Have you ever had difficulty getting others to accept your ideas? What was your approach, and did it work?

Questions like this give you a chance to highlight the skills, personality traits, experiences, and knowledge you have that will benefit the company. Avoid discussing times where you attempted to influence others unsuccessfully or where you attempted to influence others in questionable situations. Focus on the steps you took to resolve the problem and convince your coworkers or manager of the merits of your solution. Explain why your solution was the better choice and how you came to that conclusion so the hiring manager sees there was a method to your persuasion.

"While working on my recent internship, I needed access to data from a different department to complete one segment of my project. The head of that department initially refused my request for access to the data because I was an intern. I went to my manager requesting assistance, and she said it was a learning opportunity for me. So I asked the department manager to meet in person. At that meeting, I walked him through the scope of my project, how the data would be used, and how it would be kept secure. Once he understood the actual use of the data and its security, he authorized my access later that day."