The story
I had prepared for the interview for two weeks.
I had written answers to every question I could imagine.
I knew the company's history, its products and its plans.
On the morning of the interview I arrived thirty minutes early.
The first questions were exactly the ones I had prepared.
I answered them smoothly, perhaps too smoothly.
Then the interviewer put down her pen and asked something different.
"Tell me about a time you were completely wrong about something."
I had not prepared for that at all.
For a few seconds I said nothing, and then I told her the truth.
I described a project I had led that failed, and what I had learned from it.
She smiled and wrote something down.
Two days later they offered me the job.
Later my manager told me that everyone answers the prepared questions well.