Tell me about a time you received difficult feedback. How did you respond?

Situation:

1. At the end of each internship with Marathon, all the interns were expected to prepare a presentation of the projects they had worked on and what they had learned during their internship to the refinery leadership board.

Task:

1. About a month before my first presentation at the Los Angeles, my mentor began helping me prepare.

2. He asked me to talk through each project as if I were presenting it.

3. Since it was my first practice run and I hadn’t prepared, I stumbled over my words and went off on long, unnecessary tangents.

4. His feedback was very negative and emphasized that my problem was that I was not clear and concise about the what, why, and how I completed my projects.

Action:

1. I took his feedback very seriously and asked him if he was available every workday to meet with me for 1-2 hours to work on my presentation and speaking skills with me until my final presentation date.

2. Luckily, he had time, and so we would repeat the same routine every day where I would present my presentation to him and he would give me feedback on exactly what I did wrong and how I could improve.

3. Each time he would give me feedback, I would take notes and revise my presentation for the next day.

4. I would also meet with other team members to ask for advice on how to explain difficult electrical concepts to the leadership board.

Result:

1. As my presentation date drew nearer, my mentor and I noticed that I would improve more with each meeting.

2. He began giving me more positive feedback and noticed how much I had improved since the first day we began practicing.

3. Then, on the last few days of my internship, I gave my presentation to the leadership board, who also gave me really positive feedback.

4. This experience showed me that constructive feedback can help me improve when I practice and put in the work.