Tell me about a time someone took credit for your work.

How to answer this behavioral interview question: a complete STAR example, the mistakes interviewers watch for, and the follow-ups you should expect.

A strong STAR example answer

In an all-hands meeting, a colleague presented a cost-saving analysis to our leadership team as his own work. I had built the model and done roughly 80 percent of the analysis over three weekends; his contribution was the final slide formatting. Watching him accept the applause was genuinely painful.

I decided the goal was to correct the record without torching him or myself. That afternoon I asked him for a private conversation and said plainly that I had noticed my work was presented without attribution, and I wanted to understand how that happened. He admitted he had gotten carried away under pressure to impress a new VP.

I asked for two things: that he send a follow-up note to attendees clarifying the analysis was a joint effort with my lead on the model, and that in the future we agree on attribution before anything is presented. He sent the note that day. When the follow-up phase of the project was assigned, the VP specifically asked me to lead it, which told me the correction had landed.

The project ultimately saved about $200,000 annually. He and I have collaborated twice since, and attribution is the first thing we agree on before anything gets presented.

How to structure your own answer

• Situation: Describe what you contributed and how the credit was taken.
• Task: Define your goal: correct the record without destroying the relationship.
• Action: Show a direct, private conversation with a specific remedy requested.
• Result: Give the outcome for both the record and the relationship.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Correcting the person publicly in the meeting, which reads as insecure and political.
• Saying nothing and letting resentment leak out sideways for months.
• Escalating to a manager before giving the colleague one direct conversation.
• Framing the story around your hurt feelings instead of the professional fix.

Follow-up questions to prepare for

Interviewers use follow-ups to verify your story is real. If you use this question in a real interview, expect probes like:

• What if he had denied it or refused to send the correction?
• How do you make your contributions visible proactively, before credit is an issue?
• Has anyone ever accused you of taking credit? How did you respond?

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