Career Advice

No one knows better than a boss that everyone makes mistakes. But not everyone handles them the same way. When you make a mistake, your boss will be watching you closely and asking himself these questions:

Am I dealing with someone who:

1. learns easily from mistakes or repeats them endlessly?
2. tells the simple truth or creates confusion to hide behind?
3. sincerely accepts responsibility or just tells me what I want to hear?
4. really hears and understands me?

Your boss will consider the cost of your mistakes to be part of his investment in you. It’s a cost of doing business. Your job when you report a mistake is to convince your supervisor that his investment is a good one. You can do that by following this checklist:

1. report your mistakes early so your boss doesn’t find out about them from someone else
2. apologize without assigning blame to others and without sounding defensive
3. do whatever you can to correct your mistake and do it quickly
4. show you thought about what led to your mistake
5. summarize and say back to your boss his message to you, for ex: “I hear you saying that this was a costly mistake for the company at a time when…” and then
6. commit to not making that mistake again and explain how you will avoid it

Fully accepting a mistake, making repairs and avoiding repetition is extremely difficult. Maybe one of the most difficult things in life. And that’s one of the few advantages you have in this situation — your boss knows how hard it is. So do it right and you’ll show what you’re made of. If you’re lucky, you may just come out ahead!

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For comprehensive advice on the entire job search process, read our complete guide to landing a job at a great company or visit our career advice hub.