I put the word professional in parentheses because sometimes the question is asked without it and I want to make sure you know that whenever you are asked this question, they are asking you about a professional mistake in judgment.
Do not give them a story of something that happened recently. Recent mistakes can be used to reject your candidacy under the premise that you should have known better than to do what you did.
Instead, try to usea lesson from when you were a beginner . . .and don't sound too rehearsed.
"Hmm! That's a great question."
(Pause to think for a minute).
"I remember there was a time when I started out and was gung ho, I started to fall behind on project. Instead of letting my manager know that I was struggling, I put in even more effort thinking that through the force of my will, I could turn things around. But I stayed behind what was expected of me and eventually decided to tell my manager. He taught me a great lesson. Everything we do is interdependent. If I struggle, she needs to know because it affects others.
Even today, I encourage my people to tell me as soon as they can about problems because their work is connected with other people's work and impacts it."
See what that does? It takes an old story and brings it into the present in a very human way that everyone can understand.
Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
www.TheBigGameHunter.us
© 2007 all rights reserved.
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