What kind of coworkers are hard to work with?
Company: Lila
Role: Machine Learning Engineer
Category: Behavioral & Leadership
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Onsite
Behavioral question:
> What kinds of people do you **not** like working with? Why?
Interviewers are looking for maturity, self-awareness, and how you handle conflict. Answer in a way that is honest but professional, and shows what you do to make collaboration succeed.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates interpersonal competencies such as maturity, self-awareness, conflict management, and teamwork for a Machine Learning Engineer role, and sits in the Behavioral & Leadership category.
Solution
## What the interviewer is assessing
- Whether you can work with a wide range of personalities.
- Your conflict resolution style (directness, empathy, escalation).
- Whether your “dislikes” are actually **red flags** (e.g., intolerance, blaming) vs reasonable working preferences.
## A strong structure (safe and credible)
1. **Reframe positively**: talk about behaviors that make collaboration hard, not “types of people.”
2. **Pick 1–2 behaviors** that are widely accepted as problematic.
3. **Give a concrete example** (brief STAR): situation, what you did, result.
4. **Show ownership**: what *you* do to adapt and prevent issues.
5. **End with alignment**: you can still work effectively with almost anyone.
## Good themes (behavior-based, professional)
Choose ones like:
- **Low ownership / blame-shifting** (won’t follow through, won’t surface risks early).
- **Poor communication** (silent disagreement, unclear requirements, surprises at the last minute).
- **Disrespectful behavior** (interrupting, dismissing others) — focus on impact on team.
- **Lack of integrity** (cutting corners on data quality, misleading stakeholders).
Avoid:
- Criticizing personality traits (introverted, anxious, “not smart”), demographics, or prestige.
- Sounding inflexible (“I can’t work with…”).
## Example answer (adaptable)
“I don’t think in terms of ‘types of people,’ but I find it difficult when teammates don’t communicate risks early or avoid ownership—because it creates surprises and slows delivery. In a previous project, we were blocked by an upstream dependency that wasn’t raised until late. I scheduled a short sync, clarified responsibilities and timelines in writing, and added a lightweight weekly risk check. We shipped on time and the working relationship improved. I’ve learned to assume positive intent and make expectations explicit early, and if it persists I involve the tech lead to reset norms.”
## Follow-ups to prepare for
- “Tell me about a conflict and how you handled it.”
- “How do you give feedback to someone senior?”
- “When would you escalate vs handle directly?”
## Common pitfalls
- Being overly negative or naming a stereotype.
- Not showing what you do to resolve the situation.
- Giving an example where you appear rigid or combative.
If you keep it behavior-based + action-oriented, this question becomes an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and collaboration maturity.