What have you learned from your mistakes on the job?
It's normal for a person to fear being judged for a mistake they've made. Making mistakes is human. How we deal with and remedy a mistake comes down to exercising good judgment and knowing when asking for help is appropriate. The interviewer hopes to ascertain whether you take ownership of your mistakes and setbacks and learn from them or deflect blame, repeating the same errors, making you a more difficult member of the team to work with.
Consider the needs of your team. When you provide your example, explain the reasoning behind the course of action you took. If you tried to fix the mistake before bringing it to the attention of your superiors, explain what drove your decision. Not burdening your supervisors with more pressing concerns they're dealing with is a good reason to not burden them. If it was simpler and less exhaustive of the company's resources for you to fix it yourself, that's another good reason. If you were afraid of the consequences of bringing your mistake to light, that sacrifices the greater good and the welfare of the team. In this scenario, it is better to have brought the mistake to your superiors' attention, especially when it would've cost the workplace more to have you fix it but the issue could have been solved by a superior in a matter of minutes.
"Any time I've made a mistake on the job, I've been pretty hard on myself for it. In fact, I've been told by my superiors that being as hard on myself as I have was just as big of a mistake as the mistake I was being hard on myself for. So, I've learned from those conversations where leadership mentored me. I've shifted my perspective to taking those mistakes in stride as lessons to learn from. I've learned to improve my systems to ensure I don't miss any steps or repeat those mistakes. I've also learned to shift my attitude to look at each mistake as an opportunity to improve the way I do things, learn from those lessons, and enhance my output and quality of work. Now I perform with far fewer mistakes made and can barely remember the mistake I made."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
I am very critical of myself and I appreciate constructive criticism. I learn from mistakes. I look at what could have been done differently and take that and move forward. I haven't made any detrimental errors that have affected a patient. I have made some clerical typing errors or documented in a wrong area (which I did correct).
Jaymie's Feedback
Being open-minded and viewing mistakes as a learning opportunity is a great approach! The interviewer will be pleased that you are receptive to criticism and can learn and grow from it.
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