Page 107 - How To Answer Interview Questions (II)

Job Interview Question 53

Tell me about a time when you misjudged a person

Do not make this story a serious example of how you misjudged them with a severe negative
impact.Keep this story as positive as possible, with the least amount of repercussions.

My story is this one:

“When I was promoted to Regional Product Manager, my first task was to visit all of my newly-
inherited sales reps to evaluate their performance. I flew Southwest out to Orange County,
California.I stepped out of the plane to go down the steps to the tarmac (pre-9/11) in my very
conservative navy suit with my very conservative background and saw my sales rep waiting for me
on the tarmac wearing a pink chiffon scarf waving in the wind 8 feet out behind her.

I thought, ‘Oh, no—whatam I going to do about this?’I knew that several people had talked about
her very positively, and I had had great conversations with her on the phone. It didn’t matter. I saw
that scarf and made an immediate and negative judgment about her—that she was not a serious sales
rep, that she was less competent than what I would want to see, and that she wasn’t very business
savvy.

As I drove her sales route with her and watched her interact with her customers, I changed my
mind. This woman was a fantastic sales rep. She had a warm, friendly style that was very different
from my approach, but very effective. She talked to them about their grandkids while she picked up
their purchase orders. She was obviously good at her business and was clearly driving business
forward. My report was that she was very different, but that she was an outstanding member of the
team.

I knew that other sales managers in my company would force this woman to change her style
anyway, to fit in with the established company image, but I decided to be open minded and let it go.
This woman went on to be one of the top reps in the region.”

You could tell the story of how you thought someone at work didn’t like you until you realized that
this person acted like that toward everyone. You were able to stop taking it personally, and got along
just fine with that person with no problems. Since then, you try not to jump to conclusions about other
people’s motivations before you’ve gathered more information first.
Tell a brief, innocuous story that taught you a lesson in people skills and made you a better and