Have you ever had a conflict with your previous boss/professor?

October 4, 2023

Did you ever have any problems with your previous manager?

In an HR Interview, it is common to ask candidates about their relationships with previous bosses/managers/professors, etc. Questions like “Have you ever had a conflict with your previous boss/professor?” are commonly asked in interviews. Here we have given a guide to tackle these questions.

Page Highlights:

Why: “Have you ever had a conflict with your previous boss/professor” is asked?
How to answer: “Have you ever had a conflict with your previous boss/professor?”
Best Answers for: “Did you ever have any problems with your previous manager?”

Why: “Have you ever had a conflict with your previous boss/professor” is asked?

Conflict management is an important skill to have, which the interviewers look for in candidates. It is important for an employee to know how to deal with disagreements. The aim of asking this question is to check how a candidate deals with authority. Employers are not keen to hire candidates who have a history of conflicts with management.

How to answer: “Have you ever had a conflict with your previous boss/professor?”

This is a very tricky question to answer. Simply saying a yes or no will not suffice for this situation.

Important Points to Remember:

If a candidate says that there have been situations where they have gone into arguments with authority figures, then it shows a rebellious personality. And the interviewer might be skeptical about hiring such a candidate, as there can be a chance they will have a repeat of the same in the new company.
On the other hand, if a candidate says that they have never had any conflicts with their professors/boss, it can come out as fake or pretentious. It can also give off an impression that the candidate does not have any opinion of their own, or is someone who lacks the courage to voice their opinions.
Hence it becomes important for the candidate to show the interviewer that they possess conflict management skills.
Therefore it is important to present a balanced answer, highlighting your ability to resolve conflict without using or inciting any violence.

Use the following points to frame a suitable answer

Talk about the authority figure:- First, you can give a brief introduction of the person/people with whom you had a conflict. You should explain the relationship you had with them.

Explain the issue Give an idea about what the issue was. The importance of the “matter” plays a vital role. The interviewer will check exactly what topic/issue you care about enough that you were willing to take a stand for.

Explain the consequences Tell the interviewer how this issue in particular was affecting you or something you care about. You have to show the interviewer how drastic the situation was for you to take such extreme steps.

Talk about your actions Once you have cleared the situation and consequences, then talk about your actions. Give a brief account of what you did in the situation, how you tried to manage the conflict. This is the part where you can show to the interviewer your conflict management skills.

Conclusion It is important to give a proper conclusion to your answer. Conclude with the overall result and the outcome of the situation.

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Best Answers for: “Did you ever have any problems with your previous manager?”

Refer the sample answers given below.

Answer 1:

Once during my fourth semester in college I had a disagreement with one of my professors. We were supposed to submit a project report which consisted of ten marks, and we had to submit before a particular deadline. I submitted the report before the time, however the professor included my name in late submission list, deducting 4 marks and judging my project on 6 marks. This would have heavily affected my gpa for that semester. So I ended up going to the professor. He however was not ready to listen and was adamant that I have submitted my project late. Ultimately I ended up talking with a few other students who were facing the same issue with the professor. Together we went to the professor once more, but the same results. So we took the matter to the HoD, who intervened and spoke with the professor. Then the professor considered our situation and removed our name from the late submission list.

Answer 2:

I do not think I have had a conflict with my boss or manager. However there was this one time when my team was working in a cross over project with another department. The work ethic of that department was not compatible with me, and I found a lot of errors in their operations. I repeatedly told my team leader about the errors of their way, however my team leader did not take any actions, asking me to continue working. Ultimately one day it was too much for me and I ended up talking unprofessionaly to my team leader and how he was not doing anything to make the situation better.

My team leader however was a patient person and he calmy explained to me about how certain situations are not in our hand and we cannot do anything about them. He told me that every team has their way of doing things, and we cannot force anyone to work according to our ways.

I understood his point and apologised for my misbehavior.

Answer 3:

I ended up arguing with my reporting manager as I found out that I was marked absent for days I had worked, and my salary was deducted accordingly. This came as a shock to me since they had a deducted a huge portion of my salary. I brought to this to my reporting manager’s notice but he paid no attention initially saying that I was absent for those days.

So I went back to my daily activity tracking sheet and took proofs of the work I was doing on the days I was marked absent. With that I reached out to the HR, who was convinced with my proofs. The HR spoke with the reporting manager and ultimately the situation got resolved with them giving me the deducted amount.

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FAQs on Have you ever had a conflict with your previous boss/professor?

Question: Can I give the example of a situation where the matter escalated into violence?

Answer:-

It would definitely not be recommended to do so. Telling the interviewer about such situations will lead to a very bad effect on the interviewer and show you as someone not capable of rationality.

Question: What do I say if I don't have any such incident?

Answer:-

If you do not have any incident where you had to manage conflict, you can tell so to the interviewer. However, it is advisable that you mention at least one incident, even if it was not exactly a conflict. Any situation where you had to take a stand against or for something, you can talk about it.

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