'Tell Me About a Time You Worked With Someone You Didn't Like' Interview Answer

The did-not-like story is a trap for people who tell it honestly and a missed chance for people who dodge it; the version that works names the friction briefly, shows how you kept it about the work, finds something you came to respect, and ends with what the work produced. It is a quieter relative of a conflict with a coworker, it often overlaps with a time you worked on a diverse team, and its sharper version is how do you deal with a rude coworker. This page explains what the interviewer is really asking, gives a structure that works, three sample answers of forty to eighty words to adapt, the mistakes that sink the answer, and a ten-minute practice routine.

What the interviewer is asking

Whether you can work with people you would not choose, which is most of working life; whether you keep personal dislike out of professional conduct; whether you can find something to respect in someone who irritates you; and whether you talk about people fairly when they are not there. Interviewers also listen for the dodge, 'I get along with everyone', which nobody believes. The strong answer admits the dislike in one neutral sentence and spends the rest on behaviour and results.

A structure that works

1. The friction, in one neutral sentence: a different pace, a different style, a habit that grated.
2. Keeping it about the work: the agreements you made, the way you communicated.
3. What you came to respect: something real.
4. What the work produced, and what you learned about working with people unlike you.

Three sample answers

Peer

I worked for a year beside a colleague whose style was the opposite of mine: he interrupted, he decided fast, and he said what he thought about my work in front of others. I did not like it and I did not pretend to. What I did was agree with him how we would work: I asked him to give me feedback one-to-one, and I promised to come to decisions faster. He kept his side and I kept mine. By the end of the project I had come to rely on his speed in meetings, and he on my thoroughness. We shipped on time, and I would work with him again, which I would not have predicted.

Cross-team

There was a manager in another department who I found dismissive and who I think found me slow. We had to deliver a joint project. I decided early that I would not try to like him; I would try to make the work easy for both of us. I set up a short weekly check-in with a written agenda, I sent him decisions in writing so there was no room for 'I never agreed to that', and I gave him credit publicly when his team did well. The project landed. He never became someone I would have a coffee with, and the work was some of the cleanest I have done.

Manager

As a manager I had a team member I found difficult: negative in meetings, quick to point out why things would fail. My instinct was to avoid him. Instead I started asking him first in planning, because his objections were often right, and I asked him privately to bring a suggestion with each problem. The negativity turned into the team's best risk management. I still would not say I liked him, but I rated him highly and I said so in his review. It taught me that the people I like are not always the people I need.

Mistakes that sink the answer

• 'I get along with everyone', which nobody believes.
• A story that is really a complaint about the person.
• No agreement or behaviour change on your side.
• Nothing you came to respect.
• No result for the work.

A ten-minute practice routine

1. Pick one person you genuinely did not like and write the friction in one neutral sentence.
2. Write what you did to keep it about the work, and what you came to respect.
3. Add the result.
4. Say it aloud in under ninety seconds; listen for edge.
5. Answer it in the browser demo or a mock interview and compare with the structured answer.

Where CoPilot Interview fits

CoPilot Interview is an AI interview assistant whose browser demo at /try lets you answer this question aloud and compare your answer with a structured one, free and with no signup, and whose free AI mock interview asks it in the context of your résumé and the job description and scores your spoken answer out of ten. The free plan gives 15 minutes a day of live help in sessions of up to 15 minutes, with AI mock interviews included. Practice is the use nobody objects to; if you consider live help in a real interview, follow your employer's rules.

Disclosure: CoPilot Interview is our product, so weigh what we say about it accordingly.

Frequently asked questions

How do you answer 'tell me about a time you worked with someone you didn't like'?

Name the friction in one neutral sentence, describe how you kept it about the work with specific agreements, say what you came to respect, and give the result.

Should I admit I disliked someone?

In one neutral sentence, yes. Denying it is not believed; dwelling on it is held against you.

What if I did not come to respect them?

Find the one thing that was real, such as their speed or their standards. If there is genuinely nothing, choose a different person.

How long should the answer be?

Sixty to ninety seconds.