[ms224]

I had a couple of interviews lately (all from recruiters calling me) and while I seem to impress the technical people with my super duper tech skillz, I seem to fall flat when confronted by more management types.

Usually they ask something to the effect of how I deal with co-worker problems, how did I do if I was right and management didn't agree or some combination there off.

I always get lost, and when I did have co-worker issues in the past I usually brought it up to management who didn't really do much.

What's the right answer here?

[Repo]

They basically want to know that you can have a disagreement or discussion about differences without getting heated or emotional. Your response should be that you do your best to stick to the facts, listen and understand their viewpoint, can offer a clear and concise rebuttal, but are also able to recognize when you were wrong. And regardless of how heated the discussion gets, you never take things personal and are able to move on.

[ms224]

I see.

How do I express this in proper cubicle land terms?

[Repo]

Personally I don't use fancy terminology if I'm not talking about anything technical, plainspeak is ok. Whats more important is how confident and believable you sound.

*edit*

Managers dont want someone who escalates little things to management. You need to convey that you can handle most issues on your own.

[ms224]

i see

Can I say that I've never had personal problems with co-workers and generally places I've worked have been professional and not a construction site?

What about if I ever had a professional , technically based disagreement or problem with someone?

How about whats your greatest challenge or failure type of question?

[Pollito]

Also, make sure you're able to answer those questions when they take the form of "Tell me about a specific instance when..." If you don't have actual experiences that fit exactly, take a few minutes to fabricate elements that you can use in your responses. For example, fat barren feminist boss who you never agreed with but always worked to find common ground and deliver superior results that exceeded her expectations; stoner guy coworker who would take naps in the broom closet and was slinging dimebags out the drive through window who you used your finely honed leadership skills on to motivate, etc. The interviewer will probably ask a couple of probing questions so it's best if you can think on your feet. They have no way of verifying whether these things actually happened as long as they're plausible, and in any case the parties on either side of the interview desk (or phone connection) already know the other side is lying through their teeth throughout the whole interview charade anyway.

[Pollito]

(04-02-2017 05:59 PM)ms224 Wrote:  

i see

Can I say that I've never had personal problems with co-workers and generally places I've worked have been professional and not a construction site?

What about if I ever had a professional , technically based disagreement or problem with someone?

How about whats your greatest challenge or failure type of question?

If you don't have any experiences that fit into their canned line of questioning, make them up (see my previous post).

[Pollito]

The key is to bear in mind that the standard interviewing process is 100% horseshit kabuki theater. Just like standardized tests test students' abilities to answer standardized test questions, job interviews test how well a candidate can answer interview questions and performance on a job interview is, in my experience, a weak predictor of actual job performance. Interviewers are typically conditioned to expect certain responses to certain questions, with a narrow range of acceptable responses to most standard questions. So, you just have to play your part in their little dance while coming across as likeable, calm and collected, and excited at the prospect of working for them.

[ms224]

The problem is I don't know what the canned responses should be, but yes it does all seem like a sad kabuki theater. I haven't had a lot of interviews (or performed them) and it seems like I fall in that part.

Its in an engineering field if that makes any difference.

[RatInTheWoods]

A great generic answer for those curveball questions is:

"While difficult customers and co-workers can be challenging at times, I always remember the" circles of influence."

I can only control and have influence what is within my circle of influence.

I look for opportunities to be the best I can within that circle, and not to let the things outside of that circle bother me too much.

After all, everyone if different, you don't know what their story is, what they are going through. It would be boring if everyone was the same"


With an answer like that you are ticking off all the things they want to know, you take responsibility for your own shit, you are not precious and you can deal with dickheads.

Also, come across as laid back and a thinker.

[spinmaker]

as the other posters mentioned.. they want to see how you deal with difficult issues.

be non-reactive, non-emotional...here's the key... non judgmental.

if you start getting amped up.. red flags are going to be raised.

and just by your headline (idiot coworkers) I think you have some inner stuff to work on.

[Repo]

(04-02-2017 05:59 PM)ms224 Wrote:  

i see

Can I say that I've never had personal problems with co-workers and generally places I've worked have been professional and not a construction site?

What about if I ever had a professional , technically based disagreement or problem with someone?

How about whats your greatest challenge or failure type of question?

Few things, first you don't have idiot coworkers, you have teamates you may view a problem through a different lense. Second, your "weaknesses" are areas of opportunity, and they should always be something that you are working to improve and that shouldn't impact your ability to do the job.

That said, this is the type of BS I give if I never had an experience:

"I consider myself to be very level headed. When working on a team, its important to understand where my teamates are coming from, and to listen and understand why they may feel a certain way. I never take disagreements persobally, and always stick to the facts and the numbers. If I feel a teamates frustration is building, I do my best to defuse the situation by listening and acknowledging their viewpoint, but then counter logically without attacking or slighting them. In my experience, this has been a very successful strategy and I have never had a large interpersonal problem I couldn't work through myself, without any kind of escalation. "

So basically, what you need to convey is if you havnt had a large problem, what is it about you that helps you avoid these situations? Just saying you have never had one doesnt say anything positive about you. Every question asked should be looked at as a way to sell yourself. Never had a big persnal fight? Great, heres why and this is what I do to defuse situations before they happen.

