Tell me about a time you disagreed with a teammate. How did you handle it?

Question

Accepted Answer

Interviewers want to see that you can **disagree professionally**, focus on the problem rather than the person, and reach a workable outcome. Use the **STAR method** to keep your answer concrete.

## How to approach it

```text
S → set up the disagreement briefly (what, with whom)
T → what needed to be decided or resolved
A → how you listened, shared your view, and found common ground
R → the outcome and what the team gained
```

The key move: show you sought to *understand* their reasoning before pushing yours.

## Worked example

```text
S: A teammate wanted to skip writing tests to hit a demo date.
T: We had to ship something stable without burning the deadline.
A: I asked what worried him about the timeline, then proposed testing only the
   two riskiest paths. I framed it as protecting the demo, not slowing it.
R: We shipped on time, the demo didn't crash, and we agreed on a testing
   baseline for next time.
```

## Good vs weak

```text
✓ Focus on the issue, not personal blame
✓ Show you listened first
✓ End with a resolution and a lesson
✗ "I was right and they finally agreed"
✗ Avoiding conflict entirely / no real disagreement
```

## Why it matters

Disagreement is normal on healthy teams.

What hiring managers fear is someone who turns it personal or who caves instantly.

Showing curiosity about the other view signals emotional maturity — a trait that matters more as you grow.

A clean resolution proves you can keep relationships intact while still advocating for good engineering.