Interview question

golden_girl

Hi

I had a telephone interview and of the questions was "What are your weaknesses?"

The only answer I could come up with was at times I am too thorough when being trained. eg. I have to know the background reason why a job needs to be done and not just follow procedures on paper. Hope this makes sense.

I have been invited for a interview on Friday and am trying to think what else I could say and any further questions to ask. This is my 1st interview in 17 years and its with 2 people :eek:

Amy help is greatly appreciated

DIRTY_CASH

Hello!:j

Being thorough is not a weakness! It just shows you want a full understanding of the task in hand. I only wish some of the people I train would ask me the background to certain areas where need be and i wouldn't have to go over things again and again because they didn't have the nerve to ask first time around.:p

When it comes to describing your weaknesses do say this if you want but follow it up with how you want a complete explaination of the background to help you not only understand the task but to operate efficiently as you beleive you are a very thorough and efficient worker etc etc.

Try to be as confident as you can in an interview and focus on your good points as opposed to your bad. Don't mention weaknesses which may affect a person to the detriment such as " I am terrible with time / forms / computers / talking over the phone etc. Always focus on your good points and make your weaknesses small ones.

Try not to panic.
Do a little research on the company you are working for so you don't go in there blind.
Dont be afraid to ask questions about your prospective role.

They will probably ask you:
Why you think you are good for the job
What benefits you can bring to the team / department / company etc.
They may ask you about your aspirations for the future.
Past jobs - roles of responsibility etc
Tough Situations and how you managed in them.

It might help to list your good points and compare them against any tiny bad ones. Up the emphasis on the good and don't mention the bad!

There are others but generally around you and your skills and how you can help them. they also want to validate any info on your application form and get the gist of your character

Smile, Relax, be confident and sell yourself.
Good luck and I hope you do well.

anniecave

I would say on similar lines for me that sometimes I look at things too closely. It's hard to know though, how much you do need to look at things and how much you don't. In my job if I look at everything it would take too much time but I'm supposed to have checked everything! You can't win...

What sort of job is it? What sort of company is it at? Can you ask additional questions about the company or the job role?

chocolatechipcookies

I think that's a good answer.

I usually say how I'm too much of a perfectionist when it comes to my work. I have to make sure my work is 150% perfect before moving onto a different task.

Turn a negative into a positive! The other thing I realized. If you go into an interview hung up on having to get the job, everything relies on the job, I get so nervous. But when I go in thinking, "If I get it, I get it! If not, whatever!" I'm totally cool.

cannycat

Hiya, agree with the "turning a negative into a positive", how about describing a weakness as an "area for development" instead? I must admit, I hate this question, and often respond to it with "Well, one of my weaknesses is definitely chocolate..." or something equally non-commital! It's worked for me in a couple of interviews and I've gone on to be very happy in those jobs as when the interviewers laughed at that point it revealed they had a sense of humour.

Good luck with the interview.

DIRTY_CASH

Also there is a very good article on line on the BBC website about interviewing questions from hell and how to respond etc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onelife/work/interviews/interview_intro.shtml