Recently Asked Situational Interview Questions & it's Answer- What's a time you disagreed with a decision that was made at work?

Everyone disagrees with the boss from time to time, but in asking this interview question, hiring managers want to know that you can do so in a productive, professional way. “You don’t want to tell the story about the time when you disagreed but your boss was being a jerk and you just gave in to keep the peace. And you don’t want to tell the one where you realized you were wrong,” says Peggy McKee of Career Confidential. “Tell the one where your actions made a positive difference on the outcome of the situation, whether it was a work-related outcome or a more effective and productive working relationship.

Go through the job description and highlight all the soft skills that are featured. You’ll likely find things like “ability to work on a team and independently,” “comfort with multitasking,” or “strong communication skills.”

Then, come up with an example of a time you demonstrated each of these traits—though keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need a different example for each. In fact, it’s better to come up with stories that are flexible, since you’ll likely have to adapt them to the exact questions anyway.

There are, of course, a few things that interviewers frequently like to ask about that will not be on the job descriptions. Be prepared for “negative” questions, like “Tell me about a time you had to deal with a conflict on your team” or “Tell me about a time you failed.” It’s not that interviewers are out to get you—how you handle conflict and failure are good things to know—it’s just not the best idea to put “must deal with frequent team conflict” in a job description.

Finally, brainstorm a few more questions that could potentially come up based on the position you’re applying for and your particular situation.

For example, if you have a big gap on your resume, you’ll want to be prepared to talk about why you’re no longer at your previous job (more on that here), or if you’re coming into a newly merged department, you should be prepared to discuss a time you’ve been part of a big change.

So, don’t stress too much about having the perfect stories lined up or the exact relevant experience. Instead, focus on the messages you’re trying to communicate to the hiring manager, and back them up with the stories that you have.