Practice 30 Department of Justice interview questions covering legal reasoning, ethics, and public service commitment.
Question 12 of 30
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Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
This question tests your ability to take responsibility for your own actions and what you learn from those growth opportunities. Be sure to include the impact it had on the business or project aside from how late it was. The example you provide aims to reveal how far you've progressed in your professional development and whether you're ahead of the game or lagging.

Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
Provide an example that centers on the struggle you faced, and how you overcame it, even if you didn't succeed to the degree you had hoped. Explain the situation and what variables hindered your progress. Detail what you would've done differently and how you avoided repeating it. What's important are the lessons learned and how they contributed to greater success.

Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
"I was spearheading two separate projects and took on a third, convinced I could deliver all three of them on time. This third project was very involved, more so than I expected, and it slowed me down. The deadline approached. The first two projects were close to being done, but the third was only halfway there. I realized I was going to either miss all three deadlines, or just one if I abandoned the third project and re-prioritized the first two. So I passed off the third project to someone else, breaking down all the progress I made and where they'd pick up on it. I thought I could do anything. But I realized it was better to do a few things well as opposed to producing more at a lower quality of work. It's important for one to know their own limits."

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I was tasked with closing a case where we denied representation before the tenant's next hearing. Because this tenant did not often call to ask questions, the case was left open. The next step I took was to immediately report the mistake to the managing attorney, who reports the mistake to the Operations Officer. I corrected the issue by promptly sending the client-adjusted information in a closing letter under the new case circumstances. I now use both a shared spreadsheet and calendar events to track my cases.

Jaymie's Feedback
This is a good example to use. It shows that you are detail-oriented, are able to identify and take appropriate steps to report an issue, take ownership, and provide solutions to correct the mistakes. Great job.
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Written by Kevin Downey
30 Questions & Answers • Department of Justice

By Kevin

By Kevin