants."
The first thing the team at Kimberly Clark wants to hear is that you can bring up your thoughts to your supervisor professionally and respectfully and still not be afraid to be heard. If you can, talk to the interviewer about a time you handled a supervisor who did not interact with you in a way that you prefer.
"I think this would be very situation dependent. I fully understand that some things need to be kept confidential by leadership at times, and I would always be respectful of that. If I truly felt that communication was poor, I wouldn't hesitate to have an open dialogue with my supervisor and let them know my thoughts."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
In my current position, we move around the whole plant with a different forman quite often. I always ask as many questions as I think I need to understand my task as well as read the pre-job tasks. I will document my task and repeat my job task after asking questions.
Marcie's Feedback
It's great that you ask lots of questions and make the effort to document various processes, but what would you do if your supervisor didn't give you all the information you needed to complete a task? Beyond asking questions, would you be resourceful and look elsewhere for the information? Would you seek help from colleagues? If this has ever happened to you before, use the STAR method to explain the situation and how you handled it. Good job!
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