University of Virginia Darden MBA Mock Interview
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Question 14 of 30
Describe a time when you experienced conflict with a client. What steps did you take to resolve the situation?
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Karrie Day is a certified career coach and strategist with a passion for helping her clients define and reach their professional goals. She offers career advancement services such as brand development, resume writing and critiques, job search strategies,
"A project manager within my group came to me recently to discuss a client that consistently failed to provide the necessary information and documentation our team needed to develop the products we were under contract to create. As a result, the associated projects were not meeting the KPIs as originally defined.
I agreed to facilitate a meeting with the client, the project manager, and my group's lead engineer. At first, the client was defensive and provided a series of excuses to justify his failure to execute his assigned tasks. I demonstrated empathy for his situation, but let him know the repercussions of continuing on the same path. It was the first time he had ever served in a client role to drive product direction and I could tell he needed coaching on how to properly execute the role. I offered to set up a series of biweekly meetings to discuss progress and the next steps. I helped him think through his area of responsibility from a more holistic and strategic perspective until he was clear on how to best partner with our product development team.
We ultimately got each of the projects back on track and the stress on my team to perform without the information they needed was greatly reduced. Our client was grateful and thanked me for putting in the extra time and effort to mentor him through a difficult time."
Karrie Day is a certified career coach and strategist with a passion for helping her clients define and reach their professional goals. She offers career advancement services such as brand development, resume writing and critiques, job search strategies,
Conflict can arise in several ways in a professional setting. Conflicts with clients can be especially tricky to navigate, given the frequent use of the 'the customer is always right' mentality. Your interviewer wants to know how you resolve conflict while maintaining important client relationships.
Karrie Day is a certified career coach and strategist with a passion for helping her clients define and reach their professional goals. She offers career advancement services such as brand development, resume writing and critiques, job search strategies,
When prepping a client for an interview, I remind them that answering questions like these have several hurdles to navigate. First, your time is limited in an interview. Candidates feel compelled to provide ample background to justify the action they took to handle the associated conflict. The goal is to keep it short and provide just enough detail to offer the context necessary to demonstrate your skills effectively.
Second, conflict questions tend to make candidates uncomfortable. In my experience, answers go wrong when the language used feels defensive or used as a justification for the actions taken. It is best to prepare a few conflict-related scenarios ahead of your interview and practice phrasing that demonstrates a healthy blend of empathy and confidence.
Finally, I have interviewed candidates who provide answers that demonstrate their negative judgment of others involved in the situation. Conflict behavioral questions are an opportunity to 'keep it classy'. Avoid language that focuses on your frustration with another person or your negative feelings about the role they played. We all experience growth opportunities at work, and focusing your answer on the steps you took that led to a positive outcome will help you to avoid this trap.
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