Interviewer: Tell me about a time that you made a poor decision.
Kevin: When I was first working as an auditor, there was a problem with one our client’s accounts. I tried to contact the client, but no one answered the phone. I looked for a solution to the problem for 6 hours, but I couldn’t find one. Finally, the client returned my call and I found out the mistake was just a simple typo.
Interviewer: Oh no! That is terrible.
Kevin: I know. I wasted 6 hours looking for a little detail that was not important.
Interviewer: What did you learn from this mistake?
Kevin: I learned two things from this experience. First, I learned not to worry too much about the very small details. Second, I learned that I should not be afraid to ask my senior colleagues for help. When I told my senior colleagues that story, they all laughed at me and told that they could have told me that and saved me six hours if I had asked.
Interviewer: Well, sometimes, you need these experiences to learn.
Kevin: I completely agree. I have never made the same mistake again.
Patterns and Examples
One time, I ____________________. I ____________________. I learned that ____________________.
- One time, I decided to change something in my team’s project, but I did not tell my manager. I thought it was not important enough to tell my manager, but my manager was very upset when he found out. I learned that I need to inform others whenever I make any changes to a project.
- One time, I had to negotiate a selling price with a supplier. I offered them an initial price that was too high, so obviously, the supplier accepted immediately, and I lost my company some money. I learned that I need to do more research before I enter negotiations, and I have never made that mistake again.
At my previous job, I ____________________. But, I have learned from this experience and it has not happened again since.
- At my previous job, I accidentally deleted an important document from my computer and I had to redo the whole thing again. But, I have learned from this experience and it has not happened again since.
- At my previous job, I sold a car for less than our break-even point by accident. But, I have learned from this experience, and it has not happened again since.
I decided to ____________________. That was a poor decision because ____________________.
- I decided to give a loyal customer a big discount on their order. That was a poor decision because my company ended up losing money on the transaction.
- I decided to move to the marketing team at my last company. That was a poor decision because I realized that the marketing team was not a good fit for me. I am better suited working in accounting and finance.
