Question: Give me an example of a time when you had to explain something fairly complex to a frustrated client. How did you handle this situation?

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Follow-up questions:

What did you learn from that experience?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Skills:

Basic – Critical Thinking,Basic – Monitoring (Making observations of self and environment),Social – Coordination (Adjusting one’s own actions in relation to others),Social – Service Orientation (Customer Service/Focus),Social – Social Perceptiveness

Abilities:

Cognitive – Category Flexibility (Mental Flexibility)

Other Factors:

Personality-Job Fit,Self-Awareness

Work Activity (Task):

Mental Processes – Judging the Value of Things, Services, or People

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Achievement/Effort (Action/Result Orientation),Adaptability/Flexibility,Analytical Thinking,Patience

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

The candidate’s customer management skills.
The candidate’s professionalism.

Red Flags to Watch For:

Answers that reveal unprofessionalism.
The candidate’s poor customer management skills.

Sample Answer:

One time I handled a difficult customer who was frustrated because he was unhappy with how his complaint was handled. I explained everything to him after he has calmed down. I just apologized on behalf of the company and it turned out well.

Question Source: Unknown