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Bernhard Barker
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Answering a behavioural interview question How should I answer "Tell me about a pasttime you had a conflict at work whenwork" if I've never had any conflicts?

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What to answer at Answering a behavioural interview if there was noquestion about a past conflict before?at work when I've never had any conflicts

In the past year I had interviews with a couple of US-based IT companies for a technical role at their European offices. The interviews were eerily similar: phone from HR, coding interviews over video call, then on site interviews: coding, architecture design and "behavioral" interviews. In each behavioral interview I received a question: "Tell me about a time you had a conflict at work".

Tell me about a time you had a conflict at work

The thing is, in my 20 years of work I don't remember Iever having had a conflict with anyone. This is what I told the interviewers and they didn't seem to be satisfied with this answer. I'mI've been married for 10 years, never had a row with my wife (I also told this to one interviewer). I don't know what to make from this question - I understand they want to know my conflict resolution skills, but I honestly don't remember I needed these. 

Maybe it's a cultural thing, in US-based companies conflicts are more common than in the European companies I worked so far? Also, I'm fairly introvert, maybe that's why conflicts and me are avoiding each other. Anyway, I looked up some examples on Google for this question, but they don't seem to apply to me (for example I never had people reporting to me; no manager ever "blew up" on me). 

Even if I'd face a conflict, I can't imagine any other solution that to "talk with the other person and if we still disagree, go to our manager". How should I answer a question like this?How should I answer a question like this?

What to answer at behavioural interview if there was no conflict before?

In the past year I had interviews with a couple of US-based IT companies for a technical role at their European offices. The interviews were eerily similar: phone from HR, coding interviews over video call, then on site interviews: coding, architecture design and "behavioral" interviews. In each behavioral interview I received a question: "Tell me about a time you had a conflict at work". The thing is, in my 20 years of work I don't remember I had a conflict with anyone. This is what I told the interviewers and they didn't seem to be satisfied with this answer. I'm married for 10 years, never had a row with my wife (I also told this to one interviewer). I don't know what to make from this question - I understand they want to know my conflict resolution skills, but I honestly don't remember I needed these. Maybe it's a cultural thing, in US-based companies conflicts are more common than in the European companies I worked so far? Also, I'm fairly introvert, maybe that's why conflicts and me are avoiding each other. Anyway, I looked up some examples on Google for this question, but they don't seem to apply to me (for example I never had people reporting to me; no manager ever "blew up" on me). Even if I'd face a conflict, I can't imagine any other solution that to "talk with the other person and if we still disagree, go to our manager". How should I answer a question like this?

Answering a behavioural interview question about a past conflict at work when I've never had any conflicts

In the past year I had interviews with a couple of US-based IT companies for a technical role at their European offices. The interviews were eerily similar: phone from HR, coding interviews over video call, then on site interviews: coding, architecture design and "behavioral" interviews. In each behavioral interview I received a question:

Tell me about a time you had a conflict at work

The thing is, in my 20 years of work I don't remember ever having had a conflict with anyone. This is what I told the interviewers and they didn't seem to be satisfied with this answer. I've been married for 10 years, never had a row with my wife (I also told this to one interviewer). I don't know what to make from this question - I understand they want to know my conflict resolution skills, but I honestly don't remember I needed these. 

Maybe it's a cultural thing, in US-based companies conflicts are more common than in the European companies I worked so far? Also, I'm fairly introvert, maybe that's why conflicts and me are avoiding each other. Anyway, I looked up some examples on Google for this question, but they don't seem to apply to me (for example I never had people reporting to me; no manager ever "blew up" on me). 

Even if I'd face a conflict, I can't imagine any other solution that to "talk with the other person and if we still disagree, go to our manager". How should I answer a question like this?

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What to answer at behavioural interview if there was no conflict before?

In the past year I had interviews with a couple of US-based IT companies for a technical role at their European offices. The interviews were eerily similar: phone from HR, coding interviews over video call, then on site interviews: coding, architecture design and "behavioral" interviews. In each behavioral interview I received a question: "Tell me about a time you had a conflict at work". The thing is, in my 20 years of work I don't remember I had a conflict with anyone. This is what I told the interviewers and they didn't seem to be satisfied with this answer. I'm married for 10 years, never had a row with my wife (I also told this to one interviewer). I don't know what to make from this question - I understand they want to know my conflict resolution skills, but I honestly don't remember I needed these. Maybe it's a cultural thing, in US-based companies conflicts are more common than in the European companies I worked so far? Also, I'm fairly introvert, maybe that's why conflicts and me are avoiding each other. Anyway, I looked up some examples on Google for this question, but they don't seem to apply to me (for example I never had people reporting to me; no manager ever "blew up" on me). Even if I'd face a conflict, I can't imagine any other solution that to "talk with the other person and if we still disagree, go to our manager". How should I answer a question like this?