Core java interview Questions You'll Most Likely Be Asked (Second Edition)

Tell me about a time when you had a problem with another
person, that, in hindsight, you wished you had handled
differently.

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349.
Answer:
The key to this question is to show your capabilities of reflection
and your learning process. Explain the situation, how you
handled it at the time, what the outcome of the situation was, and
finally, how you would handle it now. Most importantly, tell the
interviewer why you would handle it differently now - did your
previous solution create stress on the relationship with the other
person, or do you wish that you had stood up more for what you
wanted? While you shouldn’t elaborate on how poorly you
handled the situation before, the most important thing is to show
that you’ve grown and reached a deeper level of understanding
as a result of the conflict.
As an example:
Many years ago, I had a coworker who never wanted to listen to
anything I said, or any of my ideas. They were very stuck in their
ways and reluctant in learning new things. I thought the best thing
to do was to just avoid them and let them do their own thing and
avoid confrontation. In hindsight I could have done better to
understand their perspective and potentially their fear of change,
and make better attempts at communicating the need for a new
process and assuring them that the new process may have made
their job easier and we were all a team and would support each
other throughout any change. Over the years my ability to
communicate and realize that communication is important for
teamwork and ultimately the company, has dramatically
improved.
Tell me about a time when you negotiated a conflict