Strengths and weaknesses revisited

Posted May 13 2009 5:51 PM by Kenji Yamaguchi

Dear JobsBlogNot long after JobsBlog started in 2004, Gretchen answered a reader who wanted to know what he should say when an interviewer asked him to describe his strengths and weaknesses.

Six years later, that post is still one of the most popular articles on this site. Gretchen’s advice remains relevant, of course, and we encourage you to read it – but we thought we’d give you an update from varying viewpoints. Check out what Kenji, Lisa and Matt have to say about this infamous interview question!

Kenji I used to ask this question as part of my regular morning interview, though it has mostly faded from my rotation. My best advice is to be up-front and honest. When I asked this question, I was primarily looking for three things: confidence (What are you proud of?); self-evaluation (What do you want to improve?); and desire (What do you plan to do about it?). Sometimes candidates became agitated, maybe because they thought I was trying to trick them or get them to self-select out of consideration. In these cases, I tried to rephrase and provide context: Nobody’s perfect, but I want to know what are you good at, and where you think you could improve. On the flip side, the worst responses are: Not saying anything, giving a canned response, or changing the subject and trying to avert the question.

Lisa

I’ll admit; I used to ask this question. For me, the “greatest strength and weakness” question determines whether you can give an honest assessment of your skills and yourself. What I looked for in the answer was a true weakness, however, I also was looking to see if the candidate was working on the weakness or found a way to overcome their weakness. For example, a weakness could be that you’re afraid of speaking in front of a large audience. A couple of ways to mitigate it might be that you’ve been taking public speaking classes or presenting at brown bags to build your confidence. Remember though, you don’t want to sell yourself out of the position, so be sure the weakness is something that, when worked on, can turn into a strength.

MattI’ve had a lot of heated debates about this question as its one of my least favorite to ask or answer. Still, since not answering is a less than ideal option, I recommend for your strength, to come up with the one word that best personifies your personal “brand” – what makes you who you are – and share an example of how you’ve delivered that. For weakness, my advice would be to mention a past challenge you have long since overcome. As long as you address any weakness with “and this is what I did to overcome that” you’re showing growth – and awareness!

 

Work at Microsoft!

13 Comments

  • Gary Pendergast said:

    I'm strongly against this question, both as interviewer and interviewee. As interviewer, I would never actually expect anyone to answer it honestly. As interviewee, my answer for "greatest weakness" is "kyrptonite". It's a ridiculous question, deserving a ridiculous answer.

  • Kenji said:

    @Gary: It's interesting you say that. I think the un-popularity of this interview question is kind of a theme here. But when it is asked, I think it's important to understand why, and treat it serious. It is still an interview, afterall.

  • Gary Pendergast said:

    @Kenji: I can see why it would be asked, I can see and understand the process that you might go through to decide that it's a good idea. I just happen to disagree with that decision. :)

    The problem as I see it, there are people out there who are smart enough to be able to turn down jobs for any reason, such as not liking some of the questions in the interview process. When a potential employee has several other offers on the table, it's the little things that make a difference, I find.

  • vichet said:

    I think this is a good question. and easy to answer too. just think of one of the things you are proud of, have a reason to back it up. be honest as sometimes it can make us feel relieved and relaxed when we are honest, and tell the interviewer one of our weaknesses as no one is perfect. just be careful that the chosen weakness is also our strong point.

  • Seattle Interview Coach said:

    Don't give up on the question just because it frustrates interviewees! "What's your biggest weakness?" question is a great way to determine a candidate's self-awareness, self-confidence, and initiative.

    I wrote two blog posts on how candidates might better prepare this question:

    In this short blog post, I discuss the secret to answering the weakness question. <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.seattleinterviewcoach.com/2009/01/how-to-answer-what-is-your-biggest.html">blog.seattleinterviewcoach.com/.../how-to-answer-w</a>

    In this longer blog post, I analyze Barack Obama's response to a variant of the common greatest weakness interview question, drawing inspiration from an interview between Katie Couric and Obama. <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.seattleinterviewcoach.com/2009/01/ace-your-job-interview-questions-like.html">blog.seattleinterviewcoach.com/.../ace-your-job-in</a>

  • Claudia said:

    As an interviewer I have asked this question thousands of times - and not ONE answer has been satisfactory. What was the answer I got most?: "I work too much". Or: "I am too detail-oriented", another favourite.

