What is your biggest regret?

You may need to negotiate a variety of difficult questions and formulate responses that reflect favorably on you as a candidate in order to have a successful interview. To gauge the kind of experiences you've had in the past, recruiting managers and employers could inquire about your biggest professional regret. Employers could ask you this question to gauge your level of self-awareness and learn how you handle difficult circumstances. Employers may be able to determine from your response whether you tend to accept responsibility for your actions or whether you tend to place blame on others. Employers can then assess the kind of experiences you've had, how you overcame challenges, and how these experiences might affect how well you perform in the position for which you're being interviewed.

Why This Is Asked: This question is asked to determine how you handle challenging circumstances and whether you have learned from past errors.

Key Things to Say: Be honest about a time when you messed up, but emphasize what you learned from it and how you've improved since then.

Sample Response:

"I don't have many significant career regrets for two reasons. I first avoid thinking about the past and instead concentrate on the future. Second, I think everything occurs for a reason. Any experience, no matter how positive or negative, can be used as a teaching tool to help me improve.

Of course, I have made mistakes along the way, just like everyone else, but I have always attempted to learn from them and apply what I have learned to better my performance going forward."