What Do You Do When a Colleague Takes Credit for Your Work

How to answer this question

• 1Address it directly with the colleague first — not with management immediately.
• 2Keep the tone curious rather than accusatory in the initial conversation.
• 3Show that you built a structural habit afterward to protect your contributions.
• 4Demonstrate that you present your own work directly whenever possible.
• 5Avoid extremes — neither martyrdom nor immediate escalation.

Example answer

I had this happen early in my career. A colleague presented a process improvement I had developed as though it was mostly his idea. I asked him privately afterward what had happened and whether he realized how it came across. He had not intended it maliciously and apologized. From that point I made a habit of documenting my contributions in emails and project notes and started presenting my own work directly whenever possible.