How to answer "Are you good at building relationships with people?"

csuk

Hey,
How should I answer "Are you good at building relationships with people" as a undergrad?
Thanks

Reply 1

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by csuk

Hey,
How should I answer "Are you good at building relationships with people" as a undergrad?
Thanks

Begin with some strong, positive statement like 'I think I'm very good' and then deliver the evidence to back up your claim.

Think about why they are asking the question, because it isn't a random question they just dreamed up in the moment. There are three common reasons to ask this question, but depending on the employer there may be others - the most common are -

creating relationships with customers/clients,

working in a large/diverse team of different ages/cultures, or

working in a hierarchy where you have to deal with senior managers and or line workers.

Then, deliver an example of how you did that eg

I built up some really strong relationships with customers while I was working at X, with many customers knowing me by name as they came back to purchase more ......

The yyy society at university is very diverse and I quickly because a central member because people trusted my xx and enjoyed my y. Together we ....

I organised the x at University which meant a lot of discussion and negotiated between the Head of x and the senior y and also the whatever team and the do-dahs.

Reply 2

IanDangerously

Original post by threeportdrift

Begin with some strong, positive statement like 'I think I'm very good' and then deliver the evidence to back up your claim.

No strong statement ever started with I think. When you say you think/believe/hope anything about yourself you're basically telling people right away its just an opinion and not something you're 100% sure other people would say is factual about you.

I always lead with I am/I can etc rather than fluffing it out with unsure language. :tongue:

Reply 3

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by IanDangerously

True if you have a strong professional background and plenty of experience to fall back on. For the vast majority of TSR members, 'I am...' quickly disintegrates in the face of minimal exposure to a professional environment. There is the more serious danger of over-pitching and having nothing substantial to back it up and losing all credibility.

Reply 4

Antifazian

This is how I would do it...

*Smile*
'Yes, I would say that this is one of my strengths'
- Give example in STAR format of when you had to build relationships - extra brownie points if it includes overcoming a barrier to do so, or team working, or leadership skills
- Conclude with 'result' statement which is something like, 'this made us successful in ___, and I really enjoyed the challenge of having to build relationships with my team to achieve our goal of ____ ' (but made more specific and 'I' based) - reiterating that you like building relationships and are good at it

Be specific in the example and say what you personally did, not just what happened.

How to answer "Are you good at building relationships with people?"

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