According to your responses to the questionnaire, what is/are your groups weakness(es)?
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Answering the Interview Question: What Is Your Greatest Weakness?
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Being asked near your weaknesses in an interview is intimidating. After all, you're there to testify them how capable you are, not to talk about what you lot're bad at.
But 'What are your weaknesses?' is a question commonly asked at interview – frequently paired with 'What are your strengths?' – so exist sure to prepare for both.
Answering well requires walking a tightrope. If you don't talk about annihilation that sounds like a plausible weakness, you come across as disingenuous or, worse, deluded every bit to your lack of shortcomings.
But if yous're a little too honest or if your weakness is a critical ane, you risk sabotaging your interview.
Unsurprisingly, non many candidates respond this question well.
This presents you with an opportunity to stand out; if you do and prepare well, it can work in your favour.
A skilful answer shows that you lot're self-aware and able to critically analyse your skills. Information technology besides shows that yous're willing to address your weaknesses and that you can remain at-home under pressure.
Read on to detect out how you tin tackle this tricky question and plough your greatest weaknesses into your greatest interview forcefulness.
Interviewers are looking to discover your weak points to see how yous'll address them.
Why Practise Interviewers Similar to Enquire This Question?
Information technology does seem a little perverse. When candidates are doing their best to brand a adept impression, the interviewer asks them to talk themselves down.
However, interviewers tin gain a huge corporeality of insight from this simple question (or a variant of it).
This question is popular primarily because of its effectiveness at getting the candidate to call up deeply about themselves.
More specifically, interviewers might want to enquire this question:
- To appraise your character and personality
- To approximate your level of cocky-awareness and ability to reflect on your skills and whatsoever gaps
- To check that you don't have whatsoever disquisitional flaws that might affect your ability to perform in the role
- To see if you're willing to work on your weaknesses
- To test your ability to maintain composure under pressure level
Different Ways of Asking the Weaknesses Question
While this question is ofttimes asked outright, information technology tin can also have a variety of forms. Brand sure you know what the interviewer is really asking then you don't get caught out.
Here are a few of the other ways information technology tin can be phrased:
- "What would your employer or colleagues draw as your biggest weakness?"
- "Which of your electric current tasks or duties do you observe most challenging?"
- "Which of this part's tasks or duties would you lot struggle with the most?"
- "Have whatever difficulties or issues arisen in your current role?"
- "What is the biggest regret you'll have on leaving your present job?"
- "Is in that location whatever area of your skill set that y'all experience still needs work?"
- "Tell me near a time when y'all permit your squad down"
While each of these questions (and many more) are all asking a like question, y'all don't desire to come up across as robotic, like yous've prepared this answer purely past rote.
Empathise that they're asking for your weaknesses only take note of how exactly they posed the question. Tailor your response accordingly and it will come across every bit off-the-cuff, confident and fluent.
Beingness able to adapt to the questions you are beingness asked is an important interview skill. It not only demonstrates that you tin can deliver a good reply, but that y'all can retrieve on your feet and have good communication skills.
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How to Appraise and Select a Weakness
This is the million-dollar question – how do yous pick a good weakness to talk about in your interview?
The weaknesses you choose should ideally exist:
-
Not primal to the job. You probably won't get far if you're applying for an accounting job and your weakness is that you're atrocious with numbers.
-
Relevant. You should cull a weakness relating to relevant professional competencies. Answering with something like "I only don't do enough exercise" sounds like you're dodging the question.
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Fixable. One of the most of import parts of answering this question is to become across the idea that you actively work on your weaknesses. This means that your weakness needs to exist something that you could feasibly ameliorate through personal effort.
It is useful at this phase to have a thorough expect at the task clarification. Pick out all the key skills and requirements and make sure that the weakness you choose does non apply to any of them.
I of the ways to cull a relevant weakness is to research the function thoroughly.
Knowing what the employer is looking for is the best mode to avoid pitfalls and turn the question to your advantage.
For instance, if the position requires lots of teamwork and regular interaction with management, a good weakness to utilize might be that you lot find it difficult to stay motivated in roles where you feel isolated, or those in which you can't learn from those around y'all.
That's even so a genuine weakness, but it's one that'south largely negated by the role you have applied for. It likewise gets across the implication that y'all like the mode their company works and would experience motivated there.
