Put a Positive Spin on It (Part 3)

Lately we’ve been sharing how you can put a positive spin on a difficult or negative work experience.  Today we’re going to share a third story, one that shows that you can learn from your mistakes.

Negative Spin

My last position was at a small company that had created an interesting and innovative product.  The goal was to negotiate a contract with a large corporation and to eventually sell the company.  The product wasn’t complete and it had some weak spots that we tried to hide.  Most of the employees at my company spoke Russian, but the other company’s representatives were all American.  During one of the joint meetings, one employee said to his peer sitting next to him, in Russian, “They are such idiots!  Let’s hope they don’t ask us about the “black box!”  At the conclusion of the meeting, one of the members of the other team thanked everyone for meeting, in Russian!  We were not able to make a deal with them, most likely because of that comment.  This is not a company I am happy to be a part of and thus I’m seeking a new position.

Positive Spin

While the facts of the story above remain the same, you can put a positive spin on it by explaining how even a big mistake can have a positive outcome:

As a result, we had to work harder as a team and re-focus our efforts on improving the product.  Personally, I have learned several things from that experience.  I don’t make assumptions about people I meet and I have learned to never underestimate a team that I am negotiating with.  

Furthermore, while the loss of this deal was devastating at the time, we were eventually able to spin-off the department and create a new successful company!

Conclusion

Even though this story highlights a big lapse in judgment, the ability to learn from your mistakes, or those of your team, is an important and valuable skill.  Furthermore, the ability to re-group and re-focus one’s efforts after such a “failure” shows both resilience and a positive attitude.

Put a Positive Spin on It (Part 2)

 In our last blog entry we gave an example of how to spin what could have been a negative work story into a positive one.  Today we will share another example of how you can discuss a difficult or challenging work experience in a way that will highlight your ingenuity and resilience.

Negative Spin

I was put in charge of writing an installer for a product with two separate components that needed to “talk” to one another.  Testing the installer was incredibly difficult because each component was created at a different office and it was not easy to coordinate my testing schedule with two other people in two different locations.  I could see that finding a time we could all work on this simultaneously was going to be an ongoing and consistent problem.  This was exacerbated when each person blamed the other and my management didn’t seem to care that we were “set up” to fail.  My frustration that the process, by design, was not working and that nobody listened to my suggestions has led me to seek better opportunities elsewhere.

Positive Spin

I was given the task of writing an installer for a product with two separate components.  I could see that this situation was not going to work, since each component was created at a different office and it was not easy to coordinate my testing schedule with two other people in two different locations.  I realized that something had to change in order for my project to succeed, so I took the initiative to create a “work-around” in the installer.  While my work around allowed me to create the installer, it wasn’t the most efficient way for the company to proceed in the future.  I was able to find people within my company who noticed what I had done and asked me what changes we needed to make for the next release.  While this was a challenging time for me at work, it gave me the opportunity to learn new skills, allowed me to make a positive change in the way the company works, and even led to a promotion!

Conclusion

We have all had challenging and difficult work experiences we can share, but finding a way to spin those stories in a positive way will make you stand out as a creative and positive candidate.