When the next schedule came out, he had scheduled me for Friday. I wrote a note on the schedule to see the exemption request on his desk. He didn`t answer and I didn`t hear from him, so I assumed he found it and it was approved. It turns out he doesn`t check the schedule after setting it up, so he never saw the note and my wait time request was buried in his inbox on his desk. On Friday, he called me and wanted to know where I was. Once we figured it out, we adapted the system to the wait time request sheets that were on a blackboard in his office where he had no chance of being buried! My manager is now letting people know if the days off were approved within 24 hours or not, which really helped to end the confusion. „This answer is exactly the kind of situation that can happen when there is more than one shift! However, note the way it was presented: the employee told us what usually happens and what he tried to do. He set the expectations in advance. In this case, he tried to ask for a day off, but did not get a clear yes or no. Then it came to the conflict on Friday night, when the director was upset. As spectators, we need to know what is at stake for the conflict, and this time it was an empty layer.
Then the employee tells us the resolution, how the planning system has changed. While informal personal demand worked for the day shift, it did not work for the night shift. Now that a new system is in place, this type of problem will not happen again. It`s a great way to talk about a time when you didn`t agree with your boss. Example: „In the end, I learned a few new things about email marketing campaigns. But most of all, I learned that my boss values direct communication and that our professional relationship works best when I contact her during a project. So what steps have you taken? Have you contacted your boss for a face-to-face conversation? How did you solve the problem? You can show that you are willing to take responsibility for the problem and then solve it. This is exactly what the hiring manager wants to hear.
Do not minimize your role in dissipating the situation. However, you should never forget that bosses are also people and have their own leadership style. This style of leadership can range from dictatorial to so hands-free that they are no longer feasible. It is important that you know your boss and his leadership style in order to properly assess how much disagreement is valued and tolerated. Another common way for skillful people to ensure that dissent is not misinterpreted is to contrast. A contrast is a simple „don`t mean“ that prevents the boss from misinterpreting your intention. For example, a manager who wanted to express ethical reservations about a boss`s decision began: „I want to share a concern, but I`m afraid it will make you feel like you`re doubting your character. I don`t. And yet, I don`t think I would be completely loyal if I didn`t share my point of view. Can I do this? Do you see how much more powerful it is? This shows that you`re simply trying to come up with positive change for your office and employees – without attacking your boss`s authority and intelligence. Don`t panic! This prompt is actually just a simple example of a behavioral interview question.
Behavioral questions are designed to make you talk about a past experience in order to give the interviewer real insight into how you approached a difficult situation – in this case, a conflict with your boss. The need to speak up and disagree with your boss is enough to trigger immediate panic. However, he doesn`t have to be as brave and cheeky as you think. Use these tips, and you`re sure to present your opinion in a way that`s both polite and persuasive — and doesn`t end up losing your job. This question is not the time to talk about how your boss was wrong or how you couldn`t stand a company policy and didn`t do anything about it. This is not the time to talk about when you corrected your boss when he made a mistake. No, this question really doesn`t concern you against your boss. Remember: your old boss won`t come with you at your new job. Ultimately, your boss has the last word. If he or she takes your opinion into account only to decide not to do so and move forward with the plan you did not agree with? Well, you have to respect that. It`s also important to point out that you don`t often have problems with your boss! To the question „Tell me about a time when you didn`t agree with your boss,“ no one wants to hear the answer, „Oh, at what time? There were so many! ». You can even take a minute before answering by saying, „Let me think for a minute“ before answering.
While no one expects you to always agree with your supervisor, they also don`t want to hear that you never agreed with them. This would be an immediate red flag for the hiring manager you`re struggling to work with. So how do you do that? How can you be productively at odds with your boss or another senior team executive? This explicitly invites your supervisor to share their thoughts or feelings with you, which means that the conversation is not aggressive or one-sided. Questions are crucial to making your opinion a proposal or request rather than a strict mandate. And while it may seem somehow spineless, this approach is effective when it comes to someone standing above you. By describing how you`ve handled a conflict in the past, you give the interviewer insight into how you would deal with conflict in the future – and demonstrate your level of maturity, communication skills, and willingness to speak out against authority figures. As we have often said in my recruiting office, „past performance is the best indicator of future performance.“ But Harsha`s growing satisfaction with turning the hotel around was shaken on a Saturday night by a phone call from his boss Najib, who believed harsha was losing business for the hotel by „harassing“ guests. Najib barely let Harsha get a word in Edgewise and abruptly ended the call. The hiring manager needs to know what the conflict was in order to understand why you chose this story.
After describing the situation, explain what you needed to do and why there was a problem. Once the hiring manager understands the situation, they will understand what you are dealing with. Whether it`s completing a project on an unreasonable schedule or trying to achieve inappropriate results, it`s important for the hiring manager to understand why there was a conflict in the first place. .