Behavioral Interview Questions About Personal Accountability

Behavioral interview questions focus on assessing your performance in past situations.  One common topic for behavioral questions is personal accountability.  These questions focus on a candidate’s past failures and the candidate’s willingness to admit their mistakes.  Below are a number of examples of behavioral questions related to accountibility:

• Tell me about a time when you took responsibility for a failure.

• Tell me about the last time you made a mistake.

• Tell me about your biggest failure in your career.

• Tell me about your greatest weakness.

• Tell me about a time you did something you regret.

• Tell me about a time when you received negative feedback from your boss.

• Tell me about a time when you learned from a mistake.

• Tell me about a time when you failed to meet a commitment you had made.

To be successful with a behavioral question about failure, you need to give a specific example and acknowledge your responsibility for the failure.  Some individuals always have an excuse for their mistakes.  Trying to deflect responsibility in an interview will usually make a very poor impression.  To be successful with an answer about a failure, include a discussion of what you learned from the experience.