'How did you handle a difficult situation?' in Job Interview

"Tell me about a difficult situation or challenge you faced in a workplace"
By asking this question, employers are trying to see how you (A) take charge in handling a challenging situation, or (B) collaborate with your coworkers as a team to solve a conflict. They want to know if you have critical thinking and problem solving skill, how you approach the problem and the level of responsibility you take in challenging situations.

It is very important to make sure that you use an example that demonstrates your ability to handle difficult situation. So do not mention about when you elevated the responsibility. Rather, talk about times when you stepped up and took a leadership position by collaborating with your coworkers.

In order to construct effective story, use PAR model and follow the 3 steps.

1 Problem: Identify the problem. What was the issue?
2 Action: How did you and your coworkers analyzed the problem and took actions to solve the issue?
3 Result: What was the positive outcome in result of the action?

By following PAR model, you can frame your story well.
Watch the video to see example answer and start constructing your answer.
Jobspeaker is a FREE service to help job seekers find better jobs. Login today!

[sindhus]

Waooo!!!
I was unable to think of a situation where I performed as a problem solver but while watching this video all of a sudden I remembered a situation where I solved a problem and played as an integral part of my team!

Thank you so much for this informative video!

[seanbrown]

I hate this question I always make some shit up as I go, I don't believe you can prepare for an interview because you really don't know what they are going to ask you, you just have to answer your questions fast and they have to make sense

[blackjaguar]

1:09 Some jobs teach you that if a customer gives you a hard time, you notify the supervisor or manager to handle the situation.

[freyalajoie]

State the Problem you were facing, how you took action, and the explain how you grew as a person and worker after the positive outcome.

[karlamorales]

thank you so much for this informartion this is very useful specially for the ones who are not english native speaker and need to get ready to answer the questions, all the job speaker videos give great advises when it comes to get a job, I had an interview today and that was exactly the asked me

[vintageplastic]

My answer: I like to work on teams where I'm in charge and there are no other team members.

[Morphixx]

All of these situations in these videos have never happened to me. Who are all these people doing proposals for clients and trying to be under budget? Most of us have just worked in call centers or fast food ..lol.. :(

[AntiqueAngel]

But what if you never had to deal with any difficult situation at work involving other employees or at least just can not remember a time that you ever did; could you an incident out side of a previous job like at home with family members, or at least make up a fake up example then say what you would do if the situation ever came true at all?

[anthonymarcos]

Thanks, this helped me remember a moment for my answers!

[SC-kenh]

All the videos in your series are great. Will remember PAR the next time I need to prep for situational questions. What's the next video topic to be produced?

[positiveandhealthy]

You inspires me a LOT, A HUGE THANK YOU FOR YOUUU 💕

[benefitsapprenticeshipsuk]

Great series of Videos you have produced. We are sharing

[milletaycocho]

Super amazing video first ever on you tubeI liked your video and shared with my all and every friendsGood And amazing video

[destina]

I noticed lots of passive aggressive people here hating this video because the girl was the smart one 😂

[francesmorris]

I see that you should ask questions to resolve the problem

[awaizqureshi]

How do you manage with your more experience coworker as there might to be possibility of ego crash

[ashishranjan]

I don't really like the answer.It should focus more on her achievement. Th only thing she did was brining them both in same room? Why wasn't it done before?

[tamaracole]

No one really invites their coworkers out to lunch this is a rarity

[franzhaas]

THESE VIDEOS ARE GREAT! BUT THE ENTERVIEWER LOOKS HIGH AS A KITE.

[celva]

I can't understand your English (this slang).