What is the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done?
During interviews for new jobs, you may be asked a variety of questions to find out more about your skills and personality. “What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?” is a question you might be asked at your next job interview. Preparing for tough interview questions like this one can help you feel more confident and show potential employers how you handle real-life situations that could happen at work. We’ll talk about why employers want to know about the biggest risk you’ve ever taken in this article. We’ll also show you how to write your answer and give you some examples to get you started.
Why do employers ask, “What was the most dangerous thing you ever did?”
Employers may ask you what the biggest risk you’ve ever taken was so they can see how you make big decisions. This question is based on a situation and helps the interviewer figure out how you would handle a calculated risk at work. Depending on the job you’re applying for, the employer may want to know if you’re willing to take risks that could help the company. This is especially important if you have to make a lot of big decisions as a leader.
The employer also asks this question to make sure you’re thinking about what’s best for them when you make decisions. How you answer this question can tell them more about you than what’s on your resume or cover letter.
How to answer, “What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?”
To answer this interview question, do the following:
1. Consider the business.
Learn about the company and what it stands for before you decide what your biggest risk is. You can tell how dangerous they are from this. For instance, a new tech company might be proud that they were the first to make a certain product. When you talk to this kind of company about a job, you might want to stress your risks more. Some companies may want to look at customer data before making big decisions. For these kinds of businesses, you might want to talk about how you carefully measure your risks.
2. Pick a good example to follow
Think about a time when you did something that was out of your comfort zone and took a risk. This could happen to you at home or at work. Make sure the example you choose was a calculated risk that paid off. One person says, “Moving to Austin, Texas, was one of the most dangerous things I’ve ever done.”
3. Describe the risk.
After you choose an example for your answer, be sure to explain what could happen in that example. Consider using the STAR technique, which stands for situation, task, action, and result, to show how you fit into the scenario. In our first example, the person might say, “I took a chance and moved to a city I had never been to and didn’t know anyone in so I could try to get a job.”
4. Tell me what was going through your mind.
During an interview, if the employer asks, “What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?” tell them how you decided. As we’ve already said, the employer wants to know how you decide what to do and how you take calculated risks. You can say what you did and why you did it here. For instance, “When I was young, I lived in a small town where I didn’t have many chances to move up in my career. I thought that moving to a new city would be a great way to give myself more options.”
5. Talk about the events that took place.
Lastly, finish your answer by saying what happened because of your risk. When giving a professional example, be sure to say how what you did helped the company you worked for. In our example, the person could say, “Since I moved to Austin, I’ve worked on a number of projects with big clients and found different jobs in my field.”
How to answer the question, “What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?”
People might say the following about the biggest risk they’ve ever taken:
Example 1- Experienced candidate
“Building a new feature for our client’s app as part of a recent project was one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken. We didn’t know how other people would react to the change because it was different from anything they had before. We thought about who our client’s audience was and what their overall goal was when making the feature to see how we could make the app better. When we added the new feature, the client liked it and asked us to add similar features to some of their other apps.
Someone who is just getting started
“I took a big chance when I tried to get into my college. Since I was a busy student, I knew I wouldn’t have time to visit many colleges or fill out many applications, so I only sent my application to two schools. Even though there was a chance I wouldn’t get into either school, I thought my grades would help me get in, and I was willing to take a chance to save time.
I looked online to find out which schools had the best veterinary programs so I could choose which two to apply to. Even though applying to only two schools was a big risk, I got into both of them and got to go to my top-choice school, where I had some great teachers.
Example 3- Personal life example
“When I decided to start selling pies in my neighborhood, I probably took the biggest risk of my life. I used to only make pies for people who asked for them, but I decided to take a chance and market my pies more seriously. This took up a lot of my time and kept me from doing other things I liked to do. It also cost me a lot of money at first, but once I started selling my pies at local markets, I got a lot of fans. I’m glad I took a chance because now I get to do what I love every day.
