We asked David Meister, a campus recruitment specialist at Suncor Energy, for his take on how to answer one of the many odd and confusing questions you might encounter during your next job interview. Read on, and good luck!

Give an example of a time when you had to work with someone who was difficult to deal with. Why were they difficult and how did you handle it?

When I ask this question in an interview it always seems to change the mood and candidates struggle finding examples. Why does this happen, if we know that dealing with difficult people is a common situation? We've all had a time where we had to deal with someone who was difficult or challenging either at work, school or even in line for a coffee. Managing how we deal with these situations is going to differ depending on the situation, the personalities involved, and the type of relationship we have with this person.

We all want to leave a positive impression, particularly in an interview. You may worry that you will be seen as causing the difficult situation. As the interviewee, you need to look past this. Many people respond with, I've never had to deal with a difficult person, I get along with everyone. The reason interviewers ask this question is not to identify how easygoing you are, but to understand how you manage through challenging situations. Are you able to stay focused on the end goal? Are you able to come up with an acceptable resolution? What we are looking for are conflict resolution skills.

To prepare for the question, think of a time when you had to deal with a problematic individual. Practice describing the situation; why you considered this person 'difficult' and what the goal was in your interaction. Then describe the action you took to resolve the issue or reach your goal and finally, prepare to discuss the result of your action. An example of a well-rounded answer could be: I was the leader of a group project in a second year class and a team member disagreed with all my suggestions for completing the assignment. After continued negative responses to my alternative ideas, I decided to speak with him after class and told him that although he disagrees with my ideas, we have to work together to finish the project on time. He agreed and although he still didn't like some of my ideas, we worked together to get the project done on time.

Remember: your answer should not focus on the situation in itself, it should be about the way you were able to describe how you handled yourself. jp