How to Handle Conflicts and Difficult Situations in a Job?
3rd August 2022
How did you handle conflicts with your former manager?
Have you ever faced an interview where the interviewer asks about your former manager? Maybe ask about their name first or pronounce their name wrong? Recruiters generally do this to turn your honesty button on. They make sure that you are comfortable and by this method they get hold of the fact that you are telling the truth. Then the recruiters would start asking about the negative aspects of your previous job, like why you left the job, if you had any issue with your co-workers or former boss and why, etc. So, generally what we do is we start talking about the problems we faced along with the negative aspects and personal issues we had with our employer in our previous company. We generally do not talk about how much we have learnt from that organisation, how much we have gained, we talk about how we have given and at times exaggerate. The recruiter might be sympathetic and show similar feelings but they just get a very negative impression of you.
What they basically want to hear might be totally opposite of what you have said. They want to hear the positive aspects, the experience you have even after obstacles, how optimistic you are in a situation of crisis – they want to see the silver lining you created in the difficult situation.
Faced a difficult situation? Find how to answer that in an interview.
There is another situation where the recruiter would ask you about a difficult situation but would not really ask you about solving it. This also has a small trick. We in general would start talking about really critical situations we have faced in our previous companies and this is exactly what we should not say. The recruiter here is trying to differentiate between problem solvers and problem makers.
What a recruiter wants to hear is how you talk about solving the situation or at least helping some parts of the situation instead of sitting and just explaining the situation.
