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Tell me about a time you made a poor
decision.
"Tell
me about a time you made a poor decision."
This question is similar to the mistake question. So first, let's think about
what lesson we want to learn. A common mistake is when people make assumptions.
I'll give an example where a poor decision was made due to making a bad
assumption. The answer will also include what was learned and how the poor
decision was used as a tool to become a better worker.
Short Answer
"When
I was doing an audit for a small company, there was a problem with one of the
accounts. I tried to contact the company to ask questions, but they were not
there. I made the decision to keep looking for the answer. Four hours later,
they returned my call and I realized it was a simple typo. I wasted 4 hours of
my day. In this case, I was too sensitive about detail. So I learned how not to
be so detailed and picky."
Long Answer
"In
my first month working at Tiffany's selling jewelry, I made a poor decision by
making an assumption. A person buying an engagement diamond wanted to see some
rings. It's not polite to immediately ask for a price range, so I showed the
person a variety of rings. He pointed to a ring that was about twelve thousand
dollars. The diamond ring he pointed to was one of the more expensive ones I
showed him. Eager to sell him the ring, I explained the quality of the ring,
explained our satisfaction guarantee policy to him, and made sure he was
comfortable with making a purchase at Tiffany's. He bought the ring, and I
thought I made a great sell. However, it turns out that on my day off, he came
in and exchanged the ring for one that was twenty five thousand dollars. It was
one of the rings that I didn't show him. So basically, I made a bad decision on
selling him what he first pointed out instead of showing him more options. I
assumed that the initial ring he selected was the price range he was looking
for. I never made that mistake again and I learned that I shouldn't assume so
much."
This example is geared towards sales, but like I said earlier, make sure to
clearly explain the situation, identify the decisions, explain why it was a bad
decision, and most importantly what you learned by making a poor decision. |