If the job involves thinking on your feet and using your initiative, your weakness could exist that you become frustrated when y'all are expected to adhere to strict protocol at all times. This is still a plausible weakness and something that you tin work on, but for this role, it could get a positive and suggests that yous are well suited to the chore.
It's of import that for each weakness you prepare to talk about, you have a relevant case ready to assistance you describe your weakness and demonstrate how you attempted to overcome it.
Mayhap you've completed a relevant form or joined a form or group. You might exist getting help from a mentor or counselor, or accept institute tools that help you to correct your weakness on your own.
Finally, endeavour to provide some physical evidence of improvement. If leadership is your weakness, perhaps you lot take recently started managing someone and received positive feedback. Or if you have been improving your time management, describe how working more than efficiently has impacted positively on a particular task or project.
Is Overthinking a Weakness?
Overthinking can be viewed as both a strength and a weakness; information technology is, therefore, not a strong answer to requite when asked near your weaknesses at interview.
In some respects, someone that overthinks can be perceived to be unsure of themselves and their decision-making. You may exist delaying your determination-making considering you are scared of facing the consequences of your decisions.
This weakness could be especially concerning to an interviewer so, if you really want to mention this at interview, make sure you show evidence of self-reflection and mention the steps you are taking to address this or how you lot take begun to use it to reach a positive outcome.
Overthinkers could also be seen as careful perfectionists that accept the time to consider all aspects of a decision so they don't miss anything. This is not actually a weakness, it may exist seen past the interviewer to be a veiled endeavour at presenting a positive every bit a negative.
Some Sample Answers
To assist you prepare for your interview, here are a few example answers that demonstrate the points mentioned.
Remember, the primal is to select a weakness that isn't key to your ability to perform the office then to demonstrate that you're proactive almost fixing that weakness.
Example ane
You are applying for an annotator position, largely working with numbers and data:
I don't accept much feel working straight with clients so my client-facing advice skills definitely need some work. I'thou much more comfortable excavation deep into the data and providing the assay, rather than talking it through with a client.
However, I realise that experience working with clients directly would be a big help to the way I present my analysis so I'one thousand very bully to improve that aspect.
This is an reply that's honest and shows a adept degree of critical self-reflection.
It's a weakness that isn't critical to the part just the candidate recognises the ways that fixing their weakness would help them in the areas they're already strong in.
This answer as well manages to sneak in a force (digging deep into information and providing analysis of it).
Example 2
A more than generic weakness that can be used for any part, with bear witness of proactivity:
At the starting time of my career, I found that I was overwhelmed with the level of work expected of me. Scheduling everything was a big upshot for me and I dropped the ball on some projects because I wasn't able to requite them my proper focus.
Withal, I attended a number of time-management seminars and accept found my workload much more manageable since and so, and I'thou standing to work on it.
Here, the candidate explains a weakness of theirs that could be a serious problem but immediately shows that they've already been taking pregnant steps towards fixing it and that they've made good progress so far.
That comes across equally genuine and shows that the candidate is proactive and self-reflective.
Also Crawly
Example 3
A weakness that isn't critical and that is easily stock-still:
In the past, I've tended to want to complete one projection in its entirety before moving onto some other. Of course, that can cause bug in a busy workplace. I know that, in the future, I need to be more than comfy switching focus when information technology's needed.
This is the acceptable version of the 'I'm merely too much of a perfectionist' answer.
It's a problem a lot of people can chronicle to as it's only natural that we desire to meet our work completed and followed through earlier switching focus. You'll probably have the interviewer like-minded with you.
Once again, though, it shows some self-reflection past recognising the issues that this approach can crusade.
Example iv
I would say that I can be too straight. When I'm giving feedback to colleagues I endeavour to exist very honest but I take learned that sometimes my comments come beyond as brusk.
I do a debrief subsequently each projection and I realised that some team members felt I was beingness more than critical than constructive, which wasn't my intention.
I took part in a leadership course where we talked well-nigh the best ways to provide feedback and how nosotros should tailor our communication way to different people and situations.
I've been working on applying all that I've learned and terminal week a colleague came to thank me for some feedback on a contempo presentation. He said my comments had been actually valuable.
