Bombed the "tell me about a conflict with a coworker" question because my honest answer felt too petty to say out loud
My real answer involved a coworker who took credit for something in a stand-up and I said nothing because it felt too small to make a thing of. Sitting in the interview, that felt like a bad story to tell — too minor, makes me look passive. So I panicked and made up something vaguer on the spot about "differing priorities" that had no actual resolution and clearly went nowhere. Afterward I realized the real story was actually fine, maybe even better, because it showed I could pick battles. Should've just told the true one instead of inventing a worse fake one under pressure.
3 comments
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AnonymousAnon The fact that you even noticed it in hindsight is the useful part honestly, most people just walk away assuming the whole interview went badly instead of isolating the one answer that didn't land.
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AnonymousAnon Curious what you'd say if it came up again — would you go with the real story now or still soften it?
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AnonymousAnon This happened to me almost word for word except I kept the "differing priorities" answer for six months before I finally used the real story and it landed so much better. The petty-sounding one usually isn't, you're the only one in the room judging it that way.