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"Tell us a time when you disagreed with someone..." I feel like the only way to properly answer these types of questions is to make up some BS scenario and tal

"Tell us a time when you disagreed with someone..." I feel like the only way to properly answer these types of questions is to make up some BS scenario and talk about how you worked to see the other person's perspective, added your thoughts and came to an even better solution than you could have done on your own. Do people really disagree so much in workplaces? These questions feel like they're training people how to be sociopaths...

janeerie 4y ago
I hate this one. The other one that gets me is "Tell me about a time where a team member was underperforming. What did you do?" I think the correct answer to this is to get on their ass about it or rat them out to their manager. In reality, what I have done is just do their work myself so it gets done. Pretty sure this is why I failed my Amazon interview.
- Beltalowda 4y ago
  Ideally the manager should already know they're underperforming anyway. But there are cases where they may not. I've told my manager that they should probably have a conversation with some people, or even let them go. I don't think that's "ratting" really. Like you already said: it's you who has to pick up the slack, and a lot of the time "underperforming" also means more stress and work for me (usually in the form of cleaning up after them, fixing their bugs, etc.) With some coworkers I genuinely wished they would just stay at home. This gets even worse if the quality (and thus, revenue) of the company gets affected by their underperforming, which also affects your salary, or even the company's survival! I also try to explicitly praise people in 1-on-1s btw.
SpicyLemonZest 4y ago
Yes, people disagree frequently in workplaces. I have quite a few real scenarios where I worked to see the other person's perspective and came to a better solution than I could have reached on my own, and when I interview people who don't that's a real concern. Resolving disputes about the right way to do something is typically a core job responsibility for anyone beyond the entry level.
- LouisSayers 4y ago
  I have a few that stick in my memory, but I don't know that they'd be appropriate - although they might give you a little insight. 1) We had a dev on the team who was adamant that we prefix all testing library functions in tests with their namespace. I argued that it in my experience it was pointless - no team I'd been on in the past ever had an issue with not prefixing them. He wouldn't budge on his stance. When he was on leave I changed all tests in the project, removing the namespace prefix. When he came back he seemed not too bothered by it, he got used to it and never brought it up again. We're still in contact now. 2) I was once brought in as a partner in a startup. They'd failed to make a product and I came in and built what they couldn't do from scratch into a working product in about 6 months. As more people used it the CEO started to become more active in the project. I was creating a new piece of functionality when he told me he wanted it another way. We didnt agree. I suggested taking it to users and getting their thoughts on it, he refused. We ended up disagreeing and then he pulled the "I am CEO card". Following the meeting I tried to understand why he wanted it the way he did and why I wanted it the way I did. I determined that my approach presented three separate bits of information in the graph, and his approach lost one of those pieces of information. I redesigned the UI to include all three parts of info but to look more like he wanted. I ended up essentially being pushed out of the business, he didn't give me any stock that was promised, and he ended up running that project into the ground. His company ended up failing and he's now a PM in some other company I believe... 3) I'm sure there are other instances but these are the two that pop into my mind. Most places I've worked people have discussions - perhaps there are disagreements, but they don't burn into my memory like the last two examples. Emotionally distressing events are much easier to remember. Not sure how people would take those stories in an interview...
wollsmoth 4y ago
I got asked once about a time I disagreed with my manager. I talked about a time we differed on how to approach a problem, I made my case, but they asserted to do it their way. Since they were my manager, I did, and it worked well enough. This did not play well during an interview. But idk, am I supposed to pretend I persuaded my boss to my side? Sometimes you gotta do what your boss asks even if you're not super jazzed about it.
- malfist 4y ago
  If it was an amazon interview that would have went over well. Disagree and commit is explicitly about being able to stand up to your team/manager and voice your opinion about how to do something correct, but if the team/manager overrules you, you commit the the vision the manager or team is building. Granted, it's hard to very any of that is true in an interview. 90% of people will disagree, then allow themselves to be overruled and then every chance they get rehash the arguments they lost anytime something tangential to it comes up. That's easy to hide in an interview.
  - wollsmoth 4y ago
    It's been a while but I think it was actually a Spotify interview. Was sad to not get in but I guess in retrospect it was for the best. I whiffed the Amazon interview more on pure algo problems iirc. It's been a while and I just haven't tried again.
    - malfist 4y ago
      Interviewing is such a crapshoot of luck. You can prep all you want, but if you get a grumpy interviewer or a challenge out of your wheelhouse things can go south and there's no way to show you're better. Wish there was a better way.
- Beltalowda 4y ago
  There was a time I ended up convincing my manager and things went my way. There was a time my manager ended up convincing me and we did things their way. There was a time we just couldn't agree and I ended up doing things their way because "they're the boss". There was a time we ended up putting it to a sort of "vote" for the entire team. There was a time we made a compromise we could both live with. There was a time another team member jumped in with an even better solution that either of us thought of. There was a time I ended up quitting my job because we didn't agree and he was a gigantic dick about it for no reason. --- All these things actually happened over my career, and no single one accurately describes how I'd deal with a situation where I disagree with my manager. I'd generally answer it like that, although I'd leave that last one out for obvious reasons (there was also a lot of build-up/context to that one that would take ages to explain, and is hard to explain in the first place).

janeerie 4y ago

I hate this one. The other one that gets me is "Tell me about a time where a team member was underperforming. What did you do?" I think the correct answer to this is to get on their ass about it or rat them out to their manager. In reality, what I have done is just do their work myself so it gets done. Pretty sure this is why I failed my Amazon interview.

