Behavioral question
Tell me about a time when you were not able to convince your manager.
- Amazon
- Behavioral
- Medium
Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.
Start a mock interview on this question · Mock interview from a job description
What this question tests
Whether the candidate can honestly narrate a disagreement they lost, showing judgment, communication skill, and how they handled the outcome professionally.
How to approach it
- State the situation: the specific decision or direction you disagreed with your manager about, and why it mattered enough to push back.
- State the task: what you were trying to convince them of and what was at stake if you were right or wrong.
- Describe how you made your case: the data or reasoning you brought, and where the conversation actually broke down or failed to land.
- Be honest about the outcome: your manager's decision stood, and explain how you responded, disagree-and-commit versus continued pushback, and why.
- State what happened afterward and what you learned about making a more persuasive case or picking your battles.
What a strong answer includes
- Picks a real disagreement with genuine stakes, not a trivial or fabricated-sounding example.
- Is honest that the outcome didn't go their way, since the question specifically asks about failing to convince, not eventually winning.
- Shows mature follow-through: committing to the decision professionally rather than undermining it.
Common mistakes
- Turning this into a story where they actually did convince the manager, missing the point of the question.
- Showing resentment or a continued undermining of the decision, a red flag for team fit.
Likely follow-up questions
- Looking back, would you have handled the disagreement differently?
- How did this affect your working relationship with your manager afterward?
More behavioral questions
- How do you define a good PM vs. a bad PM?Google · Behavioral · Easy
- What is the most challenging project you have been on?Adobe · Behavioral · Easy
- How do you make sure you keep improving as a PM?Google · Behavioral · Easy
- How do you motivate a Product team?Amazon · Behavioral · Easy
- How do you prioritize requirements?PayPal · Behavioral · Easy
- Tell me about a time when you used data to influence/persuade people.PayPal · Behavioral · Easy
More questions from Amazon
Learn the skill behind it
Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.
- Chapter 13: Lead the room: staff moves, forward-deployed PM, and the portfolio
- Chapter 14: Get the job: the AI PM interview loop