Interview Questions – ‘If you could change one thing about your career so far, what would it be?’

For Service-leavers who haven’t got recent interview experience, the prospect can seem daunting. Here, we dissect another of the more common but no less difficult interview questions so that you can show your best side to interviewers and land your next post-Services role.

‘If you could change one thing about your career so far, what would it be?’

Confused?
Let’s be clear. This is not a competency question or an inquiry into your skills. It’s a character question.

Which way?
There are two ways to answer this question, positive or negative. Any answer where you use the word ‘regret’ is always the wrong answer. You immediately signal that you may not have fully recovered or fully forgiven yourself for whatever happened.

Positives
Pick something positive and explain how, if you could go back, you’d do more of the same or put greater investment into it.

Probing
The question might well be about probing you to see if you really are as perfect as your interview thus far (and your CV) makes you out to be – and if you’ll own up to that. Part of this will be to find out if you’re able to move on. 

Mistakes
Everybody makes mistakes. Thank goodness, or we’d have far fewer learning opportunities. You don’t need to hide from your mistakes.

Just to repeat that – everybody makes mistakes
You can’t change them, and you aren’t the only person that’s done something that didn’t reflect them at their best. If you believe this, you’re less likely to be panicked by this question.

Keep it brief
One example, briefly explained, should do the trick. You don’t want to outline any more mistakes than you need to.

Looking ahead
Emphasise how much you’re looking forward to applying all of your experiences (and what they’ve taught you) in the future. 

Character questions…
A good interviewer not only examines what your skills are and how they might be applied to a particular role, but also your character.

Your character will be central to your success or failure in anything you take on, such as a job. It’s essential to be able to express not only what your competencies qualify you to do but also what type of a person you are and how you like to go about things.