Who hasn't had a failure in their career? You can discuss them calmly, confidently in any interview by using these 2 simple processes.

If you have never messed up in your career, I want you to do two things:

1. buy a lottery ticket

2. call me, because you’ll be the first person that I’ve ever met that hasn’t

We all make mistakes. Somewhere between “oops” to “omg, that's unbelievably bad"

When these happen while you’re on the job, they can be uncomfortable, yet easier, to discuss. You’re in the moment. The people understand what's going on easier because they are there, too.

Conveying that story in an interview is a completely different ballgame. It moves from uncomfortable to downright painful. That is before you read this article. We're going to address the two simple processes to cope with these conversations. Simple, not easy.

The first process is a mindset process. Your internal conversation in how you process the events.

The second process is a detachment process. Your external conversation in how you communicate the event to others.

6 Mindset Steps

1. You’re not alone

We all make mistakes. Every. Single. Person. Some of my mistakes should be in the Hall of Stupid Mistakes. If you have held a job for any length of time, you've made a mistake. Welcome to the human race.

2. Mistakes aren’t always bad

Every opportunity in life provides us with an option: it becomes a lesson or a regret. The difference is if you learn from it. This is where we begin to build confidence, by reframing. We aren’t diminishing the event, whether it be devastating or painful, we’re not leaving it there. We’re going to walk it out. Can there be something learned from this?

3. Explanation or Excuse

Here is where the adults are separated from the children – how do you describe the situation? I’ve consulted a dictionary.

Explanation: a statement or account that makes something clear

Excuse: attempt to lessen the blame attaching to (a fault or offense); seek to defend or justify

Are you justifying or clarifying? Describe the situation stating facts, without blaming. That’s the hard part, removing your personal feelings. Which leads to number four.

4. Own your accountability

What was your part in the matter? I have seen it before, a toxic clique of coworkers push a good employee to make a stupid mistake. You can’t blame the toxics. You should have known better. it stinks, but it's true. Accountability demonstrates growth and maturity.

5. Honesty without TMI

We are being accountable for our part in the story. This is a chalk outline of a clear explanation without every last detail. Explain only what is needed to clarify. Resist the urge to persuade by painting a picture with a lot of superlatives.

6. Lessons learned applied forward

If you prepare for an interview, you are probably familiar with the STAR method for behavioral questions. Situation, Task, Action, Result. We're going to change STAR to STRA: Situation, Task, Result, Application

• Situation: what was going on at the time, and relevant, influencing factors?
• Task: what was the event, what was your part?
• Result: what happened after the event?
• Application: what did you learn that you can – or did - apply going forward

Application is the most important step. Especially if you can show not only did you learn from it, but you came back better than before.

9 Process Steps

Your situation is going to be unique. It has its own circumstances, events, and outcomes. Here is how we can take a look at it to find the lesson and how to put it to good use. 

1. Step back and analyze it from a fact-gathering perspective. Take away any emotions.

2. What was going on at the time? What is the background to the situation? Facts, not feelings. Try to limit your adjectives.

3. What was the event?

4. What was your part?

5. What resulted from that event?

6. Looking back, where can you first identify or recognize a problem? How and why would you do something different now?

7. Where was the major breakdown? Knowing what you know now, how can you prevent this type of situation today?

8. What would you say are the biggest lessons you learned from this?

9. How can you apply them going forward? Either in your own work, in mentoring others, in discovering a new solution, etc.?

Conclusion

Remain distant from the event as you continue to work through the questions. As you do, you’ll notice that an end-to-end event will emerge.

There was a situation, which led to an event, in which you were a part, resulting in something that now allows you to have greater knowledge or success.

Your honesty and breakdown of the event to use for your benefit will be appreciated. Clients who use this method report that the interviewer(s) did not seem to stay on the event or go back to it. In other words, it wasn’t as bad of a conversation as they anticipated.

▶️ Do you prepare for the negative behavioral interview answers as much as you do the positive ones (i.e. tell me about a time that you failed vs tell me about a time you succeeded)?

▶️ Comment below 👇 on a question you have that I can answer (or find the answer) for you.

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About me: I help amazing people get what they want from their career and life faster, easier & with more fun (and less anxiety). For career focus, go to CareerPolish.com; for life balance, go to LisaKMcDonald.com. Or hey, just follow or connect with me on LinkedIn.

#career #mindset #interview #interviewingtips #communication #personalbrand #jobsearch #networking #careercoach

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