Should I mention a major past failure?

Hi Anonymous,

I would not proactively mention a failure story, unless the interviewer explicitly asks for one. However, if that’s the case, your story would be a totally fine example, since it includes the key elements for a “good” failure story:

• Presents a real failure (many candidates use “fake” failures to appear good – when this happens the interviewer usually digs deeper – everyone has some failures and if you are not willing to share one that’s a major red flag)
• Shows you worked through the failure
• Shows you learned from the failure and successfully overcome it

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi,

You can mention this and you can even sell this experience but for MBB it does not sound like a huge achievement. So if I were you, I would a) not mention it proactively by myself since it's not a big deal b) use it as an achievement story, but make the right package. Make sure that this story is not outdated - if you have more than 3 years of experience I would not mention it at all

Best

I know many other people may have different opinions but I think you can spin this past in such a positive way that could tell a story of how determined and self-aware you are about your interest and ability. While some would flow along with a degree with which they were not motivated about, you decided to let it go and indeed strategized about studying another that you truly care about - and to cap it, you truly did well at the latter degree! Great people fail at a lot of things - but they are regarded great eventually because following their passion usually lead them to unusual results most of the time. I would find a very positive spin to the story and go ahead to share it. But if you can't share the story without sounding it off as regret in your past, then I would rather keep it... Good luck

I agree with the previous experts that you should probably leave the story out unless you are explicitely asked for an example of failure in the fit section of the interview. MBB can be a bit cookie cutter in who they are looking for so the way your story would be perceived if brought up proactively will depend a lot on who is interviewing you. For some it could be positive, for others raise red flags. Hope that makes sense and best of luck with your interviews!

(edited)