Depending on how old you are though, you may need to make one up. Mid to low 20s Id say this type of response should suffice.

[monster]

Q: "How do you deal with difficulties?"

A: "I crush them! CRUSH THEM!"

[Jack_Smith]

(04-02-2017 04:41 PM)ms224 Wrote:  

...I seem to fall flat when confronted by more management types.

Here's what I am looking for when I interview tech folks like you. I only want people on my team who will a) support my effective decision making by always giving me complete, accurate, and timely information and their best professional opinion during the decision making process; b) when I have made a decision, will accept it, and, whether they agree or not, will execute my plan as though it were there own.

Precious few techies (or anyone else) get close to this (Army Ranger) ideal. In addition, many techies suffer from anti-social personalities, poor communication skills (particularly wrt non-technical people), are disdainful of non-technical team members (often deemed not as smart), and lack customer focus.

I am vetting for all that shit.

Are you a Team Player?
Are you manageable?
Do you GET customer focus?
Do you communicate effectively with non-technical people?

(04-02-2017 04:41 PM)ms224 Wrote:  

Usually they ask something to the effect of how I deal with co-worker problems...

...when I did have co-worker issues in the past I usually brought it up to management who didn't really do much.

What's the right answer here?

RIGHT ANSWER #1: "I have never experienced any problems with co-workers in my prior jobs and do not anticipate that I would here either. I have always gotten along well with everybody - from the janitor to the boardroom."

(04-02-2017 04:41 PM)ms224 Wrote:  

how did I do if I was right and management didn't agree or some combination there off.

What's the right answer here?

RIGHT ANSWER #2: "In the past I have had bosses who solicited my input. I always gave my boss my honest assessment and best advice on any given issue, even when I knew we disagreed. That said, when the decision was made, even if it was one with which I disagreed, I publicly and fully supported my boss' decision and executed his plan as though it were my own."

[Jack_Smith]

(04-02-2017 05:59 PM)ms224 Wrote:  

Can I say that I've never had personal problems with co-workers and generally places I've worked have been professional ... ?

Yes.

(04-02-2017 05:59 PM)ms224 Wrote:  

and not a construction site?

WTF? Why would you say this? This is EXACTLY the sort of dumb-ass, tone deaf shit that routinely comes out of the mouths of unmanageable tech types.

Guess what? I have hired 100s over decades in business. Many in the C-Suite.

Guess what else? The first company I started was a construction company. Started as a laborer, worked my way up, eventually earned my own company. We, and all the guys with whom I had the honor of apprenticing, were professional. The same cannot be said of your offhand denigration of a profession about which I suspect you know little.

SCREENED OUT.

(04-02-2017 05:59 PM)ms224 Wrote:  

What about if I ever had a professional , technically based disagreement or problem with someone?

Everybody who has worked has had these. Its all about how you handle it. Here's how.

(04-02-2017 05:59 PM)ms224 Wrote:  

How about whats your greatest challenge or failure type of question?

GREATEST FAILURE: Successful answers to this question are stories that -

1. Occured in the (preferably distant) Past
2. Are Only Minorly Negative
3. Tee Up a Success Story
   

e.g. When I decided to get my MSCS, I was determined to go to a top school. I thought this made the most sense given my career goals, and frankly, since I was paying my own tuition, did not want to compromise. I applied to the top 7 schools in the country. Got in nowhere. That felt like a pretty major failure. The next year I applied again and was fortunate to get accepted to UCSD, Purdue, and GIT.

GREATEST SUCCESS: This should be recent. This should be something that made your boss and your company look really good, preferably to a customer. It would be terrific if you could tie your answer back to the company's financial performance.

[ms224]

Hey guys, thank you for all your replies.

The construction site thing is because I did work part time on a construction site (a long time ago) and its a lot more, err, colorful
than a typical office environment.

I'm more hard science, then tech, so hopefully not too out there in the social skills department.

[Brodiaga]

They ask you if you are a good bullshitter. Become a good bullshitter.

[Edmund Ironside]

Also, keep in mind that when you have an interview, knock it out of the park on technical questions, but don't get the job, it doesn't necessarily mean that you failed on the non-technical questions. There are many, many reasons why you might not get the job, and it might have been in the cards that you weren't a serious candidate before you even walked in the door. If they want someone else, they will always find a rationalization. (And if you are a hetero white male and the person they want is not, they don't need anything more.)

[Jack_Smith]

(04-02-2017 10:11 PM)ms224 Wrote:  

Hey guys, thank you for all your replies.

The construction site thing is because I did work part time on a construction site (a long time ago) and its a lot more, err, colorful
than a typical office environment.

I'm more hard science, then tech, so hopefully not too out there in the social skills department.

Colorful DOES NOT EQUAL Unprofessional.

Also -

I see all the same emotional/communications/manageability issues with execs in the hard sciences. EEs and MEs are, in my experience, just as self important, tone deaf, and emotionally unintelligent as CSs.

When was the last time you saw the Board promote an engineer to CEO?

Any tech stud with emotional intelligence/leadership skills is a unicorn.