TELL ME ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU HANDLED A DIFFICULT SITUATION. I experienced a difficult situation
when I first started working in a previous role. I was part of a team meeting and a more
experienced member of the team was dismissive of my suggestions. So, every time I put a
suggestion forward, he would dismiss it out of hand straightaway, not even explore it,
and then carry on and move on to someone else. So, this happened on a number of occasions.
It happened on three occasions, actually, so I decided to do something about it. This
was a difficult situation because I didn't want any conflict in the team. I wanted to
work with everybody, but I also wanted to contribute to the team. I felt I needed to
tackle this difficult situation. So, I spoke to them in private and I gave them three examples
of where I'd felt uncomfortable when they were being dismissive about my suggestions.
And I asked them why. I just said, why do you feel the need to be dismissive? And again,
they were quite taken aback by what I said, and they apologized straightaway. And from
that day forward, they then involved me more in conversations during the team meetings.
And I was able to contribute as I wanted to. And my manager asked for a volunteer to work
on a project with that person a few weeks later. And I put my hand up straightaway,
because I felt that way, I could build up a really good relationship with them. And
we actually became really good friends, both in work and outside of work. So, I was pleased
that I dealt with that difficult situation because obviously the easy thing to do is
just to leave it. But I would always tackle a difficult situation with confidence because
then I believe the team will benefit from that moving forward. Now, I am sure you will
agree that was a brilliant answer to that difficult interview question: Tell Me About
A Time You Handled A Difficult Situation? Before I give you the EXACT SCRIPT to use
when answering this tough interview question, here are 3 really important interview tips
to help you! INTERVIEW TIP NUMBER 1 – Make sure you give a previous difficult work situation
you were in that demonstrates you are a DETERMINED, positive and resilient person. INTERVIEW TIP
NUMBER 2 - In your answer to this difficult interview question, show you are someone who
always puts the needs of your team first! That’s really important. INTERVIEW TIP NUMBER
3 –Show you are not afraid to tackle difficult situations in a professional manner! So, now
I am going to give you three exact scripts to use when answering this interview question.
Here is the first example answer to the interview question: TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU HANDLED
A DIFFICULT SITUATION? “When I first started work in a previous role, I was taking part
in a team meeting. One of the more senior members of the team kept dismissing my ideas
and my suggestions. Every time I put forward an idea, he dismissed it, which I found uncomfortable.
During the meeting he did this on no fewer than three separate occasions, so I decided
to tackle it. It was a difficult situation because I am the type of person who doesn’t
like conflict, but I was determined to make sure my ideas and suggestions were listened
to. I spoke to my work colleague in private after the meeting and I gave him examples
of where he was dismissing my suggestions. I asked him why he felt the need to do this.
He was taken aback by my comments and he apologized straight away before ensuring me it wouldn’t
happen again. From that day forward, I felt more involved in team meetings and I actually
ended up becoming good friends with my work colleague both in and out of work.” That’s
a really good answer! You have tackled the difficult situation to achieve a positive
outcome. Here’s another example answer. Here is script number 2 to the difficult interview
question: TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU HANDLED A DIFFICULT SITUATION? Here we go… “In
a previous role, I noticed customers were constantly complaining about mistakes that
were in a product newsletter that was being sent out by email. The person who was creating
the newsletter had been with the company for a long period of time, and I decided to raise
the issue with them. This was a difficult situation to be in because I needed to use
tact and diplomacy when raising the issue. I decided to speak to my work colleague in
private and I started off by saying how impressed I was with the design of the newsletter and
how it was a great way for us to interact with our customers. I then went on to say
how I had noticed a few mistakes in the content of the newsletter, and I offered to proofread
it for her before it was sent out to our customers. I said I felt it must be difficult for her
to not only write and design the newsletter, but to also make sure there were no mistakes.
She thanked me for my offer of assistance, and I helped her moving forward to make sure
the newsletter was fully accurate. By being tactful, positive and by offering to help,
I was able to quickly resolve this difficult situation to reach a positive outcome.”
That is a great answer, because again, it shows you will tackle difficult situations
head on with professionalism and positivity, and you also showing your teamworking skills,
you are offering to help your work colleague. Here’s the next answer! Script number 3
to the interview question: TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU HANDLED A DIFFICULT SITUATION? “I
was working as part of a team on an important project for a client and we had a strict deadline
to work towards. Part way through the project the client started making changes to the project
specification which could potentially push back the project finishing time. This was
a difficult situation to be in because it was going to be hard for us to implement the
requested changes and still finish the project on time. I decided to speak to the client
to negotiate a longer project finishing time. I explained how it was important to maintain
high standards whilst working on the project, and to achieve our objectives we would need
an additional 7-days. The client appreciated my honesty and the explanation I gave for
the increased deadline, and he agreed to the project extension.” So, that’s a really
good example of you tackling a difficult situation by using open and honest communication with
the client. Now, the next thing to do is make sure you CLICK THAT LINK in the top of the
video. It will take you through to another video right here on YouTube where I go through
a FULL MOCK INTERVIEW for you. I answer 12 interview questions and I pass the interview,
so these are model answers that you can use in preparation for your job interview. So,
these are model answers that you can use in preparation for your job interview. Make sure
you check that out! Also, if you would like a full copy of my 21 Great Answers To Tough
Interview Questions, CLICK THAT LINK in the top right-hand corner of the video. It will
take you through to my website, PassMyInterview.com, and you can DOWNLOAD my PDF guide that contains
21 brilliant answers to difficult interview questions! I hope you've enjoyed that. Please
don't forget to SUBSCRIBE if you haven't done so already. Lots of you are passing your job
interviews after using the content, which is brilliant news. You can also connect with
me on LinkedIn. I've put my LinkedIn link in the description below the video, and please
also make sure you GIVE THE VIDEO A LIKE. Thank you very much for watching and I wish
you all the best for passing your interview. Have a brilliant day. Thank you!