How to answer: “Tell me about a time when you made a mistake?”
Who else is old enough to remember the days when you might be asked in an interview, “If you were a color, what color would you be and why?” Another example may be, “Why are manholes round?” I was asked the former once, never the latter, but they come from a time when HR had fallen way too deeply in love with Psychology (this coming from a Psych major) and into a weird well of interview questions. We’ve happily moved on and the age of behavioral-based questions has been much more enjoyable. These questions typically start with, “Tell me about a time when…” and then ask you to present an example from your background that demonstrates certain traits. What drove the move was a similar desire to find a way to learn about how someone has been successful in their career. Hiring Managers want to know how you exceeded your sales goals, not just that you exceeded your sales goals. A very common question that arises is, “Tell me about a time you made a mistake.”
I’m using this one example to make a larger point but let’s focus on the question first. I ask this same question in almost every interview I conduct, regardless of the position I’m recruiting for, because self-awareness is always important: how do we learn from mistakes if we can’t even acknowledge or at least remember them? Admitting you made a mistake is not a bad thing, it’s not recognizing a shortcoming but rather demonstrating a positive trait. More often than you might imagine, candidates reply with, “I can’t remember making one.” Now, by noon of any given day, I’ve made several mistakes that I could reference, how have you not made one in your entire career? And if you can’t recognize mistakes, will you correct them and learn from them?
What’s important here is that the example you share be focused on the actual event and what you learned. I don’t need to hear about how it really wasn’t your fault, how so and so dropped the ball and you had to clean it up, the customer would not stop complaining, etc., that’s not what’s important. You being coherent enough to recognize the problem, focused enough to handle it, humble enough to take the blame, and smart enough to avoid that mistake again is what stands out during the interview. Candidates believe they have to present themselves as flawless so their boss doesn’t have to worry about them. However, that is better achieved by demonstrating that while you are going to work hard to avoid mistakes, when they do happen, you are going to keep it a molehill and not allow it to grow into a mountain. In sales, a fire is often the best time to build a relationship with a client. It’s easy to do a good job when things are going well, but what happens when it hits the fan? Your customers probably have customers of their own, the quicker you are to address and put out the fire, the more you help your customers to do the same with their customers. When the going gets tough is when customers and managers figure out who they can count on.
So, be prepared with an example of a mistake that you made that has a story to it. In another article I discuss how to answer questions, take your example and head over to that article to see how to put it all together. But remember, even if you demonstrate how you grow, how you adapt, how you have improved, and why a manager can feel confident putting responsibility in your hands, if won’t matter unless you prove to them that you can handle things when they break down. How you react can make all the difference.
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