Tell me about a time you disagreed with a teammate

Why interviewers ask this

This is the most common behavioral question in tech interviews because peer conflict is unavoidable and how you handle it says a lot about whether you're pleasant to work with day to day.

What a strong answer covers

What the actual disagreement was about (a technical approach, a priority call, code review feedback) — be specific, not "we had different working styles"
How the conversation actually went — did you talk to them directly, or route around them?
What resolved it: new information, a compromise, a decision from someone else, or one of you simply changing your mind
How the relationship was afterward — a bad answer here signals the conflict didn't actually get resolved

Common pitfalls

Picking an example where the other person was clearly wrong and you were clearly right — it makes you look combative rather than collaborative
No specifics about the actual resolution mechanism

Tell me about a time you disagreed with a teammate

Why interviewers ask this

This is the most common behavioral question in tech interviews because peer conflict is unavoidable and how you handle it says a lot about whether you're pleasant to work with day to day.

What a strong answer covers

What the actual disagreement was about (a technical approach, a priority call, code review feedback) — be specific, not "we had different working styles"
How the conversation actually went — did you talk to them directly, or route around them?
What resolved it: new information, a compromise, a decision from someone else, or one of you simply changing your mind
How the relationship was afterward — a bad answer here signals the conflict didn't actually get resolved

Common pitfalls

Picking an example where the other person was clearly wrong and you were clearly right — it makes you look combative rather than collaborative
No specifics about the actual resolution mechanism