What do you say in a job interview...

Naf

...when they ask about your weaknesses?

Its always a difficult question, and I wonder what people come up with, and how they qualify it?

smileylondongal

Only you can really answer your own but I usually go for something not too off the mark but then add what I've done to address it and then an example of how that's worked for me. I wouldn't do the 'I'm a perfectionist' thing as that's a bit of a cliche.

Naf

Obviously mine will be different to anyone else's, I'm not doing this to steal others' answers lol. I'm just wondering what others use/have used and how it turned out for them.
Its a question I do find very hard to deal with, not because I feel I have no weaknesses, but because I, obviously, want to find something that relates to the job, but that isn't so wild that they'll turn heel at the very mention of it...

NMSE12

Depends ont he job really. I tend to use, I don't like to leave a job until its finished or i'm organised to the point where some people could find it anal, or i expect alot from my staff and attention to detail is key.

redbull5

just say im a pretty private person, like to get down to work and keep work stuff at work and home stuff at home.

Say you have addressed this problem by interacting with work mates more and going out on work nights out. Being more sociable

vax2002

I would say that I dont suffer fools and that includes all the outside the blue sky box management speak rubbish as well that has nothing to do with the job.

westv

I just say "Your sweetness is my weakness, yeah!"

Reverbe

I hate that ppl use the Im a perfectionist and work really hard thing cos tbh I really am like that so now if I say it it seems like im lying or unimaginative..

maninthestreet

Well, don't answer with 'bad breath', 'flatulence', 'BO' are anything like that.

cakey

Hi, i actually have done some interviews where i have asked this question, a weakness isnt necessarily something negative. I would be impressed if you turned it on its head and said something like 'my weakness is sometimes i can be over thorough or that i am a perfectionist and this means you will not allow a task to be finished until it has met your standards etc...

Scho

This is one of the awful questions at interviews, hopefully they'll give you a better phrased "what have you found difficult in the past and overcome it" type - they allow you to elaborate more and give a situation you've worked in.

I've used the perfectionist line but without using the word, but also as I work in IT in development and stuff so have elaborated that I know that it can be tough between getting in the 'zone' when coding/working and shutting things out versus communicating well within a team so I always seek to find the right balance depending on the work load and the demands of others around me.