Describe Your Working Relationship? (With 10 Sample Interview Answers)

Almost all the organizations operating in the world like to work and operate in a team setting. They tend to create and define a perfect hierarchy of employees from the top to the very bottom. Every organizational employee is a vital cog of this hierarchy and it is necessary for every employee to work in harmony and maintain an exceptional rapport with his or her senior as well as junior employees. This question allows an interviewer to understand how capable are you in making efficient professional relations.

Two Ways To Efficiently Answer This Question

1) Clearly Define The Type

Your answer must be lucid and well reasoned. In this question, you are expected to share the type of relationship that you share with your colleagues and/or your boss. It could be anything from being friendly to professional to complicated. Whatever it may be, you must ensure that your answer explains this relationship and corroborates it with some practical and logical reasons.

2) Avoid Generic Answer

By being honest at the time of giving answers not only helps you to give an impressive answer but also enables you to give an answer that is unique and not generic. Such answers are highly admired by interviewers and there are high chances that you impress your interviewer and secure a competitive edge over the other candidates.

Ten Best Sample Answers To Read

Sample Answer One

I would most probably refer to it as friendly. During my previous stint, we had an excellent work culture, wherein all the employees working in the organization worked in a collaborative and understanding manner. There was never a single instance of a fight as far as I am concerned, no matter the issue was trivial or major. I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent, and have made some exceptional friends, probably for life.

Sample Answer Two

Being in a supervisory position, I would define my relationship with my juniors as authoritative. I was the first point of guidance for them and had to instruct them from time to time, with even frequent instances of scoldings. Further, I would declare that it was never high-handedness or dominating in nature and I always favored the progress of the company.

Sample Answer Three

I would say that my relationship with my colleagues was highly competitive. This was primarily due to a strict working environment deployed by the organization in which we had to complete and achieve our targets in a time-bound manner. Due to my own competitive nature, this was not at all a burden for me, rather this pushed my limits and forced me to push my limits by working hard and achieve my targets.

Sample Answer Four

Being a person of reserved nature, I always focused and concentrated on my work. Hence, it would be hard for me to accurately define my relationship with my other mates of mine. But still, on the basis of my limited conversation with the other employees, I would say that my relationship with them was high;y professional and we always had conversations only on professional and technical issues that covered primarily our work and rarely anything else.

Sample Answer Five

Being jolly and blessed with an extrovert nature, I would say that my relationship with my colleagues was very friendly and amicable. We used to discuss a lot of things together, which ranged from issues arising at the workplace to personal lives. At the same time, I maintained a highly professional relationship with my boss, and my conversation with him was only related to taking guidance and instructions.

Sample Answer Six (For Freshers)

Being a fresh college graduate, this is my first job application. Hence, I want to express my inability of sharing any work-related experience. However, I want to state a relationship that I thoroughly enjoyed during my college time. It was between me and my seniors. It was a relationship in which my seniors used to help me in academics and give me career-related guidance, while at the same time becoming friends with me. Hence, it was a peculiar relationship that of a friend as well as a teacher.

Sample Answer Seven

My relationship with other colleagues of mine was very healthy and we all used to work in harmony with a common goal, which used to be the goal of achieving the allocated targets. This increased, not only the efficiency of our individual performances but also our communication skills, which are very important for securing a good promotion job and career advancement.

Sample Answer Eight

I would like to answer this in two phases. In the first phase, my relationship with my colleagues was quite enjoyable and sweet. I enjoyed every minute at my workplace and remained highly motivated. However, once our team was re-shuffled due to migration by a few of our team members, the new members who filled the vacancy were quite ill-mannered and lethargic. This is the second phase, and my relationship with them was quite sour and this left me discouraged and demotivated. This is the primary reason for my making a move and applying to this vacancy.

Sample Answer Nine

My relationship with my colleagues was that of a mentor. I remember, how everyone came to me for a piece of advice, be it in relation to technical aspects related to work or practical problems faced by them in their personal lives. I have a knack for solving people’s problems by giving them some accurate and worthy advice. Further, my relationship with my seniors was friendly and I was able to establish a healthy rapport with them.

Sample Answer Ten

My relationship with my colleagues was quite professional and we hardly conversed with each other about our personal lives. There was a pretty little conversation that used to take place at my previous office and whatever happened was most of the time related to working procedures. This was primarily due to strict measures implemented by the organization, that limited gossips, blarney, or any other types of similar conversations.

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014829639600149X
2. http://www.publish.csiro.au/SH/SH14117