4 Ways to Talk About a Time When You Failed
Posted March 24, 2014 & filed under Interviewing, Job Search
Few interview questions catch people flatfooted quite like this one. When asked to talk about a time when you failed, your first instinct may be to panic. You’ve built up all this positive momentum with your interviewer only to take your interview off the cliff. Even the first syllable of your response may be scary, but a strong answer can distinguish you from the competition.
1.) Stick to Examples Early in Your Career
Did you bungle something last week? Not a great idea to talk about it. The whole purpose of your response is to convince your interviewer that you’ve learned from adversity. If your wound is still fresh, chances are that you haven’t fully internalized the lessons from your mistake.
Good Examples:
Failures made during college
Rookie mistakes in an entry level job
Growing pains after a promotion
2.) Show Clear Transformation
Effective responses show clear cause and effect. For an interviewer to understand how your failure helped to make you a better person, he or she needs to be able to follow your bread crumb trail. Practice makes perfect in this instance. An unpracticed answer can lead to major misfires once the interview is in motion.
3.) Dwell on the Positive
Accentuate what lessons you learned. Start with your moment of failure but don’t dwell on all the self-conscious minutia that comes with it. Find ways to reinforce the positive message you’ve presented all along and your failure won’t mar the big picture.
4.) Ask If Any Clarifications Need To Be Made
The last thing you want to do is have some uncertainty hanging over the hiring manager’s head. Always prompt the hiring manager to ask anything that needs clarification to make certain that your response shows you can roll with the punches.
And if you’re trying to perfect your interview skills further, reach out to one of our recruiters. They can connect you with companies and give you pointers to answer any number of tricky interview questions. Give our team a call today.
by James Walsh
