How to Answer: How do you react when dissatisfied with the quality of, or the outcome of, your work?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Zillow job interview.
2. How do you react when dissatisfied with the quality of, or the outcome of, your work?
What You Need to Know
Your interviewer is curious how you respond, emotionally or pragmatically, when you feel your work does not meet your expectations. On the occasions when this happens, your reaction is what determines your take aways from the experience. Exhibiting a high level of emotional maturity by showing you take such lessons in stride, apply those lessons forward, ensuring better results the next time around is your preferred response. Beating yourself up about it, or blaming someone else for your setbacks takes no ownership, suggests you've learned nothing, and proposes you'll bring your repeatable setbacks and bad attitude with you from job to job. This is the red flag response they'll also be on the lookout for. It's fine to experience professional disappointment as long as you grow from such experiences, learn from them, and shore up better results for next time.
Written by Kevin Downey on June 20th, 2022
1st Answer Example
"The last time I was dissatisfied with my work, I asked my boss if there was time for me to re-do the components with which I was not happy. The deadline was tight, but I did not believe the timeline should affect the quality of what I delivered. She agreed and gave me the time to revisit the aspects that I felt were not up to my usual standard. I worked around 5 hours of overtime to get the project exactly where I had pictured it, and everyone was satisfied in the end."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 20th, 2022
2nd Answer Example
"In programming and design, there is some room to experiment with our work and bounce back from mistakes. I allow myself to make mistakes, tweak my work, and play around with different designs, for instance. My philosophy is that a creative mind is always seeking improvements."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 20th, 2022
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