Job Interview Question: What are your strengths and weaknesses

One of the most frequently asked questions in an interview is “What are your strengths?” and “What are your weaknesses?”

What is the intention of an interviewer when asking these questions? There are three things that he looks at:

1) whether you are able to tell him what your best traits and weak points are,

2) find out if those traits are important for the job position he is interviewing for and

3) get an idea about your personality (how arrogant, shy, determined or confident you are).

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. It is important to analyse yourself and see what your strengths are, what you are good at. If you find it difficult then try to ask other people what they would consider as your strengths and why. They might be able to give you examples of your good traits which you were not aware of. Don’t forget to use them when you are trying to sell yourself in the interview situation too.

Strengths that you could mention are: a strong work ethic, loyalty, great people skills, communication skills, being target oriented, being a problem-solver, having a great network, analytical and persuasive skills etc.

It would definitely be advisable and more effective to focus on those strengths that are relevant to the particular job and not to bombard the interviewer with a long list of all your strengths. It would be a good idea to focus on only two or three strengths. So, if the company wants to hire a candidate who has attention to detail mention your meticulousness and provide an impressive key achievement.

A sample answer of “What are your three greatest strengths?” could be

“My three greatest strengths are: my attention to detail displayed in my role as an auditor, my enthusiasm for my work and the adaptability I have shown within a fast moving environment.”

The best approach would be to have a balance between job specific skills and behavioural skills.

Remember that it is important to provide a memorable story, at least one, that helps you to make it memorable to the employer. If you don’t mention it during the interview the hiring manager might definitely ask you at a later stage. An example would be:

“I’ve been described by my work colleagues and bosses as a person with great problem solving skills. I am able to look at a situation from various angles and can get the work done under difficult circumstances. My communication skills are second to none which allows me to feel confident presenting to senior executives as well as sorting out conflicts between more junior company members. In the past I gained experience as a software programmer and delivered always great results.”

Let’s talk about the question “What are your weaknesses?”. In this case the interviewer wants to find out 4 things from you: 1) Do you have real weaknesses which might have a detrimental effect on the ability to undertake the job properly? 2) What is your reaction when you need to deal with a tricky question? 3) Are you confident enough and how would you describe weakness?

This question is often considered as a difficult one but you can actually turn it around and use it as an additional opportunity to sell yourself positively.

Bear in mind to talk about a professional weakness, unless the hiring manager explicitly asks you to focus on a more personal one which I would say is unlikely. You should keep your weaknesses to a maximum of 2 points. It would also make a better impression to talk about weaknesses that are not related to the job so that your chances of getting the job are not jeopardized.

We know that nobody is perfect and you might be tempted to answer “I don’t have any weaknesses” but that is not what the interviewer wants to hear. He would perceive you as an arrogant person. What he would like to see is how objectively you assess and criticise yourself. There are two options you can choose from: 1) either you mention a weakness which is actually not a weakness or 2) you mention a weakness that you were able to change into a strength by highlighting the steps you took to overcome it. These could be for example attending seminars, reading specific books, approaching a mentor, volunteering, watching videos and podcasts, etc.

Let me give you three examples:

“I find it difficult to work with people who display a lacklustre approach to their work; I am aware of this weakness and attempting to resolve it.”

“I was always a person who wanted to finish a project perfectly. In the meantime I’ve learnt that there are certain quality standards and that I have to be realistic regarding the diversity of tasks and projects for which I am responsible.”

“Even though my current job in IT doesn’t require public speaking skills, I am aware that it’s an important skill that I would like to improve upon. I watched other speakers on the internet, I read various books and also joined recently the Toastmasters Club. I have the impression that I already made a lot of progress since I feel much more confident speaking in front of a small as well as bigger audience.”

This proves to the recruiter that you are motivated to improve and learn on various aspects. You also show that you are proactive when it comes to making changes where they are necessary.