The question, “What are your weaknesses” is a common interview question.
WHAT ARE YOUR WEAKNESSES? This is one of the most common interview questions and here are some tips on how to ace answering this.
What Are Your Weaknesses?
This question is quite tricky as it will force you to answer things that would make you look like you’re unfitting for the role you are applying for. This is especially difficult as you expect to discuss the skill set, talents, and capabilities that will make you the strongest candidate for the job.
But fear not as there are some tips on how to answer this one of the most common interview questions without putting some negativity on yourself during a job interview.
The way to do this is positively framing yourself. This is quite challenging but with self-awareness and an action plan, you can stand apart from other job applicants.
Why do interviewers ask this question?
You are asked of this because through this, the interviewer would like to determine your honesty, your self-awareness, and willingness to improve. It is best to know, analyze, and recognize the areas you need to work on.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What are your weaknesses?
- How did you notice this weakness in yourself?
- How did you react to that realization?
- What steps are you taking to notice that habit in the moment?
- What are you doing to change this behavior?
Some of the common answers include managing missed deadlines, struggling to say “no”, being disorganized, striving for perfection, lacking self-assurance, communications issues, difficulty working with different personalities, and among others.
However, some of the best weaknesses to share are:
- Lack of Patience
- Lack of Organization
- Trouble with Delegation
- Timidity
- Lack of Tactfulness
- Fear of Public Speaking
- Weak Data Analysis Skills
- Indecisiveness
- Harsh Self-Criticism
- Micromanaging
- Talkative
- Trouble with Work-Life Balance
The key is framing these negative traits positively and sharing how you are working on these negative traits to overcome them.
Here are some sample answers from Harvard Business Review:
“One of my challenges is my lack of professional experience with presentation tools like PowerPoint and Canva. In the past, I’ve had specialists design these materials for me, but they don’t always know the content as well as I do. So, one of my goals this year is to learn these applications to create my own presentations and continually improve that skill.”
“One of my challenges is effectively proofreading my own work, especially in a fast-paced environment. I take a little longer, but often there’s not enough time, and I don’t want to let errors go through. One of my solutions has been relying on other writers and editors on staff to review my work, but I’m also looking at taking writing classes to help me elevate my editing skills to be more productive and efficient.”
“One of my challenges is learning new workplace technologies, like cloud filing platforms, database tools, and content management systems. It just takes me longer to learn complicated technology tools. But once I do, I enjoy using them, and like to help new colleagues learn them as well. I really appreciate it when a company offers classes and resources to help people become confident using the tools.”
If you want some more, here are some dos and don’ts in an interview you must remember to help you get that job.
What can you say about this? Let us know in the comments!