Tell me about a time you disagreed with a co-worker or a supervisor. What did you do about it?

Everyone occasionally disagrees with a decision made in the workplace. But steer clear of any disagreements on a personal level, and stick with professional situations.

The key here is to demonstrate your ability to handle conflict maturely and come up with a compromise that is mutually beneficial to the parties involved. Any lessons learned

For example, “In my position as a business consultant, it was my responsibility to prepare reports for clients about possible solutions to their IT challenges. Usually, I have a few weeks to do so, but one day, my boss told me our client would be meeting with her sooner than usual, and told me my report had to be delivered within the week.

Having completed these in the past, I knew that deadline wouldn’t give me enough time to deliver a high-quality report, and I wasn’t comfortable compromising on that. I brought my concerns to my manager, who told me it was impossible to move the deadline.

I knew that, even if I worked overtime, it wouldn’t be possible to deliver, so I asked if there was anyone that would be able to help me. She thought about it and assigned one of our junior assistants to work on the report with me.

We ended up working late a few nights, but in the end, we delivered a great report. Our clients were impressed with our creativity and innovation, and we continued to enjoy a productive relationship with them. My boss told me she appreciated the extra effort that I put into the report, and I learned that it’s okay to ask for help. Once she saw how much time it took to research and write these reports, my manager began to include me in strategy meetings with clients so I was involved at a higher level and thus had more advanced notice.”