Question: Describe a major mistake you made in the past and what you did to rectify it.

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Tell me about a major mistake you made, and what you did to correct it.

Follow-up questions:

What did you learn from that experience?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Critical Thinking,Basic – Science and Logic

Abilities:

Cognitive – Category Flexibility (Mental Flexibility)

Other Factors:

Personality-Job Fit,Self-Awareness

Work Activity (Task):

Information Input – Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events,Mental Processes – Judging the Value of Things, Services, or People

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Adaptability/Flexibility,Analytical Thinking

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

The candidate’s mental flexibility when it comes to correcting a mistake.
The candidate’s logical thinking.

Red Flags to Watch For:

Answers that reveal illogical thinking and inability to think creatively in correcting mistakes.

Sample Answer:

When I was working as an analyst, there was an error in the data I gathered for business intelligence. Good thing I spotted it before I made my reports and I was able to correct it immediately.

Question Source: Unknown