Question: Describe a time when you had to adapt to fit someone else’s work style.

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Tell us about a time when you had to adjust to someone’s way of working to achieve a goal or complete a project?

Follow-up questions:

What compromises did you have to make to yourself to adjust to other’s work style?
Do you think adapting to fit to other’s work style can change your own way of working?
Did you find anything in the way you worked then which has benefited you and that you still work that way?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Active Learning,Basic – Critical Thinking,Basic – Learning Strategies,Basic – Science and Logic,Social – Coordination (Adjusting one’s own actions in relation to others),Social – Rapport Buiding/Relating and Connecting with others

Abilities:

Cognitive – Visualisation

Other Factors:

Big 5 – Openness to Experience (Open Mindedness),Candidate Preparedness,Personal Improvement (Growth),Personality-Job Fit,Personality-Organization Fit,Self-Awareness

Work Activity (Task):

Interacting with Others – Assisting and Caring for Others,Interacting with Others – Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates,Interacting with Others – Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others,Interacting with Others – Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships

Work Context (Person-Job/Team/Org Fit):

Interpersonal Relationships – Relationship With Supervisor,Interpersonal Relationships – Work With Work Group or Team (As a member, not a leader)

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Adaptability/Flexibility,Analytical Thinking,Cooperation,Handling Ambiguity,Humility,Self Control,Social Orientation (Work Alone vs Group Work)

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

If the candidate is flexible enough to change the working style and enthusiastic to learn new ways of working.
If the candidate has an open-minded approach to explore new ideas at work.
If the candidate has developed good relationship during this period.
If the candidate has developed positive traits to help them improve at work.

Red Flags to Watch For:

If the candidate has negative view point about working according to other’s work style.

Sample Answer:

N/A

Question Source: https://www.totaljobs.com/advice/most-common-competency-based-interview-questions