A more senior teammate is about to send out work with what you're sure is a serious mistake in it, and they haven't asked your opinion. What do you do?
Why this works
A concrete dilemma with real tension: speaking up risks the relationship, staying quiet risks the outcome. For candidates with little work history the situational form still produces a scoreable answer, and the seniority gap keeps the easy answer from being free.
Follow-up probes
- What if they hear you out and send it anyway?
- Does your answer change if the mistake is embarrassing rather than costly?
- At what point, if any, would you go over their head?
What good looks like
Goes to the person first and before the deadline, checks their own certainty on the way, and can name the line where the cost is high enough to escalate past a no.
Red flags
Waits to be asked or hopes someone else notices, escalates immediately to avoid one awkward conversation, or the answer hinges on how much they like the teammate.
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