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Employers like to ask the question: Tell me about a difficult situation, conflict or challenge you faced in the workplace.
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You will most likely be asked this question in one form or another.
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The employer is checking your critical thinking skills by asking you to relate a specific instance where you: a) took charge in handling a challenging situation or conflict, and b) collaborated with your coworkers as a team in order to do so.
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The employer is checking your critical thinking skills, approach to the problem and the level of responsibility you take in challenging situations.
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So it is important that you think of good examples that involve you handling and resolving a problem.
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Tell me about a time you faced a challenging situation at work.
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One time a customer was yelling at me, I don't write the rules, so I let her know that and went and got my manager.
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It is important to make sure that you use an example that demonstrates your ability to handle a tough situation.
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It does not make sense to use an example that involves elevating the situation to a superior and not being the one responsible for the resolution.
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This is also a good chance to show your ability to work as part of a team.
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Being able to analyze a problem, utilizing the advice and suggestions of others demonstrates good critical thinking skills and shows you are a team player.
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In order to tell an effective story and frame your example, use the PAR model: P stands for Problem—What was the problem or challenge you were facing?
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A is for Action—How did you and your coworkers analyze the problem and what actions did you take in order to solve it?
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R is for result—What was the positive outcome as a result of your actions?
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Ending the story strong is necessary—you want to show that you learned from the experience and created a positive situation or environment for all parties involved.
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Let's look at a good example of a candidate who has structured her answer well.
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Here, we have a project manager working with 2 of her colleagues to meet a deadline.
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Her colleagues were not able to agree with each other on the details of the project.
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One time, while working as a Project Manager at Builders Construction company, I was working with 2 of my colleagues to meet a deadline on a proposal we were drafting.
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They could not agree with each other on how to approach the proposal and the deadline was near.
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It was obvious we needed to work better as a team, so I invited them both to lunch where we were able to openly discuss the details of the project, allowing both of them to hear the full scope of each other's plans.
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Having lunch together gave them the opportunity to see that they both had similar visions of the big picture but disagreed about smaller, less important details.
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After hearing both of their plans we made a single list using the best and most efficient ideas that we all agreed on.
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In the end we ended up drafting one solid proposal that was under budget, making our client very happy.
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It turned out that afterward the two worked together even more; producing some of the best projects we had in my time with the company.
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I feel that the experience helped me improve my ability to collaborate and work as an integral part of a team, while growing in my leadership skills as well.
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Remember, when answering the question pertaining to a time you were faced with a challenging or difficult situation in the workplace, use examples that demonstrate how you stepped up and took a leadership position by collaborating with your coworkers.
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Remain upbeat and positive when giving your answer and use the PAR system to frame the story.