Interview questions › Teamwork
Tell me about a manager or senior person you found hard to work with, and how you handled it.
Teamwork · commonly asked in most interviews
No account, no credit card for the first three questions.
How to answer it well
Stay on the working relationship, not the person: what they needed, what you changed, and how you checked it was better.
Two mistakes that cost you points
- Criticising a former boss and not stopping.
- Claiming there was never a problem, which sounds like no self-awareness.
What to do with this question today
- Answer it out loud once, without stopping. Do not write it down first.
- Read back exactly what you said. Mark the filler words, and the length of your longest pause.
- Answer it again and change one thing — usually the opening line, or the number at the end.
This question is not in the free run yet — practise the same skill with a free run, or paste a job description and we build the set around that role.
More questions
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with a teammate and still reached agreement. What did you do? · Teamwork
- Tell me about a time you took on work outside your own remit. Why did it end up being you, and how did it turn out? · Teamwork
- Tell me about a time a colleague was struggling and you helped. What did you actually do? · Teamwork
- Tell me about a difficult relationship you had with a stakeholder. How did you work with them? · Teamwork
- In one minute, introduce yourself and explain why this role should consider you. · Communication
- Walk me through your resume. Tell me about the choices you made along the way. · Communication
Also searched as: difficult manager interview question answer; working with a difficult boss example
Dimension: Teamwork — the same skill is probed again with different wording, so practise the pattern, not just this sentence.