Interview questions › Learning from setbacks
Tell me about a project that failed. What was your part in it?
Learning from setbacks · commonly asked in most interviews
No account, no credit card for the first three questions.
How to answer it well
Give the earliest point you saw risk and what you said or did then — that is the part interviewers are listening for.
Two mistakes that cost you points
- Distancing yourself from the project you were part of.
- Only covering the ending, not the moment the risk became visible.
What to do with this question today
- Answer it out loud once, without stopping. Do not write it down first.
- Read back exactly what you said. Mark the filler words, and the length of your longest pause.
- Answer it again and change one thing — usually the opening line, or the number at the end.
This question is not in the free run yet — practise the same skill with a free run, or paste a job description and we build the set around that role.
More questions
- Tell me about something that did not work out, and what you changed afterwards. Looking back, which step would you change? · Learning from setbacks
- Tell me about an idea of yours that was rejected. What did you do next? · Learning from setbacks
- What is the biggest mistake you have made at work? · Learning from setbacks
- There is a gap in your resume. What were you doing during that time? · Learning from setbacks
- In one minute, introduce yourself and explain why this role should consider you. · Communication
- Walk me through your resume. Tell me about the choices you made along the way. · Communication
Also searched as: tell me about a project that failed interview; project failure example answer
Dimension: Learning from setbacks — the same skill is probed again with different wording, so practise the pattern, not just this sentence.