As a pro football fan, I’ve often wondered what it would be like to stand on a confetti-strewn field and hoist the Lombardi Trophy after winning the Super Bowl. It’s a fantasy shared by every NFL aficionado. But it’s probably safe to say none of us has fantasized about being on the other side: facing the cameras at the post-game press conference and trying to explain how we lost the biggest game of our lives.

Think failure isn’t an option? Think again. People fall short of their goals every day. But imagine falling short before an estimated worldwide audience of one billion people. And if that weren’t nightmarish enough, imagine then having to sit in front of the mics and say to the world, “We couldn’t get it done” … “They made the plays they had to make” … “We needed to stop them but we didn’t” … “I’m proud of what we accomplished this season, but it wasn’t enough” … “They played great football. I think that we played good football, but, you know, not great.” (Yes, Arizona Cardinals safety Antrel Rolle really was honest enough to say the last lines after his team’s Super Bowl XLIII loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.)

So what about you? If you had to explain your failures, could you be as straightforward as Antrel Rolle? It’s something you might want to think about because one key indicator of how people will handle future challenges is how they’ve handled past setbacks. That’s why a lot of hiring managers routinely ask job candidates to share details about their biggest failures.

Consider how you’d respond to these potential questions before heading out to your next job interview:

• Why didn’t you finish school?  Did you drop out of high school or fail to complete your college degree? You’ll have to explain those lapses to a prospective employer. Hiring managers aren’t interested in long sob stories about what went wrong with your family or your life. They’re asking this question to find out if you have difficulty finishing what you start—and your answer needs to convince them not to worry. Keep it short: I made mistakes as a kid and dropped out of school, but I knew it was important to get my diploma, so I went back for my GED. Or I had to work to help pay my way through college, which didn’t leave much time for studying. Rather than being a mediocre student and a mediocre employee, I devoted all my attention to being the best worker I could be. I may have lost a degree but I gained the kind of invaluable real-life work experience you can learn in books.

• Why haven’t you progressed more in previous jobs?  Beware, job seeker, this is a test. If you’ve failed to move up the ladder in your previous jobs, the hirer wants to know whether you’ve lacked initiative, ability, or opportunity. But most important, the hirer wants to know whether you can objectively evaluate your own weaknesses as well as your past employers. If you launch into a litany of how you’ve been back-stabbed, overlooked, and unappreciated, you can kiss this job opportunity good-bye. Even if you were the victim of a vast corporate conspiracy, keep it to yourself. Sharing it with the interviewer will only make you sound paranoid. Some good answers include briefly explaining why promotions weren’t available, why you felt you’d thrive better by staying where you were, or why you lacked the necessary qualifications to move up and how you’ve addressed those deficiencies.

• Describe one of your biggest failures.  Your potential employers want to know whether you can acknowledge your shortcomings and handle adversity. Instead of feeling intimidated by the question, view it as an opportunity to demonstrate your maturity and resilience. Choose a short, simple example that illustrates one of your failures—not something that was done to you. Forget about trying to appear perfect. A savvy hirer won’t buy that anyway. Instead try to show that you know how to learn from your mistakes.