tell me about a time you made a mistake

STAR with OWNERSHIP. S/T: a mistake you made (pick a real but non-catastrophic one). A: you admitted it immediately, took responsibility (no blame-shifting), found the root cause, fixed it, and — key — PREVENTED recurrence (documented it / changed the process). R: the outcome + what you'd do differently. WHY IT WINS: the panel is screening for maturity. A candidate who can say 'I made this error, here's what I learned, here's the system change so it won't happen again' reads as safe to hire. A candidate who deflects or downplays reads as risky. Make sure the mistake is believable and the LEARNED LESSON is the real payload. Never blame a coworker.