[Jackobe24]

Quick background: I have two years of experience as a tax staff in a mid-size CPA firm. Looking for a new job because I need to move to a new city due to personal reason.

I’m trying to prepare for interviews, but I don’t know how to answer this behavioral interview question. “Describe a time you handle a difficult situation.”

I find it hard to answer, because I need to come up an example or story in my last work experience, but to be honest….I can’t recall where I had a difficult situation or conflict at work.

How would you guys answer this? any good accounting stories?

FAR - 9/8/16 (Hopefully it's my last CPA exam, God bless me!)
REG - 80
BEC - 81
AUD - 69, 81

[M123]

I think larger firms look for the “meat eater” type who are not people pleasers but are “assertive”. My suggestion – read up on assertiveness which is a huge departure from dominance or bullying but an important part of any workplace experience as you grow.

Then think about cases where you were assertive or could have been.

I can almost 100% guarantee that a response akin to no difficult situations would be a turn off.

[Missy]

Think small, doesn't have to be a conflict. Was there a time you had a question,and nobody was available to help so you had to find and use another resource? Maybe a conflicting deadline? Major blizzard closed your office the week of March 15 so you called a client from home?

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Pete]

The key to answering this question is to convert it into a positive situation.

They usually ask something along the lines of “how do you handle high pressure situations?” I usually respond with something along the lines of “I take a step back and break everything into smaller, more manageable pieces, tackling each smaller element at a time.” For example, if I needed to get something due in xyz time, time I didn't have, I would break each element of the project apart, seeing which items I could complete, then seeing how I could rectify the items that I didn't have time to complete (ie. filing an extension, etc.).

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[Tcohle]

Depends what kind of job you're looking to get. You're going in the right direction by answering in the S.T.A.R format (Situation, Task, action, result). I would take a look at the job opportunity's job description and frame your situation to match a job requirement for what you're applying for.

If you're a tax accountant, maybe say you had a client or boss disagree with how you want to report a certain tax situation. (Situation). So you had to back up your answer with tax rules and your reasoning (Task). You researched and successfully answered the client/co worker's disagreement (action). As a result, you saved the client money and improved your relationship (result).

In my interviews I tried to focus on completing tasks under budget (quantify the time), completing work with a team, leading a team, client interaction, etc. Again, tailor your answers to the job description. I've stretched the truth a litttttle bit in some of my interviews 🙂

FAR- 5/11/15 76!!
AUD-10/31/15 63, 84!
REG-7/12/16 72
BEC-8/31/15 75!! Perfect Score!

Wiley CPAExcel Platinum
Ninja 10 pt combo for FAR/AUD/BEC

[Author]

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