"My current team had a new leader start a few years back. She asked for several reports in a two-day turnaround time. She needed them for an executive meeting she was going to. One of the reports was very manual, and with my other responsibilities, I couldn't finish it in time. I went to her office and told her I could have this completed tomorrow, but I couldn't finish it for her meeting this morning. She asked what I was working on, and I explained my competing priority. She recommended that I come to check with her to get help prioritizing in the future. I learned a big lesson about asking your leader to advocate for you. I should have come to her first. I've kept this in mind when I've had competing deadlines."

"Last year, I had a huge project due in my economics class at the end of the semester. I made a schedule to get all of the pieces of this project done in time, but part of my project required outside data that I needed from a different university. There was a delay with this data, which delayed some of the subsequent steps of my project. I ended up getting it just a few days before the deadline. As hard as I tried, I couldn't submit it on time. I was devastated. I called my professor, who understood, but I got a reduced grade because it was late. I learned that I should have chosen a data source that was more readily available to me but also that I could have looped in my professor earlier, who might have had another idea."

Be open and honest when discussing a time you couldn't meet a deadline in the workplace. Paint the entire picture of the project or task you were working on and your ability to spot the fact that you wouldn't be able to meet the deadline. From there, you should talk about your ability to communicate with key stakeholders and take action to get as caught up as possible from there.