Interviewer: Tell about a time that you did not achieve your goal.
Sharon: When I was working as a salesperson for a car dealership, I did not meet one of the goals that I had set for myself. It was my third year in that position, and my goal was to increase my yearly sales by 15%. This was a high goal. Unfortunately, I was not able to reach it.
Interviewer: What happened?
Sharon: I tried my best and did everything I could to achieve it. I worked extra hours, I studied sales techniques in my free time, and I asked senior colleagues for advice. But in the end, I came up short. I ended up increasing my sales by 12%.
Interviewer: A 12% increase in sales is very high.
Sharon: Yes, it is, and I was proud of it. I set my original goal very high because I wanted to push myself to improve a lot. Even though I did not reach my goal, I think I improved a lot and had a really good year. So, I was only slightly disappointed that I did not achieve my goal.
Interviewer: That’s great. Our company likes people who aim high.
Patterns and Examples
One time, I failed to ____________________. I ____________________. From this experience, I ____________________.
- One time, I failed to complete a report before the deadline. I worked hard, but I was not able to meet my deadline. From this experience, I learned that I needed to work more efficiently and do a better job planning my schedule.
- One time, I failed to include important information in a financial report. I was a junior analyst at the time, and I just forgot. From this experience, I learned to include this information, and I never made the same mistake again.
At my previous job, I was unable to ____________________. I ____________________. I learned that ____________________.
- At my previous job, I was unable to find a bug in our software code. I had to ask a more experienced colleague for help. I learned that it is okay to ask for help sometimes.
- At my previous job, I was unable to meet my sales goal one quarter. I tried my best, but I was not able to meet my goal. I learned that I always need to keep working to improve my sales skills, but I can also learn a lot from my failures.
One time, I ____________________. I ____________________. Now, I ____________________. This has helped me ____________________.
- One time, I did not finish my project on time. I got behind schedule and did not anticipate some problems. Now, I always plan to deal with unexpected problems and account for this when I make my schedule. This has helped me finish all of my recent projects on time.
- One time, I did not include some key information in my report. I just forgot about it even though my manager told me to include it. Now, I make a list of all the things I have to include in reports so I do not forget anything. This has helped me avoid making a similar mistake.