    IMHO, this question is very old school and therefore obsolete. The answers we're getting are either carefully pre-thought, they're really strengths disguised as weaknesses, or things the candidate think of that aren't sooo bad. So yes, I may have an accent - now everybody knows that's not a weakness since I am able to communicate efficiently in a language that's not my native tongue, so it's a strength really. And - is my accent really my BIGGEST weakness? I don't think so.

    As interviewers we're never hearing the truth. So why bother asking the question?

    A much better, more elegant and also fairer way is: which professional areas do you feel that you need improvement or training in?

  • uk job seeker said:

    This is a "standard" question that all interviewers ask.

    I think it's suppose to help the interviewer see how the interviewee answers such a question... or lies about one.

    For interviewees, I think the best thing to do is to maybe tell about a "small" weakness that isn't related to the job that they are applying for. So, if you were going to apply for a sales rep. job, don't say "I'm not a very talkative person".

  • Vian vd Berg said:

    I recently found this article on negotiating a job interview which was most interesting:

    There are few more stressful events in your career than interviewing for a new position.

    It makes little difference whether you are interviewing for another position with more responsibility within your present organisation or if you are exploring new opportunities – the stakes are high.

    A positive outcome will decide how much of your time & skills you will be devoting to a new opportunity and what you will receive in return for that commitment. A negative result may mean that you miss out on the opportunity to increase your earnings & level of job satisfaction which may have a significant impact on your financial & emotional wellbeing.

    What are some of the key things that you can do to tip the scales in your favour?

    1. Be aware of how you respond to stress.

    Each of us have different reactions to stress. Some of us start focusing on the detail & the numbers becoming quite aloof, others zoom in on the importance of relationships and often respond quite emotionally.

    It is important that you realise how you respond in stressful situations so that you can ensure you prepare an approach that will ensure you come across as confident and conscious of all the elements that contribute to success in the workplace.

    Needless to say, success in the workplace demands an approach that successfully deals with both the emotional & personal needs of colleagues whilst at the same time contributing to the achievement of measurable organisational goals.

    2. Spend adequate time on preparation.

    You are never likely to over prepare for a discussion about your future!

    I am often surprised at how little preparation interviewees engage in. The focus of your preparation will vary slightly depending on whether you are interviewing for a new position within your present organisation or if you are pursuing a totally new opportunity elsewhere.

    A. Interviewing for a new position in your present organisation:

    i. Ensure that you are in sync with the vision & the mission of the organisation.

    ii. Compile a detailed list of the objectives that you have delivered to demonstrate your ability to achieve agreed goals.

    iii. Obtain references or testimonials from colleagues (your present manager would probably be the best one) attesting to the qualities that are being looked for in the new position.

    iv. Be prepared to explain how you respond to severe pressure & stress.

    v. Conduct research on the levels of remuneration paid to people in similar positions within your industry.

    vi. Prepare a detailed set of questions to ask during the interview.

    Some of the most important questions would include:

    a. Why is the position available?

    b. What would indicate success in the position?

    c. How will success be measured?

    d. What support will be made available to aid in the achievement of set objectives?

    e. What will happen in the event of overachievement of objectives? What will happen in the event of underachievement of objectives?

    f. What does the ideal candidate look like for this position?

    g What evidence would convince the interviewer that they have found the best candidate?

    h. Ask the interviewer to describe the company culture to test whether this coincides with what you regard to be acceptable.

    i. Would you be able to meet some of your potential colleagues so as to assist you in understanding team dynamics before making a decision?

    B. Interviewing for a new position elsewhere:

    i. Ensure that you read up as much as possible about the new organisation including taking a look at what is said about the organisation by their competition & market analysts.

    ii. It is critical to understand the vision & mission of the organi

  • Mahathir Islam said:

    Is these question so important to ask in an interview?

Comments have been disabled for this content.