Tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult person. How did you handle it?
View this as an opportunity to showcase your ability to deal with difficult people while maintaining your professionalism and productivity. As they declare on their careers page, one of their mission statements is "Never losing sight of the bigger picture of keeping Canada's skies safe, our focus is on working collectively to achieve our goals, celebrate our achievements and pioneer revolutionary change within our industry." Keep this in mind when answering this question.
"In my previous position, we had a coworker who didn't pull their weight, which created more work for the rest of the team. This was a problem, but it didn't affect my morale. We coped. Our team started to complete most of the tasks on group projects. However, it didn't take much time before our manager noticed this individual was slacking. We tried to coach them and help them out, but they weren't interested in helping themselves. In most instances, the underachievers will weed themselves out over time, and it's rarely worth making a fuss over."
"In my first position out of college, I worked with a person who enjoyed gossip in the workplace. I found that I could redirect this person to their work by giving a quick reply and then asking a pointed work question, which would get them back on task. There were a few key takeaways from this experience. I learned how to concentrate through chatter or disruption better than before, and I perfected my skills at refocusing someone else to the task at hand."
Clear, consistent, and open communication is integral in the aviation industry, especially when it comes to adhering to the safety guidelines that have been put into place. Therefore, your interviewer wants assurances you'll be focused on the team's goals, ensuring professional communication, and that no interpersonal issues will be a detriment to your performance in this regard.
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
I was working with a colleague who used to replace faulty connectors with good ones who make the circuit test fail. She took a lot of time. I started noticing she is doing it intentionally, I reported it to Supervisor, and he investigated and found out to be true. So he replaced her with different duties and made her aware of the situation she was creating for others. Then it worked out well.
Rachelle's Feedback
It sounds like your suspicions were accurate, and it's good that you raised the concern to your supervisor. I have reworded your response slightly, to help with clarity.
"I worked with a colleague who was replacing faulty connectors with good ones, which made our circuit tests fail. This situation happened many times, and I began to notice my colleague was doing this intentionally. I reported the case to my supervisor. After he investigated and found this to be true, he moved this person to another task. Everything worked out well after I voiced my concerns."
Anonymous Answer
Due to the nature of my work environment, I work with a lot of individuals, many of which can be difficult. I focus on my building up my team and investing in them, and occasionally will come across someone that truly doesn't care about their work. I find that most people want to perform their jobs well and those who don't won't last long and aren't worth the thought.
Marcie's Feedback
So what do you do when you encounter these kinds of people? Do you talk to them and try to understand their perspective? Do you prevent yourself from visibly reacting? Do you strive not to take it personally? Including a specific example here will take your answer to the next level. Nice job!
Anonymous Answer
In my position as a Human Resources Coordinator, one of my team members would shuffle their work onto others to complete. As we were a small team of 3, this was difficult to handle sometimes. I didn't let it get to me though. At the end of the day, the work needed to be done, and I was happy to support the team.
Jaymie's Feedback
This is a great example to use when answering this question, but it can be tricky not to make it seem like you allow others to take advantage of you. Perhaps share with the interviewer that you were happy to pick up extra tasks here and there to support the team and the business, but demonstrate you can draw the line and also say no when necessary or have a conversation with your manager when work is piling up that isn't your responsibility.
Anonymous Answer
Everyone has different opinions and perspectives. While working with a difficult person, though we didn't see eye to eye, we focused on the task at hand and completed it together.
Marcie's Feedback
Provide more details to make your answer more meaningful and memorable to the interviewer. For instance, in what ways was the person difficult? What didn't you see eye to eye on? How exactly did you manage to work with this person? (Did you try to understand their perspective? Did you open the lines of communication? Did you meet with them privately and devise an action plan?)
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