Can you tell me a time when you failed, and what you learned from the experience? - Sure. When I was at university I was the social secretary for our swimming team. Every year we had a Christmas Ball, and in second year I was in charge of planning the Christmas Ball. This was a ticketed event, and all of the proceeds went to charity. Unfortunately, on the day of the ball, we found out that our supplier for the food had accidentally double booked, and so they weren't able to supply food for the event, which was happening in just a few hours time. So I managed to get the team together. We made a plan. We went to all of the local shops, and we managed to gather enough food, fortunately, to feed all of our 50 guests. Unfortunately, this was more expensive than our original food supply was going to be, so it ate more into our budget. Overall, the event was a success. This experience really taught me the value of having a good contingency plan, and making sure you prepare for any potential risks, or problems that could arise in a plan. - Questions about your weaknesses or failures are designed to assess your ability to self-reflect on your actions, and learn from your mistakes. Nobody's perfect, and we make mistakes all the time, but being able to learn from them means we won't make the same error twice, a crucial skill in any job. This interviewee gave a great answer. And note how it didn't require any technical knowledge, there were no numbers mentioned at all. Instead, it was a story, which will stick in the interviewer's mind. But secretly we know it exhibited problem solving, team working, reflection on failures, actions for future improvements. Always try and tell a story if you can, as they are much easier for the interviewer to remember.