How to answer a weakness in job interviews.
Posted on May 24, 2024 by Martin Hahn, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
This article discusses the tips to answer the inevitable question during job interviews: What do you consider to be one of your greatest weaknesses?
What do you consider to be one of your greatest weaknesses? continues to be asked in almost every interview (especially interviews conducted by inexperienced interviewers). And since it, unfortunately, continues to be asked, it also needs to be answered. Here are a couple helpful tips:
Make sure your weakness does not preclude you from performing the job. If your applying for job as an account and your weakness is a lack of attention to detail, then this should not be mentioned as a weakness. The nature of your profession is important and you need to master all the most crucial skills of it.
Your answer to this question cannot be one that makes you unfit for the job at hand. Looking to be a customer service representative? Your weakness should probably not be something like “I’m not really comfortable dealing with people.” Hoping to land a job in sales? You probably should not “struggle with rejection.” It sounds ridiculous; but it happens.
Avoid I’m Too Dedicated to My Job as a Weaknesses
It’s too convenient to package a weakness as something that makes you sound like you’d be an awesome employee. “I just can’t stop working. If there is something to be completed, I will stay at my desk until it’s completed, no matter what.” On the surface, this sounds admirable. It’s also a “kiss up”. Sorry. Other cliché weaknesses: “I’m unable to leave my job at work,” and, “Some people say I’m just too nice.” This list goes on. Just tread carefully. You might think you are sounding like a model employee, but you’re just as likely to come off sounding sycophantic. So, what’s the right answer?
Identify a Real Weakness
Prospective employers will respect someone who is introspective enough to have thought about something in their personal make-up, which is truly an area you feel could use improvement. Even better, they will respect something you list as a weakness that you have either overcome or are consciously working to improve. “Most of my coworkers, clients, and candidates would not guess that I am naturally introverted.” In a people-focused industry like mine, introversion obviously has its drawbacks. If, however, I state it as a “natural” weakness that I have worked to overcome and have in fact shown that I can perform my job well in spite of being naturally introverted. However, it can not impress the interviewer.
Do a couple things: First, it answers the question. In an industry that favors the extrovert, introversion is a weakness. Second, it indicates introspection. This is something psychology calls metacognition: You are thinking about how you think. This is not something everyone does. Similar to a personal relationship, a professional relationship can be strengthened when one person realizes the other person has vulnerabilities he or she is willing to acknowledge.
None of us is perfect. To strive to be a perfectionist is a good process, but being a perfectionist is a weakness by itself. Perfectionists have zero tolerance for mistakes and faults and this might lead to inflexibility and interpersonal conflicts. Try to be a strategic person with many skills and flexibility and good communication skills are always important.
In summary, it’s not a question I like, but it still gets asked. So, make sure your weakness doesn’t rule you out as unable to perform the job, don’t use cliché, faux weaknesses that will send the interviewers eyes rolling, but actually come up with a “real” weakness that will both show your ability to adapt and think critically about yourself while connecting you to your interviewer in the common human struggle of imperfection.
