Think about a difficult manager, professor, or colleague. What made them difficult? How did you successfully interact with this person?
Throughout life, you will encounter certain people that may be challenging to be around. The interviewers understand you will encounter many different personalities and want to see how you manage difficult people. How you respond should let the interviewers know you are easy to get along with and possess patience and conflict-resolution skills.
Think about that one person at work or school who is seen as hard to please. Perhaps they bully or intimidate others, gossip behind people's backs, or constantly criticize others. Talk to the interviewers about what made this person challenging and their relationship with you. Avoid speaking poorly of anyone, and focus on ending your response on a positive note.
"At my previous job, I had a manager who was going through a nasty divorce. He took his anger and frustration on my colleagues and me and criticized everything we did. Over the course of three weeks, five of my colleagues quit because the work environment was so toxic. I kept my head down and did my job, knowing he was going through a tough time and figuring it would soon pass. But after losing five colleagues because of the work environment, I decided to talk with my manager. I invited him to lunch and asked how he was doing. He broke down and said he was not doing good. He explained how his wife gained custody of his children and would not allow him to have supervised visits. He described how angry he was and how helpless he felt. After he was done talking, I explained how his anger and frustration affected the team and employee morale and that maybe he needed to talk with someone or take some time off. He was unaware of how he had been acting and said he was so consumed with his divorce and the custody battle that he was not acting himself. He thanked me for bringing attention to his behaviour and said he would seek help through the Employee Assistance Program. After our lunch, he was much easier to work with and apologized to the team for his behaviour."
