Life can not always offer us a road full of rose petals. Sometimes we are supposed to walk on the thorns too. Sometimes willingly, sometimes unwillingly. Oftentimes knowingly, and oftentimes unknowingly. Nonetheless, walking on the thorns is also important to understand the hard realities of the world, of our societies. Let us know more detail about ‘Describe A Situation In Which You Didn’t Get Something You Felt You Deserved?’.
Describe A Situation In Which You Didn’t Get Something You Felt You Deserved?- Sample Answers
In such a harsh world, sometimes we do not get what we think we deserve. We give our best, sometimes not the best but still enough, and the result does not satisfy us. Such disappointments come to everyone, and it is quite common to every individual at least once in their lifetimes.
We learn from these experiences, and sometimes we just hold grudges. Nonetheless, they become a part of the deep secret that we hold near to our hearts. However, sometimes while going through an interview for a job, or just in general, someone may ask you to describe the situation in which you feel that you didn’t get something you felt you deserved.
When asked such questions, we must gather our thoughts and answer them properly without dwelling too into our feelings, especially if the question is proposed in a formal setting.
How To Answer Such A Question?
A question asking someone to describe the situation in which you feel that you didn’t get something you felt you deserved brings out an experience from our past which one may wish to forget or do not recall. The very question is framed on the lines of disappointment the respondent may have felt sometimes in their lives and while answering it, one’s emotions may take over.
However, such questions are asked, especially in an interview, to see how the respondent, or a candidate in an interview, overcame such disappointments. This shows their strong will to move on and learn from the experiences, as bad as they may get. Moreover, it puts light on how the respondent interprets a situation that does not go along the lines of their expectations. Below we have presented some points around which one can revolve their answers to such a personal yet professionally important question.
No Excuses And Responsiblity
As mentioned above, the very question is personal and brings out the phases of lives that went in the opposite direction of what was expected. However, it is important to show that you do not resent anything about it. Even if you do, show that you have only learned from the experiences for the better.
It is important to own up to the result, even if it disappoints you, and present no excuses for it. This shows that the candidate is highly responsible for their actions and such people ought to remain very cautious and vigilant of their actions as they have experienced something that did not go as they have expected them to. Moreover, this also puts them in an experienced position since they have experienced the disappointment that comes along.
Strong Will
Only the strong-willed can learn from every experience that life throws in front of them. Hence, it is important to show that you have moved on from the disappointment. This can be highlighted from the fact that you do not resent the experience in general and that you look forward to the future rather than being hung with past disappointments.
This highlights the strong will of the candidates and presents them as having strong personalities. In cases of disappointments, which is a usual scene at companies, such candidates can move on from the disappointments rather quickly and work for future projects. These types of qualities are sought by many companies since such employees can be very determined and fastly learn from their experiences and make the best out of them in the future.
Learning Experiences
As mentioned above, a candidate with a strong will gets over the past and learns from it for good. Hence, it is very important to show that you learn from your experiences. Every mistake, flaw, error of the past, if properly thought over, can only make one understand where they lacked. And this only helps them do much better in the future.
Candidates with such qualities are sought by many companies as they learn from past mistakes, and make use of those experiences for a better future. This is not only good for the candidate but also for the company’s overall enhancement since the chances of them falling for the same mistake lessens. Moreover, such candidates are highly reliable since they have experienced disappointments and moved on from them, and hold a very trustable position.
Sample Answers
Making use of the above-mentioned points, we have presented the following sample answers:
Sample Answer 1:
“Having worked as a manager I have faced such disappointments quite a lot of time. Many times during unexpected events, we had to work overtime at odd hours. Such times are faced by almost every company and we are aware of how high the stress can get. At times like these, being a manager, I am required to stay collected and do not let my emotion get over my rationality. The disappointment comes when things improve for the better and I never get enough appreciation for my role since everybody believes that I did nothing but supervise. Nonetheless, I have learned to not let it get to me, and rather than looking at the appreciation, I look at the experience that I got and learn from it.”
In the above sample answer, the candidate very briefly puts how their position comes with certain sacrifices that they unknowingly make. Not getting enough appreciation and getting reviews like you did nothing but supervise can put anyone’s morale down.
But the candidate not only looked at the bright side of the situation but also appreciated the experience they got thanks to the unwanted events. These traits of the respondent present them as strong individual/candidate who looks for the brighter side of things and does not let emotions get over them.
Sample Answer 2:
“Working in a team have its own perks, and that is how traditionally all the companies work. However, it too has its own downfalls. And one of the major downfalls is that the individual efforts are mixed within the groups’ efforts. So even if you work hard, and the team fails, you fail too. And if you work hard, and the team successes, the whole team gets the appreciation and not just you. I have been in the shoes where I worked beyond what was expected of me and in the end, it still came to nothing. But still, I have learned to enjoy the successes with my team and learn from the failures along with my team. One thing I have learned from all these experiences is “team spirit”. And I will forever be grateful for this lesson.”
Similar to the first sample answer, the candidate in this sample answer elaborates on how a lack of appreciation and recognition of efforts can bring the optimism down of any employee. They also managed to express their feelings towards the “team spirit” that is required for any company, without sounding like a loner.
The respondent managed to end their situation with a positive note where they seem positive towards the whole “team spirit” thing and are grateful for the same, instead of criticizing this very important aspect of every company.
Sample Answer 3:
“As an intern, I have had many events happen to me where I feel I did not get what I had deserved. Be it the bonus I was expecting for my hard work, offer of a permanent position even though I was much appreciated, promotion due to my excellent performance for the internship period, yet nothing. But I have let it go now. It was all a part of life and now, life has offered me better life chances. All that is left now is the grateful feeling that I hold because even though I did not get what I could have gotten, I still experienced new things, learned new things and now I am making the best out of them.”
The above sample answer presents a candidate who surely went through the disappointments a lot of us do once in our lifetime. We work hard with certain expectations in our heads and in the end when these expectations are not met, we get disappointed. As if all our hard work went into vain.
However, unlike the ones who give up and stop working hard due to such experiences, the candidate looked at the better side of the situation. They managed to present their positive personality by talking about how these experiences have only given them much more things that they can appreciate such as skills.
Such respondents are well sought after since they hold warm personalities and make the best out of whatever is given to them and learn from their past instead of going the other way.
Conclusion:
To sum it up for you, if you are ever asked to “describe the situation in which you feel that you didn’t get something you felt you deserved” then you can present your answers by revolving them around your strong will, responsible personality, and presenting them as a learning experience.
Using these pointers, as long as you confidently present your answer, you are good to go!
