# Behavioral interview question: “Tell me about a time when you had to say no to someone.” Aced (formerly Exponent) publishes a public search API over its indexed pages; the guide is at https://www.aced.io/agents/agent-access. Source: https://www.aced.io/questions/909/time-you-had-to-say-no Source observed: 2026-11-05T00:08:10.483Z Last checked: 2026-11-05T00:08:10.483+00:00 Indexed: 2026-11-06T20:25:37.285+00:00 --- # Tell me about a time when you had to say no to someone. We provide interview-preparation resources through Aced, formerly Exponent. This page is a behavioral interview question asking candidates to explain how they handled saying no to someone, including their approach and the result. ## Question details - **Category:** [Behavioral](https://www.aced.io/questions?type=behavioral) - **Question activity:** 5 interviews; reported last asked 3 months ago - **Roles associated with the question:** [Solutions Architect](https://www.aced.io/questions?role=solutions-architect) (2), [Technical Program Manager](https://www.aced.io/questions?role=tpm) - **Companies associated with the question:** [Amazon](https://www.aced.io/questions?company=amazon) (2), [Slack](https://www.aced.io/questions?company=slack) (2) - **Detailed company statistics:** available through [Upgrade](https://www.aced.io/upgrade?src=questions) ## Interview experiences One interview experience is shared for this question. ### Amazon — 2 years ago **Role:** Solutions Architect · Senior / L5 > “The recruiter was exceptionally transparent and provided an accurate roadmap of what to expect. Their preparation tips were spot-on, which is a rare find in high-stakes tech recruiting. What didnt go well? The process was significantly more demanding than other major tech companies, leading to a bit of \"interview fatigue\" by the final stage.” Read the full [Amazon Senior Solutions Architect interview experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/amazon-senior-solutions-architect-interview-1f4116). ## Community answers No community answers have been contributed yet. We invite signed-in users to answer; signing in or signing up is required to submit an answer. ## Related questions - [Tell me about a time when you had to fire someone.](https://www.aced.io/questions/1501/firing-someone-example) - [Tell me about a time you had to give someone bad news.](https://www.aced.io/questions/5140/bad-news) - [Tell me about a time when you helped someone in need.](https://www.aced.io/questions/2849/sharing-experience-helping-someone-in-need) ## Related courses ### [Solutions Architect Interview Prep](https://www.aced.io/courses/solution-architect-interview) ![Solutions Architect Interview Prep](https://images.ctfassets.net/x78yjrjc11pq/4SbcRuNAKq4eMNZnrxnQgo/13d197a8e79c4fb9bda37007191b0875/thought-catalog-505eectW54k-unsplash_976942ecbb__281_29_82a8a89f8f.jpeg?w=800&h=800&fm=webp&q=75) We help candidates pursue solutions architect roles at Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, and other top companies. The course includes mock interviews, frameworks, advice from senior candidates, system design principles, and leadership-skill practice. ### [Software Engineering Interview Prep](https://www.aced.io/courses/software-engineering) ![Software Engineering Interview Prep](https://images.ctfassets.net/x78yjrjc11pq/4VkuYewBHUFIVUS5oJDW5h/02e833439b1289f25f38f13f81cbdca3/adobe_stock_optimized.jpeg?w=800&h=800&fm=webp&q=75) We help candidates pursue software engineering roles at Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and other top companies. The course covers data structures, algorithms, system design, people management, behavioral interviews, mock interviews, frameworks, and advice from senior candidates. ## Practice with AI Use [Practice with AI](https://www.aced.io/practice/ai/new?type=Behavioral&question=time-you-had-to-say-no&src=questions) to practice answering this behavioral question. Submitting an answer marks the question complete. ## Interview preparation available from Aced Our navigation includes interview courses and practice resources for Product Management, Forward Deployed Engineering, Engineering Management, Software Engineering, System Design, Data Science, Machine Learning, Data Engineering, AI Engineering, Investment Banking, Generative AI, Security Engineering, Technical Program Management, Solutions Architecture, UX / Product Design, and BizOps & Strategy. We also offer interview experiences, question libraries, AI practice, coaching, mock interviews, resume review, salary negotiation, job referrals, and other career resources. --- [Read this page’s summary](https://www.aced.io/agents/api/public/v1/page-tldr?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aced.io%2Fquestions%2F909%2Ftime-you-had-to-say-no&trace=t_679ff9ab98f3) ## Ask a follow-up about this page Need a more specific answer? Ask the exact question you have. 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