During your next interview, you may be asked how you deal with conflict. This shows how effectively you handle challenges at work. It also provides insight into your problem-solving skills, personality, and professionalism.
Talking about your strategy for resolving conflict shows how positively you interact with others in stressful situations. It also demonstrates how you blend with the company culture. This impacts whether you receive a job offer.
Implement these guidelines to discuss your conflict resolution skills during an interview.
Demonstrate Professionalism
Show how your approach to conflict resolution helps you remain calm during stressful situations.
- Give a clear, specific answer.
- Share how you work to understand the other person’s viewpoint.
- Include how you remain rational while solving problems.
Use the STAR Method
When detailing your conflict resolution skills, include a relevant example using the situation, task, action, and result (STAR) method.
- Briefly discuss the issue with enough context for the interviewer to picture the situation.
- Share your part in the situation and what you wanted to accomplish.
- Describe your approach to the issue and the steps you took to resolve it.
- Mention the positive results you attained and what you gained from the experience.
Follow This Example
Assume an employer asks you to discuss a disagreement with a teammate and how you resolved it.
- You might share how your marketing team was asked to create and implement a digital marketing campaign with you as the leader.
- You had to oversee the campaign and delegate tasks to your team.
- A teammate was upset about having you as the leader and would not finish their tasks.
- You privately met with your teammate to discuss their reasons for being upset.
- You listened to your teammate and understood where they were coming from.
- You mentioned that working hard to submit an effective campaign may encourage your supervisor to consider your teammate for other responsibilities in the future.
- Your teammate agreed and finished their tasks.
- The digital marketing campaign resulted in a 20% customer conversion rate and praise from your supervisor.
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