The interviewee makes information technology articulate that they were not being actively unpleasant to colleagues, only were aware that their communication skills needed work and this was creating some negative feeling at work. They took positive steps to improve those skills and offer a solid example of the progress they have made.
Example v
I go very nervous about addressing large groups. I'm comfortable speaking up in team meetings and volition happily give presentations to my colleagues at work. But in a more formal setting or in front of a crowd of strangers I exercise struggle.
I don't want this to hold me dorsum, so I'g trying to build my conviction in public speaking. Someone suggested that acting classes might help so I've signed up for a grade at my local higher.
And last month, I volunteered to give a presentation at a networking issue I attend. There were virtually 50 people there and ordinarily I would have been terrified at the idea of standing up in forepart of them. I was all the same nervous but I felt that the presentation went well. Actually, I ended up enjoying it."
Many people can identify with a fear of public speaking. The interviewee makes sure to stress that they are not too timid to speak up at piece of work at all, which could be a concern. They show initiative in how they are tackling this weakness caput-on and provide clear evidence that their efforts are paying off.
Of course, any respond you give will need to exist specific to both you and the part. Don't make something upwards – you'll come across every bit disingenuous and might not be able to handle whatsoever follow-upward questions.
The STAR Technique
The STAR method is a fantastic approach for all interview questions. It'southward a technique you should be familiar with and practice.
Information technology'south a mode of structuring any example-based response you give that ensures all the key components are in that location.
- Situation. Give the context of the example. What was the company and the project? Who was the client? Were you working in a squad?
- Task. Move into the specifics and describe your office in the project and what your goal was.
- Action. Depict the actions that y'all took towards your goal. This should be specifically about your contribution, not the team'due south.
- Result. Talk near the outcome of the actions you took. If y'all tin can, slip some numbers in here to make things more than concrete.
While this method would typically exist used when talking about your positive traits and achievements (afterwards all, that'southward mostly what yous want to be doing in an interview), it's still useful when talking most your weaknesses.
It helps keep your examples concise and engaging. The interviewer can easily follow your scenario from offset to stop, getting all the of import details along the manner.
You can read more than most the STAR technique, including how to apply it most effectively, and find some case answers in our dedicated article on the STAR technique.
What Is Your Greatest Weakness?
Always keep the STAR method in mind when describing your weaknesses in an interview.
Answers to Avoid
'What are your weaknesses?' is a minefield of a question and there are enough of answers that really won't practice.
Learn what these answers are and what they have in common so y'all can be sure you never commit these interview sins:
Giving a Weakness That Is Actually a Strength
I'm just such a perfectionist. I don't similar substandard effort so I make certain all my work is perfect. This might mean that I piece of work likewise difficult but information technology'southward worth it to me because it's so annoying finishing work that'southward less than perfect.
This candidate shows no humility and – more importantly – no evidence of cocky-reflection.
It volition exist articulate to the interviewer that they are trying to contrivance the question while at the same time over-selling themselves.
Giving a Weakness That Reflects a Bad Attitude
My weakness is that I just hate getting up in the morning. I snooze the alert like ten times before finally dragging myself upwards. I await forward to the weekends and then I tin can take a prevarication-in without worrying well-nigh getting up for work.
Nigh no-1 likes getting up early in the morning. This is non a weakness that reveals annihilation about you professionally.
Moaning about it won't earn you much sympathy, specially when it implies that you might be late to work when your penchant for snoozing gets the better of you lot.
Furthermore, this answer shows no willingness or proactive drive to resolve the upshot.
Giving an Answer That Undermines Your Ability to Do the Task
I'm non a great team role player. I discover it difficult to get along with people – I don't really like taking orders from my superiors and I respond badly to any negative feedback.
Unless you're applying for a job where you will be working in almost total isolation, this kind of answer volition ring some major alarm bells.
While your answer should be honest, you do not want to reveal a weakness that would severely hinder your performance.
Giving a Weakness That Has Little or No Bearing on Your Professional Competencies
I'k scared of dogs. I got bitten by one as a child and now I can't stand up existence effectually them. Sometimes it makes information technology quite awkward when I have to meet someone who I know has a canis familiaris.
Unless you're applying for a chore working with animals, this weakness is only irrelevant.
For the purposes of this question, salve your babyhood traumas for the therapist. It doesn't tell the interviewer anything and will either sound like yous're oversharing (which could become awkward) or that yous're dodging the question.
