Most job interviews include at least one tough interview question: What is your biggest weakness? What was your least favorite job? What is the biggest mistake you made? The interviewer is probing for vulnerabilities that might hinder your ability to do the job. Prepare your mistake or failure story in advance of your next job interview using this two-step process:
Pick the right story. As an experienced professional, you have multiple stories to choose from – hopefully not too many mistakes, but certainly more than one. If you don’t pick a mistake in advance, you will default to the one that you remember – an emotional story, perhaps something that is still raw and unfinished. More important, you don’t want an unfinished story because you need a clear mistake with a clear resolution. What did you learn? How did you turn the situation around? Also, you must have the right role in the story.
Share the right facts. Remember that the value of the story isn’t in the mistake, but in your ability to share vulnerability and demonstrate improvement. Therefore, as you relay the story, focus on these aspects – clear mistake, clear resolution. Be specific in sharing your mistake and how you resolved it. Answer the question concisely and move quickly back to the rest of the interview.
Early in my career, I missed a deadline that ended up costing us a really big account. There were a lot of factors that contributed to this, but ultimately, I was the one who dropped the ball. From that experience, I went back and thought really hard about what I could’ve controlled and what I would’ve changed. It turns out that I was not nearly as organized as I thought I was. I sat down with my boss, asked for suggestions on how to improve my organizational skills, and a few months later I was able to score an even bigger account for the department.
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