Beltalowda 4y ago
Ideally the manager should already know they're underperforming anyway. But there are cases where they may not. I've told my manager that they should probably have a conversation with some people, or even let them go. I don't think that's "ratting" really. Like you already said: it's you who has to pick up the slack, and a lot of the time "underperforming" also means more stress and work for me (usually in the form of cleaning up after them, fixing their bugs, etc.) With some coworkers I genuinely wished they would just stay at home. This gets even worse if the quality (and thus, revenue) of the company gets affected by their underperforming, which also affects your salary, or even the company's survival! I also try to explicitly praise people in 1-on-1s btw.

SpicyLemonZest 4y ago

Yes, people disagree frequently in workplaces. I have quite a few real scenarios where I worked to see the other person's perspective and came to a better solution than I could have reached on my own, and when I interview people who don't that's a real concern. Resolving disputes about the right way to do something is typically a core job responsibility for anyone beyond the entry level.

LouisSayers 4y ago
I have a few that stick in my memory, but I don't know that they'd be appropriate - although they might give you a little insight. 1) We had a dev on the team who was adamant that we prefix all testing library functions in tests with their namespace. I argued that it in my experience it was pointless - no team I'd been on in the past ever had an issue with not prefixing them. He wouldn't budge on his stance. When he was on leave I changed all tests in the project, removing the namespace prefix. When he came back he seemed not too bothered by it, he got used to it and never brought it up again. We're still in contact now. 2) I was once brought in as a partner in a startup. They'd failed to make a product and I came in and built what they couldn't do from scratch into a working product in about 6 months. As more people used it the CEO started to become more active in the project. I was creating a new piece of functionality when he told me he wanted it another way. We didnt agree. I suggested taking it to users and getting their thoughts on it, he refused. We ended up disagreeing and then he pulled the "I am CEO card". Following the meeting I tried to understand why he wanted it the way he did and why I wanted it the way I did. I determined that my approach presented three separate bits of information in the graph, and his approach lost one of those pieces of information. I redesigned the UI to include all three parts of info but to look more like he wanted. I ended up essentially being pushed out of the business, he didn't give me any stock that was promised, and he ended up running that project into the ground. His company ended up failing and he's now a PM in some other company I believe... 3) I'm sure there are other instances but these are the two that pop into my mind. Most places I've worked people have discussions - perhaps there are disagreements, but they don't burn into my memory like the last two examples. Emotionally distressing events are much easier to remember. Not sure how people would take those stories in an interview...

wollsmoth 4y ago

I got asked once about a time I disagreed with my manager. I talked about a time we differed on how to approach a problem, I made my case, but they asserted to do it their way. Since they were my manager, I did, and it worked well enough. This did not play well during an interview. But idk, am I supposed to pretend I persuaded my boss to my side? Sometimes you gotta do what your boss asks even if you're not super jazzed about it.

malfist 4y ago
If it was an amazon interview that would have went over well. Disagree and commit is explicitly about being able to stand up to your team/manager and voice your opinion about how to do something correct, but if the team/manager overrules you, you commit the the vision the manager or team is building. Granted, it's hard to very any of that is true in an interview. 90% of people will disagree, then allow themselves to be overruled and then every chance they get rehash the arguments they lost anytime something tangential to it comes up. That's easy to hide in an interview.
- wollsmoth 4y ago
  It's been a while but I think it was actually a Spotify interview. Was sad to not get in but I guess in retrospect it was for the best. I whiffed the Amazon interview more on pure algo problems iirc. It's been a while and I just haven't tried again.
  - malfist 4y ago
    Interviewing is such a crapshoot of luck. You can prep all you want, but if you get a grumpy interviewer or a challenge out of your wheelhouse things can go south and there's no way to show you're better. Wish there was a better way.
Beltalowda 4y ago
There was a time I ended up convincing my manager and things went my way. There was a time my manager ended up convincing me and we did things their way. There was a time we just couldn't agree and I ended up doing things their way because "they're the boss". There was a time we ended up putting it to a sort of "vote" for the entire team. There was a time we made a compromise we could both live with. There was a time another team member jumped in with an even better solution that either of us thought of. There was a time I ended up quitting my job because we didn't agree and he was a gigantic dick about it for no reason. --- All these things actually happened over my career, and no single one accurately describes how I'd deal with a situation where I disagree with my manager. I'd generally answer it like that, although I'd leave that last one out for obvious reasons (there was also a lot of build-up/context to that one that would take ages to explain, and is hard to explain in the first place).