Question: What was the worst decision you ever made at work or in life?

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Follow-up questions:

What were the alternatives? How did you go about making this decision?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Monitoring (Making observations of self and environment)

Other Factors:

Self-Awareness

Work Activity (Task):

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

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Analytical Thinking

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

The candidate’s ability to recover after a bad decision.
The candidate’s analytical thinking skills.
The candidate’s decision-making skills.

Red Flags to Watch For:

The candidate’s poor analytical thinking skills.
The candidate’s poor decision-making skills.

Sample Answer:

The worst decision I have made was not accepting an offer to be assigned in another city. I did not accept it because it would mean I’d be travelling an hour everyday just to get to work. I regretted it because the offer was supposed to be a stepping stone to being a manager. Now, I’ve learned to weight the pros and cons really well before making a decision.

Question Source: Unknown