Refusing to Answer the Question
I don't really accept any weaknesses, to be honest. In my concluding role, I performed really well and tin can't run across where I could have improved.
Everyone has weaknesses. Everyone. From the fresh graduate to the most experienced CEO.
Giving this answer either paints yous as quack or deluded, and neither of those are positive traits. It also displays a critical lack of cocky-reflection and tin easily come beyond as arrogant.
In addition, avert very vague or general answers that don't give any relevant information. These will tell the interviewer that you lot tin't call up on your feet.
If your respond isn't honest, doesn't reflect on your skills and your gaps, and doesn't demonstrate a willingness to improve, then it needs some work.
Follow-Up Questions
You've answered the question. Phew, that's that out of the way.
Or is information technology?
Don't get caught out by the follow-upward question.
At that place are many reasons why an employer might ask a follow-up question. It could be because your answer was particularly good and interesting, or it could be because it lacked something.
Or they might want to run into how you lot think on your anxiety nether pressure.
Hither are a few examples of how the interviewer might follow upward on your answer:
"How Has That Weakness Set You Back in Previous Situations?"
Hither, they want a concrete example.
This could be considering your respond sounded more like a strength dressed upwardly equally a weakness or it could exist considering your weakness sounded a little vague.
Regardless, they want to hear a definite example and a little more self-reflection on how your weakness has affected you lot.
"That Sounds More Similar a Positive. Give Me an Actual Weakness."
You'll become a response like this if they think you are reluctant to talk almost a real weakness.
If information technology was a real weakness, consider how yous worded it. Did you dress information technology up equally a strength or severely undersell it?
If and so, consider clarifying your answer and explaining why it is a weakness – ideally with a specific example to dorsum it up.
Otherwise, this is the fourth dimension to merely be honest. Perhaps start by saying "Fair enough, you're correct, this question is always hard to tackle in interviews" and so follow up with a aboveboard answer that really does reverberate a weakness.
"If You Had to Pick Another Weakness, What Would It Be?"
Your answer might have sounded besides rehearsed and they want to see if you can think on your feet.
This potential follow-up is the reason y'all need to prepare more than i weakness.
If you lot become this follow-up and haven't prepared a second answer, you'd better be practiced at being spontaneous. Don't risk it.
What If You Don't Know Your Weaknesses?
If you're struggling to come up with whatsoever weaknesses, it's probably not because you're perfect. After all, who is? But information technology can certainly be catchy to think about your own weaknesses.
Showtime past thinking back to your previous roles, projects, schoolhouse or volunteer work. What did you struggle with?
- Mayhap you plant it hard to manage your time.
- Mayhap you establish leading a squad more difficult than you expected.
- Mayhap you lot don't understand how your client-facing colleagues come across so finer.
Y'all might consider:
- Tasks or piece of work-related skills that you notice hard or dislike
- Times you accept failed or underperformed at work
- Whatever criticism yous have received from supervisors
- Annihilation you have been told you need to work on
Common areas that might be applicable include:
- Time direction
- Public speaking
- Leadership skills
- Sharing responsibility
- Numerical skills
If you discover information technology tricky to appraise your own personality, ask someone else to help. Try request someone who knows you lot well (such equally a friend or colleague) to be really honest about your areas of weakness.
Make a listing of all your possible weaknesses. Just put down everything, large or small. Then, assess each of them by the criteria above:
- Is this weakness fundamental to the part I'm applying for?
- Is it a relevant weakness?
- Am I taking steps to amend in that area?
If a weakness passes each of those tests, then it should be a good 1.
Last Thoughts
Questions forth the lines of "What are your greatest weaknesses?" can exist intimidating. However, they can be answered positively and even present you in a favourable calorie-free if y'all remember some key points.
Your answer should show cocky-awareness and a willingness to accost your weaknesses.
Pick a weakness that is relevant, not crucial to the job and fixable.
Demonstrate how y'all are working on finer addressing the weakness.
Do the STAR method to structure an constructive answer.
Call back the interviewer may use different terms when posing this question – make sure you understand what they are actually request.
Be prepared for follow-up questions. The interviewer might ask you to elaborate or depict further weaknesses.
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Source: https://www.wikijob.co.uk/interview-advice/interview-questions/what-are-your-weaknesses
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