Describe a Situation Where Your Professional Ethics Were Challenged and How You Came to Terms with the Situation. What Did You Learn from This?

...

When I reflected back on the incident I felt I did a few mistakes. One, in my over enthusiasm, I misunderstood the criticality of the instrument and failed to prioritize it. Second, in order to prove myself worthy of the opportunity I had been given, I did bulk of the task by myself without seeking my RO’s help. I always had a great respect for my RO but since I was relatively new and brimming with confidence, I didn’t interact much with him. He also supported me blindly in my team’s overconfidence. I feel my excitement got better of my judgment and if given a second chance, I will surely rectify that mistake. I took full responsibility of my mistake and promised my team to never repeat it again. I learnt that relying on the theoretical knowledge can be dangerous at times. In the hindsight, I feel that no matter how good we think we are, it’s better to consult the experienced on the matter; it not only keeps the mistakes in check but also gives plethora of learning opportunity.

After that incident, my seniors’ faith in me was restored on the back of my success in other smaller projects and in 2016, I was given the chance to lead the whole overhauling team. This time, I proactively consulted my seniors regarding most of the tasks and critical activities. I was more interactive with my RO discussing my day-ahead planning and daily progress. Also, I took regular reports from team and fortunately our team finished the project 2 days ahead of the deadline. After that oil pump incident, I feel that I have become more mature and know how to be a calm head keeping my excitement aside.

...