How to Answer: What was one of your biggest setbacks, and how did you overcome it?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Nordstrom job interview.
22. What was one of your biggest setbacks, and how did you overcome it?
What You Need to Know
Your interviewer is trying to assess your emotional intelligence. One of their core values is that they are owners at heart, "We treat every interaction as an opportunity to make an impact and deliver excellence." Their ideal candidates take ownership for their commitments and responsibilities. This includes holding oneself accountable for their mistakes or setbacks, and taking what they can from the experience to learn from them and not repeat such mistakes or failures.
Written by Kevin Downey on July 7th, 2023
How to Answer
Think about a time when you had a setback, personal or work-related, and where you didn't allow that challenging situation to get the best of you. Offer an overview of the situation. Share what you did to maintain a positive outlook and avoid this setback to getting the best of you. Finally, share what you did to keep moving forward instead of focusing on the setback.
Written by Kevin Downey on July 7th, 2023
Answer Example
"When working in a customer facing role, as I do, setbacks occur on a semi-regular basis. I recall one time when I hit my weekly sales target by just a hair. Ten minutes before closing, a customer returned an item purchased from me. It put me in the hole! It felt very discouraging. With that said, I took that energy and applied it to my following weeks' KPI's and knocked it out of the park the following few weeks."
Written by Kevin Downey on July 7th, 2023