Page 40 - How To Answer Interview Questions (II)

Job Interview Question 15

Give an example of a political situation you've dealt with on the job

Office politics are the “people” part of getting things done at work. Every organization is made up of
individuals with varying power levels, goals, relationship lines, and personal emotional baggage they
carry with them every day.

This question gets at your interpersonal, communication, and conflict-resolution skills.How do
you bring your emotional intelligence into play to navigate in situations brimming with the baggage
and hidden agendas of the various players?

Maybe even more importantly, can you do this without bringing your own emotional baggage or
reactions to the situation? This shows your maturity, self-control and level of professionalism.

A ‘difficult’ political situation is going to be one where the balance of power is not in your
favor. Your example needs to be one where you exercised diplomacy or tact to not just come out
unharmed, but ideally to make all the players satisfied with the outcome (everybody wins).

So, a great story to tell might be the time you were involved in a group project where one member
kept throwing up roadblocks that angered the rest of the group, so you took that person aside, asked
questions, found areas of agreement, came back in, built consensus, and got the project done.

As much as you can, keep the story you choose to tell positive, with you in a mediator role
rather than in the direct line of fire.

You don’t want to talk about how you had to distance yourself from your boss because the CEO
hated him, and walk the tightrope until you could get out of Dodge.

You don’t want to talk about how your boss wanted you to do something unethical, and you had to
tactfully get out of doing it.

Stories like those are too negative, too gossipy, and don’t accomplish the goal of every interview
answer you give: to show your fit for the job.

Keep it positive and show how you made a positive impact on the situation.