Tell Me How You Handled A Difficult Situation Example Answers For Interviews

Continuing our series of tricky interview questions, in this article we’ll share our… Tell me how you handled a difficult situation example answers!

There’s little more annoying in an interview than struggling to think of a good answer on the spot to a relatively innocuous seeming question.

And “tell me how you handled a difficult situation” or similar-sounding questions certainly fall into that category.

But by reading this guide, you’ve made a good start already. You’re doing some research and thinking ahead about how to handle this tricky question.

We’ll explain what interviewers are trying to find out when asking you this question and the pitfalls to avoid when answering it.

We’ll also outline how to tackle this question in general before sharing some example answers to help put the thinking into practice!

Why interviewers ask this and what they want to hear

First of all, to put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes, it helps to think about what the different types of interview are. There are problem-solving interviews and even ‘stress interviews’ with different formats aiming to find out varied aspects about the candidate.

The “tell me how you handled a difficult situation” question falls into the behavioural interview category. Such questions focus on a candidate’s previous professional experience and how far they have developed.

• The question explores the candidate’s teamwork and collaboration skills – 65% of teams that collaborate well stay with a company long-term, according to HBR
• It also helps to analyse leadership skills – as companies with strong leaders are 13x more likely to do better than their competitors, according to LinkedIn 

In contrast, strength-based interview questions explore what the candidate enjoys doing, finds motivating and succeeds at. Here, interviewers are looking for candidates likely to perform more effectively than average and as a result, stay at a company for longer.

When asking “tell me how you handled a difficult situation” or similar questions, interviewers are looking for signs that you can:

• Solve problems at short notice
• Adapt to changing circumstances
• Manage potentially stressful situations
• Handle conflict responsibly

But watch out – if you’re not careful, some instinctive answers to this question can put you on the back foot with interviewers…

Why it’s a tricky question that could catch you out

It’s easy to fall into a trap of including some negative-sounding elements in your answer. By bad-mouthing a former colleague, client, employer or just the general situation, you could come across as difficult to work with yourself.

It’s a tricky balance to strike with this question though. “Tell me how you handled a difficult situation” means the interviewer wants to hear about some genuinely challenging circumstances.

Playing it too safe and describing how you handled a relatively simple, non-challenging situation won’t be a good answer either. That suggests you’re misinterpreting the question or just haven’t yet had any tricky experiences in your career to learn from.

That’s why it’s a good idea to think about interview questions like this in advance and consider your approximate answer. That way you can ensure that any instinctive answers not quite hitting the mark stay in your head, while you work out how to respond to this question the right way. 

How to handle this question

In some ways, you can prepare for this question in a similar way to the how do you work under pressure example answer we shared recently. However with that question, there’s less risk of accidentally saying something that sounds too negative.

If you’re just starting to climb the career ladder, it’s perfectly fine to use an example from your education or even extracurricular activities. Otherwise, think back to relevant situations in your career so far such as:

• Tension with colleagues
• Client or customer complaints
• Raising issues or concerns
• Tight deadlines

In general, think of a problem and how you solved it.

These are the elements to focus on conveying in your answer. Think about how to convey these aspects in advance but don’t rehearse your response too much – it should sound somewhat spontaneous on the day:

• Specificity: Provide concrete details about the situation
• Your personal actions: Highlight your own problem-solving skills and initiative, rather than that of colleagues
• Positive outcomes: Emphasise how you turned a difficult situation into an opportunity or useful experience
• Growth: Say what you learned from the experience

To plan and structure your answer, we always recommend using the STAR method in situations like this. If you’re not familiar with it, STAR stands for:

1. Situation: The specific challenge or problem you faced.
2. Task: Your role and responsibilities in the situation.
3. Action: The steps you took to address the issue.
4. Result: The outcome of your actions and the lessons learned.

Running through your answer with the situation overview first, followed by the task at hand, then your actions and wrapping up with the end result is a flow that’s easy to follow.

Let’s see how this works in practice with some examples.

Tell me how you handled a difficult situation example answers

#1: Conflict with a co-worker

“I led a project where one team member was consistently underperforming. This was creating tension and affecting the timeline, so I set up a meeting with them to understand the cause.

It turned out they were feeling overwhelmed and lacked confidence in certain areas. I provided them with additional support and resources, including daily mentorship and some specific training. 

Within a week their performance – and the overall team camaraderie – improved significantly and we delivered the project on time.”

#2: Project failure

“I was responsible for a new product launch that faced numerous setbacks due to some supply chain issues. These challenges impacted the project timeline and budget significantly.

To address the situation, I gathered the team to reassess the project goals and develop new contingency plans. Based on their feedback I implemented cost-saving measures. 

I kept stakeholders informed of the situation and progress and although the project didn’t meet its initial goals, we successfully launched a scaled-down version of the product. This minimised the losses and now we factor similar contingencies into all our projects with supply chains.”

#3: Customer service challenge

“I once had a customer who was extremely upset about a product defect. They were demanding a full refund and compensation.

To resolve the situation, I listened to their concerns and empathised with their frustration. I assured them that I would take ownership of the issue and work towards a satisfactory outcome.

I escalated the matter to the relevant departments to speed up the replacement process and offered additional compensation as a gesture of goodwill. In short, I managed to de-escalate the situation – the customer was eventually satisfied and went on to become a repeat customer.”

Final thoughts: Tell me how you handled a difficult situation example answers for interviews

Those were our tell me about a challenging situation and how you overcame it example answers. We hope this guide will help you prepare for future interviews!

Preparing for other interview questions? Here are the most common interview questions and how to answer them!

And for more informative guides, check out the topics we have covered in depth throughout the PurpleCV blog.

We aim to cover every possible scenario in your job search. For example, if you’re applying for work in Europe, check out our recent guide on the European CV format.

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