No one like being reminded of their professional or academic shortcomings during an interview, but if you take the time to prepare a thoughtful response, it can potentially work to your advantage. (You shouldn't just go into it blindly.) So, how can you effectively respond to this inquiry to make yourself a more attractive candidate?
Why this Question?
When responding in an interview, it's crucial to grasp the interviewer's intent. They care more about your approach to problems, the lessons you took away from them, and how you've used those to improve future scenarios. They are looking to gauge not only your potential for improvement but also your problem-solving abilities. (They are also probing your integrity.)
Methods to Reply
When answering this question in an interview, there are a few dos and don'ts to keep in mind:
- Provide a concrete illustration of real-world employment (not personal)
- Make sure it was something easy to repair and brief, but be ready to elaborate if necessary
- Own up to the error you made in its entirety
- Explain what you did to fix the problem and the outcome
- Focus on the lessons you took away from it and how you plan to use them to prevent a similar occurrence in the future
- Don't bring up blunders that expose your moral or character weaknesses (such as lying or fighting)
- Don't shift the blame
- Don't focus on a flaw you couldn't correct.
- Never joke about or bad-mouth your prior workplace
Unnecessary bragging are boasts that are couched in modest language but that actually boast about something about which the speaker is justifiably proud. Giving a thinly veiled self-congratulatory anecdote in response to a query about failure is not going to cut it. Choose a real-life setback and share the insight you gained from it.
The relevant response to "Have You Ever Made a Mistake? - What Was Your Reaction?
Certainly, I am not perfect. But, I do my best to minimise slip-ups by being meticulous, verifying and rechecking my work, and making extensive advance preparations. When I make a mistake, I accept responsibility for it, figure out how to rectify it, and am open to having a conversation about it with my manager or other team members.
I believe that errors are inevitable if one works long enough, but I do my best to prevent them and take full responsibility when they do occur.
Please keep in mind that you are not required to give an example of a specific error while responding to this job interview question.
Nonetheless, if you can think of a suitable example, feel free to talk about a particular error.
Employers don't want to see that you've never made a mistake (because that's obviously incorrect), so be honest about your past missteps.
They are interested in seeing that you have moral fibre, can admit when you're wrong, and can take responsibility for your actions so that you may go forward professionally.
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