Weakness interview question and what to answer it

One of the most tricky parts of nearly all job interviews is the weakness interview question. Why do employers use it in the interview? Well, it helps the interviewer to evaluate how truthful you are, and if you have an ability to assess your own skills or not. Recruiters of course do not ask this questions to uncover your weaknesses. They get paid for having an ability to uncover someone’s weaknesses and strengths.

Because this question is so common, it’s a key to understand why recruiters use it, what should you answer, and simply all the little details and secrets connected to this question. Hopefully the presented information below will help you to do so.

 

Prepare yourself for the question in advance

It is very important that you prepare yourself in advance for the weakness interview question because whether you believe it or not, it will come.

The first thing you have to keep in mind is to be very honest no matter how great your temptation to lie will be. We all like portraying ourselves in the best light possible, don’t we?

Therefor it is natural for us to say that we have no weaknesses. However, it is not true, is it?

First thing you should do is to list down all your strengths and weaknesses before the job interview and then relate them to the job you will be interviewed for. If you are not sure what your weaknesses in relation to job are, ask someone who is honest to you, your best friend for example. Come on, we all have some weaknesses. Learn to ask for a feedback and receive it.

 

Pick one of the weaknesses which is not related to the job

So you have made your list and know all your weaknesses. Perfect! Now it is time to pick on one or two of them that have the least effect on the job you are just applying for. To help you, we list some examples below.

For example, if you are interviewing for a job where you will be likely to meet many clients(sales person, customer assistant, help desk worker, etc.), then you could say that your weakness is that you are over-friendly. With that one, the interviewer might even decide that it would be good for their business. And that is where we want to be, don’t we?

 

Depending on the type of job that one is interviewing for, there can be different weaknesses to go with answering weakness interview question. For example, if you are an IT professional, then it would be alright to say that you are not assertive person. After all, your job requires you to deal with systems and machines, not people, right? Think about it, it is easy!

Admitting that you have little patience with people who understand little about your job would be good, but only up to a certain level. Lack of humor, being too demanding, too critical, too sensitive and impatient are some of the good answers to this one. Just you need to always think if it is not crucial ability for the job, and if you really have this weakness.

 

Follow up with your efforts to improve

Honestly, revealing your weaknesses is not enough. You have to follow it up with an explanation of how you are improving on it. For example, if you say that you are not a people expert, you could follow up with an explanation that you understand the importance of teamwork and therefore you strongly work on this ability.

Everyone has a weakness, but how you plan to get rid of it is what the interviewer wants to hear from ideal applicant in the job interviews, when asking weakness interview question.

So whatever you answer, follow with your plan of self improvement. Nobody is perfect, but your desire to improve yourself every day is what will win you the hearts of many interviewers. Stay job related when answering in the interview, pick something what will not be a showstopper for you and follow with your plan of improvement.  That’s the way how to get a job.

Do not forget to check also some salary negotiation tips or try to understand what job is right for you. Enjoy browsing our website and succeed in the interviews!