1. Tell us about your strengths.
I would say my biggest strength is my fair and frequent communication with coworkers, team
partners, or other collaborators I’m working or otherwise interacting with.
S- So for example, one time I was placed on a group project not too long after I had joined the
company, meaning I didn’t know my coworkers or managers super well yet. And while I wasn’t
placed as the project lead, I did end up as the defacto notetaker and meeting scheduler.
T- The project itself was to redesign the graphics of the packaging for the products the company
was producing at the time.
A- My main contribution to the effort outside of my direct contributions to the project was to
talk to my other teammembers about how their contributions were going, take notes during
meetings and distribute them afterwards, and to ask if any of the teammembers needed any
support from the team leader. When a teammember did need support, I would let the lead know
and schedule a team meeting if they felt their obstacle, mistake, or other issue required one.
R- In the end, the final versions of the designs we came up with were accepted by our higher ups
and we finished the project with our coworker relationships intact, and I even became good
friends with a couple of them!
2. Tell us about your weaknesses.
And my biggest weakness is that I can tend to be impatient with others if I am waiting on a
contribution of theirs, especially if I have to hold off on working on my contribution until I
receive theirs.
S- While I can’t remember a specific example from a past position right now, I can tell you an
example that is very close to how these situations typically go. If I were waiting on a coworker’s
contribution to a larger project, and I hadn’t received it or an update on it in a few days, I very
likely would send them a message asking them about it.
T- *Not relevant*
A- The message would most likely have questions about what is holding them back, why they
haven’t worked on it lately or updated anyone about its progress, and or how the team or a
higher up could help them work through this obstacle, and potentially others if the situation is
especially pressing.
R- In the past, coworkers have sent me messages in return telling me about the issue that had
been slowing their progress. Though, a good number of them also added after their answers
that they felt intimidated or as though I were accusing them of not working hard enough
because of my questions and or the phrasing of them. However, I understand that asking them
what is going on or why they aren’t progressing can feel like I am interrogating them, and I am
actively working on being less overbearing and choosing gentler words or phrasing if the time to
ask truly has come.
3. How do you handle conflict?
While I am very much not the type of person to find myself in conflict with another person
often, when it does happen or when I find others in conflict, my biggest priority is to keep a level
head and try to remove myself (or diffuse the situation when it’s between others) as soon as
possible.
S- During a volunteer effort, I and others were working with an organization that sets up field
days for disadvantaged children. I was told that my job was to contact the field and bowling alley
they were renting to hold the events in, and in the office with me while I was making those calls
were three other volunteers who were doing other paperwork related jobs.
T- *Already mentioned*
A- While I was writing down what the representative had told me during the call, I noticed out
of the corner of my eye that the volunteer, who was supposed to be messaging the families to
confirm one last time whether they would still be able to come or not, was simply going down
the list marking down seemingly at random the families’ so-called responses to the messages
they were supposed to have been sent two weeks prior. When I walked by to put my notes and
other papers in the pile for the organization’s review, I looked at his computer screen and saw
that the email service wasn’t even active. That combined with how quickly he was going down
the list made me incredibly suspicious of just how valid these ‘replies’ were. So when I made my
way back to my seat, I told him that his email service had gone into sleep mode, which the
screen had by then, and he reeled away from me like he totally wasn’t expecting another person
to show up and looked super embarrassed too.
R- While this didn’t confirm or deny anything in terms of if he had blown off his job, it did give
me enough reason to send a report to the manager that had assigned me to my position. So I
sent them a message telling them about what I had seen and what happened during our brief
conflict, and they replied thanking me for the report and that the situation would be looked
into. It turned out that while he hadn’t not sent the messages to the families like he was meant
to, he had decided to falsely fill in their replies when the actual replies had been lost rather than
tell his manager about the situation.