Talk about a time when you had to work closely with someone who had a problematic personality.
The interviewer wants to know how well you work with others despite a difference in personality. Your ability to adapt to various people, regardless of a positive personality match, shows that you are mature and professional even when factors are not entirely ideal.
Behavioral-based interview questions that begin with 'Talk about a time when...' 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 extreme responses that include speaking negatively of others or naming people. Also, avoid telling the interviewer that you get along with everyone all the time. Most interviewers will interpret a cliche response like that as dodging the question.
Focus on when your work style was different from another person, but perhaps you still had to complete a project together. Discuss, in a positive tone, how you made it work!
"(Situation) In my previous job, I had a team member who would scoff at other co-workers' ideas in meetings. (Task) As the Marketing Manager, I knew I could not let this behavior continue. (Action) The HR Partner and I approached this person to discuss our company culture and how his behavior disrupted the environment. We wanted to create a resolution with this person. (Result) It turned out that he did not want to work in our division as he felt the projects were too 'junior' for his experience. He ended up requesting and receiving a transfer. By initiating an open conversation with this person, we were able to uncover his need. We also met the needs of our team by protecting the positive culture we had worked so hard to create."
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 once was the relationship manager for a business partner who took a "new age" approach to running his business. My task was to partner with him to fix significant problems in the profitability of the partnership. Coming from a STEM background, my approach was data-driven, deep-diving into metrics, contextualising the results, and proposing measurable actions that would move the metrics. On the other hand, he believed that positive thoughts changed future outcomes - the exact opposite of my approach. But since his business is primarily a sales-driven business, positive thinking was very important to his business model and company culture. It was up to me to bridge the gap. I took the approach of beginning my conversations with the positive outcomes that I had found in my data analysis, particularly those that were caused by measurable actions. Then the important part was to be flexible and to link my recommendations to his beliefs - to say that if you're not doing something consistent with your beliefs then you don't believe it enough. That relationship management job taught me so much about people. And we eventually built mutual respect that helped us work together to fix the profitability issues.
Marcie's Feedback
Excellent answer. You have perfectly described how you managed to overcome a dramatic difference in perspectives. As you said, you were able to 'bridge the gap.' Your response also shows that you're able to successfully work with people who are very different from you. Awesome!
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