Think about a difficult boss or colleague you've had during your career. What made them difficult to work with and how did you successfully interact with this person?
As one of their core values, UnitedHealth Group believes that relationships and working together to deepen connections and work for better outcomes is essential to their success. But in a company with almost half a million people, you are sure to encounter some personalities that conflict with yours and you find difficult to work with. Being able to overcome those differences and find common ground will be important for you, so your interviewer wants to hear you talk about a time when you turned a potentially negative relationship into a positive one. The keys to answering this question successfully are staying positive and elaborating on the things you did to ensure a great working relationship.
"I have a great ability to get along with and work successfully and cohesively with many personality types, even the most demanding and difficult to please. I can imagine that the passionate and motivated team here at UnitedHealth Group has some strong personalities as well. I think back to a few years ago when my current team had a new employee transfer to our team and it didn't take long to find out that this person was arrogant and thought they could do no wrong. During my time training them in our department, the new team member was playing on their phone, plugging away at emails, and frankly being rude. I could see where it would have been easy to let this go over my head and just continue to talk and train them, but that's not who I am. I very directly let them know of the expectations I had for their training and took the time to highlight the new tasks they would be facing so they would understand the importance. They appreciated that comment but continued to do this with others from what I found out later. Our working relationship from there went smoothly because I continued to have direct dialogue with them."
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
He was always busy doing other things and really never had time for me. I was his manager, and he expected me to operate the business for him. Thus, I learned to communicate with him through the assistant things he wanted to be kept in the loop on. This reduced a lot of stress and solved most of the issues.
Rachelle's Feedback
You have a good start here. When answering behavioral-based questions like this one, try approaching using the STAR framework (Situation, Task, Action, Result). The STAR method will help you to create a full story/example, ensuring that you provide all the necessary detail for an answer with impact.
Anonymous Answer
In my last position, I was working with a co-worker who was not very good when confronting people and would take things personally when someone had a different point of view. She would mock people publicly and be rude to them for mistakes. This was not a healthy environment for team dynamics. Once she made a mistake, I politely pointed out her error in a private conversation and slowly brought up her actions. I explained that we are trying to achieve a shared objective and asked her to be compassionate towards people. She understood the mistake and assured me that she would be more compassionate towards the team.
Rachelle's Feedback
Yikes - this person sounds like a very toxic individual! It's terrific that you could approach this individual and help them see the err of their ways. Down the road, did she make good strides in her communication?
Anonymous Answer
In my previous position, I had a coworker that was intimidating and treated her coworkers as though she managed them. I was respectful and accepted feedback, but did not allow the attempted intimidation to upset me or affect my work. I handled it with grace and applied myself to my duties.
Cindy's Feedback
Good start. This is a good example and can be even better with more detail. Did your relationship get easier as you kept your cool and did your best work?
Anonymous Answer
He was very anxious and his entire mood turn foul with the smallest upset the course of routine business. My way of approaching had to do with the right timing and being prepared to answer questions for a smooth encounter.
Marcie's Feedback
This is a good answer! Who was 'he'? Was he your boss? Consider giving some details around who this person was and how often you had to interact with him. Your suggestions regarding timing and being prepared to answer questions are right on target!
Anonymous Answer
I have had a very difficult partner that made every day a challenge. I had to learn that it was not something that I needed to take personally. This partner was difficult with everyone. I came to the meetings prepared and kept a smile in my voice even when he would make us all angry.
Marcie's Feedback
What did he do that made him so difficult? Can you give a specific instance of a time when his behavior made everyone upset and explain how you handled it? Did you change the way you interacted with him over time? It's great that you learned not to take it personally. The more details you can provide, the better!
Anonymous Answer
I had a boss move from Corporate to become the CFO of our business. When she was at corporate, her relationship with our former CFO was ok but not great as she was not particularly impressed by the speed and level of depth of the financials we provide. Plus, she had a reputation for being tough and demanding. After she moved to our business, we prepared a very comprehensive financial package for her and gradually introduce to her the complexity of our very acquisitive nature of the business and legacy systems. Even with the handicap, we were able to deliver our financial in the manner we did. Eventually, she changed her perceptions and become very proud of the work and speed we deliver. Sometimes, people just need the full picture and trust in the relationship.
Marcie's Feedback
It's great that you and your team impressed this woman with the quality of your work. How else did you win her over, though, when it came to how you personally interacted with her? Were you respectful? Firm? Friendly? Did you strive to keep her updated and in the loop so she felt comfortable with the speed of the work? Did you learn that although her reputation was that she was tough and demanding she was actually a nice person who just had high standards? A few more details will further strengthen your answer. Great job!
Anonymous Answer
There was a particular individual on the senior management team that I was warned was particularly difficult and who would question you about whatever topic was at hand, and had a reputation for trying to embarrass others. Knowing this, I would make sure to be very prepared for meetings that I had where he was present. I actually felt he just had high expectations for others to be prepared and ready to explain things, which wasn't the norm. I felt he actually made me better prepared.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! It's understandable that his high expectations made it more stressful to interact with him, but it sounds like you handled this well. Beyond being more prepared, was there anything else you did to manage this situation? Did you try to see the situation from his perspective? Did you strive to be kind and compassionate? Be thorough in your response. Great job!
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