Conflict Interview Questions

Master 15 conflict interview questions covering workplace disputes, resolution strategies, and emotional intelligence.

Question 7 of 15

How do you communicate with people who intimidate you?

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Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.

Most of us have found ourselves in a situation where we find a co-worker, classmate, or even professor a touch intimidating. When we feel intimidated by someone, the conflict is often internal vs. external. Feeling intimidated can make us feel threatened, even if it's unintentional. This internal conflict can lead to a fight response such as arguing or flight response, such as losing words or experiencing a mental block.

The interviewer wants to see that you have the ability and maturity to recognize when feelings of intimidation occur. Discuss what you do, or have done, when facing feelings of intimidation.

Since the interviewer asks, 'How would you...' it is acceptable to use a hypothetical example, giving an overview of how you would react in this situation. However, if you want to use a real-life example, try forming a response using the STAR method. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result.

Rachelle Enns

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.

"(Situation & Task) Earlier in my admin career, I had a couple of clients who would be very aggressive on the phone when placing their orders. They weren't mean per se; they were just very straightforward and frank when they spoke to me. I knew that I needed to help these clients with their requests, but sometimes I would get so nervous about doing the wrong thing that I would blank out mentally and do the wrong thing anyways! (Action) To overcome these feelings of intimidation and ensure that I performed my admin tasks up to my employers' expectations, I made myself a telephone script and memorized it. This script helped me to remain on track with my tasks when those intimidating clients would call. (Result) My script worked very well because, rather than focus on getting the call over with, I began to focus on the conversation and what I should say or do to meet the clients' expectations. Over time, I became more confident, and I believe these clients could sense that, which is when they softened their approach with me."

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Conflict Interview Questions

How do you communicate with people who intimidate you?

15Conflict Interview Questions & Answers

1.Talk about a time when you had to work closely with someone who had a problematic personality.

2.Talk about a time when you worked on a team, and other group members were not performing their share of the work. How did you react?

3.Discuss a time when you disagreed with your boss. How did you find common ground?

4.Talk about a time you faced a conflict in the workplace and reacted poorly.

5.Talk about a time you faced a conflict in the workplace and reacted constructively.

6.Talk about a time you encountered a conflict with a customer.

7.How do you communicate with people who intimidate you?

8.Have you ever intentionally or unintentionally offended someone in the workplace?

9.Would you ever confront an equity problem in the workplace?

10.How do you feel about a chain of command in the workplace?

11.Talk about a time when you felt conflicted in the workplace.

12.How do you provide feedback to your team members without creating a conflict or hurting their feelings?

13.Have you, or would you ever, correct your boss?

14.Are you verbally direct with others? If so, has this ever created a conflict with a co-worker?

15.Walk me through a time when you helped resolve a workplace conflict between others.