Think about a difficult boss, professor, or other person you've worked with. What made them difficult? How did you successfully interact with this person?
"I had a boss who was very difficult to deal with. She would change her mind about what direction we should be heading in every three or four weeks, which made it difficult to get any work done. Every time we'd be about to finish a project, she would decide that we need to try something different. So I spoke with the team and asked for everyone's ideas about how we could improve the situation. We decided that we'd do the best that we could and document our successes. Then, when she would approach us to tell us to do something different, we'd all agree to do so. Then, we'd also bring to her attention that we were having success with certain tasks and approaches and show her the evidence. We'd then ask her if she'd like to take that into consideration and asked her for permission to have a meeting about it at the end of the week. After we did all of that, she started being less unpredictable and involved us in her planning process a little bit more."
You want to show the interviewer that you work well with every personality, even though you recognize there are some folks out there who are quite difficult to please. This can be a challenging question to answer, but it can be done graciously. Think about the person who is seen as hard to please or the person who people are intimidated by. Tell the interviewer what made this person challenging, as well as their relationship to you. Be sure to mention a few positive things about the person as well, while still making your point. Next, share how you feel your responsibility is to work well with your team and help out however you can, so you chose to adapt to work with this challenging person. Finally, be sure to laugh a little about the situation along the way. It will definitely lighten the mood and show the interviewer you understand some people can be challenging.
"In my current job, I work with a person who brings a negative attitude to work every day. While he is very productive, his attitude towards me and others we work with can make things difficult on some days. I have learned to not take things personally with his attitude and try to kill him with kindness. Now that we've worked together for a few years, we can actually have some laughs with him when his attitude is even further out of line, and he tends to tone it back after that."
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
Some are not communicative. So I just make sure to always have a pleasant demeanor and ask all the questions I need to do my job competently since information is not offered. Also when they have a bad attitude, I just don't allow it to affect mine and keep in mind I am in control of my approach and position.
Cindy's Feedback
Ok, good start. You can build an effective answer by using the STAR format. STAR stands for situation, task, action, and result. Was there a situation in which you had to deal with a difficult person on the job? What action did you take to address the situation? What was the result? By using this format, you'll build a robust response that answers all the interviewer's questions and demonstrate your diplomacy, patience, and problem-solving skills.
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