“What would you say are your greatest strengths?” “What weaknesses do you have?”
This is without a doubt the most vexing question ever posed in an interview. More qualified candidates are rejected because of how they handle this than any other.
The first thing to do is expose a myth. This myth has caused many candidates to mishandle the question and be rejected. People started teaching this many years ago. It was good advice for a couple of years until all employers had been exposed to it and figured out the game. Unfortunately it is still prevalent. I know this because in the surveys I conducted over the last week in discussions on about a dozen LinkedIn group sites I ask the question; “How do you respond to the strength and weakness question?” About a third of the comments said they handled it according to the strategy of this myth.
The strategy of this myth is called “the innocent weakness”. It says that when ask this question offer up weakness that could also be seen as strengths or are not true weaknesses. It sounds like…”Sometimes I can be too demanding and set expectations for my team that are too high. I have been told that at times I ask too much”. My favorite one is…” I’m a workaholic I need to learn to relax and slow down a little”.
On the surface this may seem like a good idea until you realize the interviewer knows exactly what you are doing. He knows you are not being honest and feels like he has been taken advantage of.
I am not telling you to never do this. At sometime there might be a place for it. The number one rule throughout this discussion is “honesty” and you might legitimately feel that one of these “innocent weaknesses” is really a weakness for you. Just be careful how you use it. Your answer must include “normal” weaknesses. If you are asked to give three you can use one of these.
Why is the question even asked?
Believe it or not the interviewer does not really care about the weakness. He knows nobody is going to volunteer anything that says they will have problems on the job. A candidate for a line management position is not going to say that he have poor leadership skills. What the interviewer is looking for is your honesty, your thought process, how well you know yourself and how you deal with a weakness no matter what it is.
The worst possible answer is I can’t really think of any weaknesses. We all have them. If God was walking around today he might be able to give this answer. Since you know you have some, if you are interviewing you had better get prepared. It is a very hard question because we know we have weaknesses but we are very uncomfortable talking about them. It is hard enough admitting weaknesses to our selves let alone talking about something so personal to a complete stranger yet our comfort level and self assuredness is what is being evaluated.
It is a good exercise to write down anything you want to discuss comfortably in an interview. When we write and then read what we have written out loud the information is imprinted on our memory and is easier to recall. Write down the following…
1) The weakness
2) Why you feel it is a weakness?
3) How it has affected your work?
4) What do you do/ are you doing to deal with it and overcome it?
Remember the weakness is not the issue. The interviewer is looking for answers 2, 3 & 4. This is the formula to use when answering the dreaded question.
(1) “Sometimes I have tended to procrastinate when dealing with the most difficult task. I got the easiest things done first and (2 & 3) therefore would run out of time and energy before finishing the most important task. (HINT…This is stated in the past tense)
(4) “I know I share this weakness with a great many people but I figured out a solution that works for me. I plan my work and then rigidly stick to the plan. Before I leave at the end of the day I write down the next day’s priorities and objectives. I start to write down my action plan to achieve the objectives including a list of task spreading the most difficult task throughout the day. The first thing in the morning I polish up my plan. All I have to do is stick to the plan focusing on one task at a time.
This formula works for any weakness you can come up with. You are honest and have actually turned a legitimate weakness into an impressive strength.
A LinkedIn member sent me a great tip. He starts his answer with…”I don’t consider these weaknesses but rather developmental needs. They are characteristics that I would like to improve.” After that he never uses the word “weakness” and the interviewer stops thinking about weaknesses.
There you go; the mystery is solved. If you use these tools this question should never again cause a problem.
A word about the other side of the coin
The strength and weakness question is a golden opportunity to sell yourself. If you don’t sell yourself nobody else will. When ask about strengths don’t be modest. Prepare for this the same way you did for weaknesses. If you have learned anything about the position sell strengths that relate to the interviewer’s needs. ALWAYS be completely honest. If you embellish your strengths it will be exposed during the rest of the interview and during references. When I check references I always ask for an opinion about the candidates strengths. I ask specifically about the ones given by the candidate.
This is execllent! I have had this question thrown at me more than once, and while I have prepared for it, I never felt I did a really good job of answering. I now have some better information to deal with!
Posted by: Jennifer Marx | July 03, 2009 at 06:35 PM