[JudyM]

In a recent interivew I was asked the question, "Have you ever had a conflict with a co-worker, what was it and how did you handle it"?

I froze and didn't know how to answer the question. Truthfully I have had conflicts with another admin in the dept but I was afraid to tell them because it might have sounded like I cant get along even though the problem was her laziness, coming in late, a lot of doctor appts which since I was her backup made more work for me. I didnt want to sound like I'm not a teamplayer or a complainer.

So how do I handle questions like that at an interview?

[Jodith]

The important thing when talking about a conflict with a coworker is to not make it sound like the other person is all at fault or that you are judging another person.

My usual response to a question like this is to say that my first response is to talk to the person involved. Often it helps to sit down face to face and talk out any issues that there are and try to come to a solution that benefits everyone. If that doesn't resolve the issue, I'll usually go to my supervisor to help deal with the problem. That's usually a pretty good answer.