"(Situation) While obtaining my business degree, I was expected to collaborate on group projects. I am very organized and had to work on a significant project with another student who was disorganized and disinterested. (Task) Since I found myself working with a classmate I did not fully relate to, I knew it was up to me to generate the best project outcome. (Action) I kept my nose to the grindstone doing the work expected of me to the best of my ability. I could not force him to work harder. Instead, I decided that my delivery would shine. (Result) My approach worked tremendously, and we received one of the top marks in the class."

"(Situation) In my current role, I support the VP of Marketing. When she was on vacation this year, I spent much of my time assisting the Director of Sales. (Task) This particular individual did not give clear direction or feedback, which I found difficult. (Action) I asked for a meeting early on, and let him know that I work best when I am fully aware of the expectations and deadlines upfront. (Result) We worked pretty well together after that conversation. I am a supporter of open conversations and nipping communication issues in the bud before they become major concerns."

"(Situation) In marketing, there are many different creative personalities present, often in the same department or collaborating on the same project. One example that comes to mind was a junior copywriter I had to work with on a complex project. (Task) Compared to my copywriting experience, she was inexperienced but did not ask for help or feedback on anything. (Action) When I provided feedback on her work, she became defensive. I thought perhaps it was the way I was delivering the feedback. I asked her how she prefers to be approached when her work needs improvement. (Result) She apologized for her behavior, and we came up with a great new way to approach constructive conversations."

"(Situation) In my current role, the General Manager, who trained me as an Assistant Manager, was not my favorite person with which to collaborate. She was very brief in my training and seemed disengaged. (Task) I knew that it would be up to me to lead my training and ensure success. (Action) It took many extra hours to learn my new role more thoroughly and to go through the training manuals independently. (Result) I remained dedicated, despite her lack of enthusiasm, and earned a promotion to her position when she quit, shortly after. I do not believe in allowing other people's lack of enthusiasm to affect my own."

"(Situation) Earlier in my career, I worked with someone who would fake their cold call sheet and then become highly upset when they missed weekly targets. (Task) This situation was a challenging one because I knew the issue was simply the amount of effort he was putting in. (Action) I was not his manager and did not feel that it was my business to coach him, but I decided to share some pointers that I deployed to make cold calling more enjoyable. (Result) By taking the time to help him out, I maintained my workload and blew my own goals out of the water. His performance also improved significantly."

"(Situation) With Company ABC, I had a co-worker who was quite rude to customers, which I had a difficult time understanding. (Task) As an experienced retail associate, I understand the importance of being communicative and friendly to everyone I come across. (Action) I did not say anything until the time came where I had to deal with multiple customer complaints. At that point, I asked my co-worker if there was a way that I could help her to enjoy the day-to-day client interaction just a little bit better. (Result) We worked together on a new approach, and our customer complaints decreased by 35% in the first month."

"(Situation) For the most part, I have been able to get along remarkably well with my fellow teachers. Early on in my career, I did not get along very well with the teacher to whom I was the assistant. (Task) His teaching style was very abrupt, and he moved at too fast a pace for many of our IPP students. I knew that I needed to approach the situation with care. (Action) When I approached him about the situation, telling him what I had observed, he received it surprisingly well. (Result) Together, we made a plan to make the classroom a more comfortable place for all of the students. The rest of the year was full of positive results for the students and us as teachers."

Answer this question by giving a story-based example of a time you remained a team player, despite a challenging personality clash with a co-worker. Outline the situation and explain why it was vital that you encouraged collaboration with your co-worker. Focus the bulk of your response on the actions you took to communicate with this individual. If your teamwork yielded an impressive accomplishment, be sure to include this information in your response. Suppose you are newer to your career and do not have a work-related example. In that case, you can use a story-based example from your post-secondary, volunteer, or extra-curricular experience.

Behavioral-based interview questions that begin with 'Tell me about a time...' are best answered using the STAR method. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Organizing your response using this framework will ensure that you provide the interviewer with the right amount of information and detail to form a compelling answer.

Avoid giving extreme responses that include speaking negatively of others. You will also want to avoid blanket statements such as telling the interviewer that you get along with everyone 100% of the time.