Biggest Weakness Interview Question

Nednats

Person_one wrote: »

This is such a terrible interview question I can't believe people are still asking it.

I would never answer with a character flaw or personality trait. They aren't psychologists! 'Trick' answers like 'I'm a perfectionist or ' I focus too much on details' just make you look daft.

I'd answer it more practically, pick an aspect of the job you have less experience or training in and then explain exactly how you will overcome that in the new role.

When you don't get job and call them for feedback they will say they were looking for someone with more experience of the aspect of the job you used to answer that question.

Person_one

Nednats wrote: »

When you don't get job and call them for feedback they will say they were looking for someone with more experience of the aspect of the job you used to answer that question.

They already know about your experience though, its all factual stuff rather than getting into bizarre wishy washy introspection and psychoanalysis!

RobTang

Nednats wrote: »

When you don't get job and call them for feedback they will say they were looking for someone with more experience of the aspect of the job you used to answer that question.

They can say that anyway.

If you answer with a personality trait, you would probably have to lie and its very very easy to pick apart claims to be a perfectionist or too detail orientated.

I don't understand why people still ask it either, as an interviewer I'm very unlikely to get any useful information from the questions because there are only bad ways to answer the question. Plus its so common i'm just going to get a pre-canned answer plucked off the internet...

saxonrosecliff

I'm looking for a job in admin and when I've been asked this questions I've always said that my Powerpoint skills could be better and then go on to explain that I've undertaken training but never had to use it in a business setting. I also pick the item on the job description or person spec and mention that but try and put a positive spin on it.

Who?_me?

I was always told to say "I see any weakness as an opportunity to develop my self, and I always take appropriate action to address this if it arises". You dont need to be specific really. THey are just looking for positive thinking.

Affynity

I might offer something something different to the majority of the posters here.
I don't think subverting a negative into a positive does anybody any favours.
Employers will have heard thousands of people give the same old hackneyed answers like "I take on too much responsibility" and "I'm too focused on small details". It is such a beige approach and does no favours.
Effective ones that I know of are:
"I am unable to drive/don't have a car" This essentially accounts for a personal negative that has practically no impact on a person.
"I wish I'd taken advantage of more opportunities in the past" Whilst not trying to look like a wannabe opportunist who will abandon duty for opportunity, you can propose this in terms of being able to travel, study, attend events etc. and use it to look keen on taking on new challenges.

Rottensocks

I still see this question on 'pro forma' interview sheets, and therefore I have both asked it as an interviewer, and been asked it as an interviewee...

As an interviewer, the last thing I'd want to hear is the "I'm a perfectionist" answer or "I can't think of anything"... The former suggests a candidate who might be prone to telling you what you want/expect to hear (which could be an issue as an employee) and the latter suggests someone with limited self awareness.

I may be in a minority, but I'd rather hear the truth, so if you told me you felt under confident sometimes, that wouldn't worry me too much.

As an interviewee, I say that I sometimes get frustrated or impatient when processes are plagued with artificial barriers to getting a job done. This is completely true, but also something that in my industry might well be considered a positive trait (It will be a distincly negative trait in other industries, of course, so if I'd applied to be paint drying auditor, it might not go down well!)


Bear in mind that it is often not the question itself, or your initial answer that is the dangerous bit: an interviewer will often then want a conversation with you about those weaknesses you've mentioned. So, in the example I gave, the follow up question would perhaps be "Can you give an example of when you last felt impatient about a work project?" How you answer to that question is the one that can cause you problems!