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William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
Unfortunately, we all fail from time to time, even though we don't like admitting it. Interviewers at Cisco know this and are likely to ask about your failures during an interview. What they're looking for is for you to acknowledge that you failed, take responsibility for the failure, and describe what you learned. This demonstrates your ability to be self-aware, take responsibility for your actions, and turn a failure into a lesson.

William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
"While it's hard to admit, I have failed several times during my career. One of the more recent failures was when I was assigned to develop a more efficient enclosure for our company's new computing device. Even though enclosures were not my main area of expertise, I accepted the assignment with the idea that I could learn the skills needed to complete the task. Unfortunately, the enclosure I developed did not allow the fan and heat sinks to properly cool the system. The project was turned over to somebody with more experience in this area. I learned to acknowledge my lack of experience and skills required to complete an assignment early so that my management team could either reassign the project or provide me with the training needed to complete the job. I can apply these lessons to my work here at Cisco."

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Written by William Swansen
30 Questions & Answers • Cisco

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