A common tactic during a job interview is to have you answer a question about past bosses. How you respond to the questions gives interviewers insights into how you handle collaboration, authority figures and getting past conflict. Your attitude reflects how you're likely to conduct yourself with your new employer, which is why interviewers want to know how you react to these four queries.
1. Best and Worst Supervisors
An interviewer may ask, "Who was your best supervisor, who was your worst supervisor, and why?" Answering the best boss question is probably easier when you relate the things you learned from the person that made you a better employee.
The query about past bosses who aren't so good can be tricky, but you can still remain positive. Instead of criticizing a supervisor, say you were able to adapt to someone who has a very different work ethic from yourself. Point out that you were able to work together for the success of the department.
2. Disagreements
"How did you handle any disagreements you had with your boss?" Everyone has a disagreement at work sometime. Did you argue vociferously with any past bosses, or did you respectfully disagree and point out valid reasons to back up your argument? In the latter case, a supervisors could still respect your ideas even if he decided his way was better.
Tell a story about how you got results because of your actions. As an example, suppose you felt some past bosses went in a direction that you felt could harm the company. After you made several valid points, a manager took one of your suggestions. Tell how this suggestion fit into the overall picture of what happened during your time there.
3. Difficult Managers
"Have you ever had difficulty getting along with past bosses?" This is a different issue to a worst boss or a disagreement. Sometimes, personalities clash and that's just the way things are in an office. You can still show a positive attitude even though this question is loaded towards a negative response. A bad supervisor might have been a total jerk towards everyone, but you could still adapt to his way of doing things. You could say you learned many valuable lessons about communication during a difficult time with a former manager.
4. Needs Improvement
An interviewer may ask "What would your former manager say was an area that needs improvement?" Describe how this weakness truly is a negative behavior, but then explain how you overcome it. If you tend to be slow with tasks because you're always double-checking that results are correct, you can explain how you've learned to trust your own judgement and that not everything needs to be examined multiple times.
These potential questions about past bosses at your job interview are meant to show your character as opposed to giving you a forum for venting about previous supervisors. Instead of railing about former managers, answer each question with an attitude of gratitude regarding the lessons you learned from those experiences.
Photo courtesy of pakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.
Register or sign in today!