What was your biggest failure?

How to Answer
Answer Example

During a job interview, you may be asked challenging questions about your prior work experiences and how you handled difficult situations. Understanding how to answer this question can impress upon interviewers your resiliency and ability to turn failure into a learning opportunity. Choose a failure that happened in the workplace, if possible. Look for a story where something didn't go as planned. A team failure can also be a great choice to share with your interviewer because you share responsibility with others. It's just important to take responsibility for your role in why it was a failure. Talk about what you believe went wrong and caused the failure, what you would have done differently, and what changes you made moving forward.

"Several years ago, the lead editor tasked me with interviewing, hiring, and training an entry-level person to join our team of writers and editors. I chose to hire someone who seemed eager to learn and, based on past work experiences, seemed to have a lot of potentials. I did have a few concerns after checking their social media sites but chose to hire them anyway. I quickly learned it was a mistake and that their social media activity was a strong indication of their behavior at work. They were highly dramatic, had a poor attitude, and impacted the entire team until I fired them. This experience taught me how important every hiring decision is, from senior staff to interns. It takes valuable time to recruit, interview, and hire new staff, and each person impacts company morale and culture. It also taught me not to rush into making any hiring decisions. I've learned to trust my intuition more. However, it's a lesson I'm glad I learned earlier in my career."

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How to Answer: What was your biggest failure?

Advice and answer examples written specifically for an Editor job interview.

38. What was your biggest failure?

How to Answer

During a job interview, you may be asked challenging questions about your prior work experiences and how you handled difficult situations. Understanding how to answer this question can impress upon interviewers your resiliency and ability to turn failure into a learning opportunity. Choose a failure that happened in the workplace, if possible. Look for a story where something didn't go as planned. A team failure can also be a great choice to share with your interviewer because you share responsibility with others. It's just important to take responsibility for your role in why it was a failure. Talk about what you believe went wrong and caused the failure, what you would have done differently, and what changes you made moving forward.

Written by Sue Oberliesen on November 11th, 2021

Answer Example

"Several years ago, the lead editor tasked me with interviewing, hiring, and training an entry-level person to join our team of writers and editors. I chose to hire someone who seemed eager to learn and, based on past work experiences, seemed to have a lot of potentials. I did have a few concerns after checking their social media sites but chose to hire them anyway. I quickly learned it was a mistake and that their social media activity was a strong indication of their behavior at work. They were highly dramatic, had a poor attitude, and impacted the entire team until I fired them. This experience taught me how important every hiring decision is, from senior staff to interns. It takes valuable time to recruit, interview, and hire new staff, and each person impacts company morale and culture. It also taught me not to rush into making any hiring decisions. I've learned to trust my intuition more. However, it's a lesson I'm glad I learned earlier in my career."

Written by Sue Oberliesen on November 11th, 2021

Next Question