The biggest career mistake people make

I’ve made more mistakes in my HR career than I care to remember. I could probably write a book.

It’s funny to think about your mistakes, because invariably every person takes those mistakes and tries to turn them into some type of lesson learned.

It’s a classic interview question: “Mr. Sackett, tell me about the biggest mistake in your career. What did you learn from it?”

I’ve even asked this when interviewing others.

A nauseating response

Just once I want someone to answer:

“Well, besides coming to this lame interview, I’d have to say drinking my way through college, getting average grades, and having to take positions like these are probably my biggest ones. What I’ve learned is that all those high school kids in band and on the debate team really were smarter than me, and in hindsight, my ability to be third team all-conference point guard probably didn’t get me into the career I was hoping for.”