Interview questions. Scenario 4 of 11. Owning up

A time you made a mistake

The interviewer says: "Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work. What happened?"

You remember one clearly. In your last job you sent a customer the wrong delivery date, and they took a day off for nothing.

Which answer works best?

Say you cannot think of any mistakes.

Not the best call

Nobody will believe it, and it misses the point. The question is not about the mistake. It is about what you did next. Saying you have none suggests you hide them or do not notice them.

Describe the mistake, what you did to fix it, and what you changed afterwards so it would not happen again.

Good call

That is the whole answer they want: you told the customer and your manager, you put it right, and you now double-check dates before sending. A small, real mistake handled well is a strong answer.

Describe the mistake, but explain that it was really the system's fault for being confusing.

Not the best call

The system may well have been confusing. But an answer that ends in blame tells them how you will talk about problems in their team. Say what you did. You can add what would have helped, briefly, at the end.

Tell them about it in detail, and how terrible you still feel.

Could be better

Caring about it is to your credit. But if the answer stays on the feeling, they never hear the useful part. Spend one line on the mistake and the rest on the fix and what you learned.

The principle

A mistake question is about recovery, not the mistake. One line on what went wrong, then what you did, and what you changed.