Behavioral
Can you give an example of a time when you experienced failure or rejection in your professional life, and how did you use it as an opportunity for growth?
Engineering ManagerUX DesignerUX ResearcherData Science Manager
Meta
Stripe
Microsoft
Uber
Flexport
Answers
Anonymous
3 months ago
Situation: After completing my bachelor’s degree in business administration, I applied for a quantitative master’s program in Bologna. Unfortunately, I wasn’t accepted, missing the cut-off by just one point. The main reason was that my background in quantitative subjects was insufficient, as my bachelor’s degree had focused more on business administration.
Action: Despite this setback, I remained committed to my goal of improving my quantitative skills while continuing to pursue finance. In my master’s program, I chose as many quantitative courses as possible, and I also participated in several classes from the Master in Quantitative Finance program. Additionally, while working as a librarian in the economics library, I had the opportunity to engage with students and professors from the field, gaining valuable insights and expanding my knowledge.
Result: My efforts paid off when I wrote a highly quantitative thesis, which was reviewed by the director of the Master in Quantitative Finance, who served as my co-examiner. This experience validated my hard work and determination, and reinforced my belief that with perseverance, curiosity, and a commitment to continuous improvement, I can achieve any goal I set. Applying for this position is the next step in pursuing that ambition.
Anonymous
5 months ago
Situation: In my previous company, we redesigned the API layer to optimize performance and improve reliability. However, after the launch, we received very negative feedback and multiple escalations from leadership regarding the application's performance.
Task: As the team lead, my task was to address the concerns raised by leadership, understand the root causes of the performance issues, and demonstrate the improvements made by the new API layer.
Action: I attended calls to understand the concerns, which centered around the new performance dashboards and incident reports. We realized that previously, not all error scenarios were tracked and reported. To address this, we created high-level reports similar to the old ones to prove that the new API was better performing. We highlighted that through context propagation, we were now identifying potential and previously unreported failures and moved from average response times to 95th percentile reporting. Additionally, I recognized the need to set expectations for other involved teams, explaining the current process, the changes being rolled out, and educating them on the new process. This allowed them time to adjust their processes or align with our approach.
Result: Although it was a tough week, we successfully demonstrated that the new API was indeed performing better, which helped restore confidence in our team's work. This process also highlighted the importance of clear communication and expectation-setting with other teams to ensure alignment and prevent unnecessary doubts and morale issues in the future.
Anonymous
6 months ago
Situation:At my early-stage startup, I led the engineering team on a high-stakes project that required close collaboration with design and QA teams. Despite completing my assigned tasks on time, delays from other teams caused us to miss the project deadline, creating significant issues for the company.
Task:I was responsible for ensuring that our engineering tasks were completed on schedule and seamlessly integrated with the work from the design and QA teams.
Action:After the project failed to meet its deadline, I took several steps to improve future project outcomes:
- Implemented Daily Stand-Up Meetings:We had a specific issue where a critical design update was not communicated to the engineering team. During the new daily stand-ups, we identified such gaps early. For example, a design change was discussed in a stand-up meeting, allowing us to adjust our engineering work in real-time and avoid significant delays.
- Introduced Regular Risk Assessments:We identified a risk of the QA team being overwhelmed with testing volume. Regular risk assessments highlighted this risk, prompting us to temporarily reallocate resources from the engineering team to assist with testing. This proactive approach helped us keep the QA process on track and prevented further delays.
- Utilized Project Management Tools:We used Jira to track progress and set clear milestones. This tool allowed us to maintain transparency across teams and keep everyone aligned. For instance, the tool’s visual dashboard helped us monitor task dependencies and adjust our schedules based on real-time updates.
Result:These changes led to improved synchronization between teams and more timely identification of issues. For example, the daily stand-ups and risk assessments allowed us to resolve issues more efficiently, and the project management tools enhanced overall transparency. As a result, subsequent projects were completed on schedule, and the improved processes contributed to more successful project deliveries. This experience reinforced the importance of daily synchronization, proactive risk management, and effective communication in managing cross-functional projects.
Anonymous
8 months ago
I failed to implement a full fledge feature that i had overcommitted in a particular release. However, looking at deadlines and other constaraints I decided to break down the feature into current and next release take out only most feasible items in the current relase. This helped me showcase the feature in the current release as well as avoid any last minute burnouts of the team.
Interview question asked to Data Science Managers, Engineering Managers, ML Engineering Managers and other roles interviewing at Slack, Udemy, Grubhub and others: Can you give an example of a time when you experienced failure or rejection in your professional life, and how did you use it as an opportunity for growth?.