Be ready for the "WHat's your biggest weakness?" question and have a plan ready to both answer the question and fix your problem. You'll be left with that "Why didn't I...." feeling otherwise.
How you go about describing weaknesses in a job interview can spell the difference between success and failure, especially in a close race. Everyone will have weaknesses of some sort. That is important to remember, yet often forgotten by interviewees. It’s how you describe them to the interviewer that helps to determine whether you are on the callback list or looking for yet another opening.
You Will Get This Question
It is inevitable that the question will be asked in one form or another; “Describe your weaknesses and how they might affect your job performance.”, “What do you think you need to work on?”, or possibly “Tell me about things you’d change about yourself if you could.”. In any event, it is all but certain that you’ll have to field the question, and interviewers know that you’ll be expecting it, so do not let them down; prepare for it.
It’s not only the answer itself that can trip you up here. Failing to have a good answer ready for such a well known and important question speaks volumes about your ability to plan ahead, research, and prepare. After all, virtually everyone knows about this question, so if you don’t, or possibly worse, if you do, but still fail to answer it adequately, they will probably want to strongly consider other candidates.
How NOT To Answer
First of all, there are a couple of ways you do not want to answer this one. Do not say that your biggest weakness is being too perfect or detail oriented. Interviewers are on to that one, and will probably discount your answer. They hear the same thing 10 times a day. Ditto for being too dedicated to your job, or saying you try too hard or work too late. Those won’t get you much traction, either, and may even come off as a negative.
Second, whichever weakness(es) you decide to reveal should be one or two that have a direct impact on the job to which you’re applying. Use discretion here, your hiring depends on it. Saying things such as “I’m habitually late.”, “I’m prone to violent outbursts.”, or “I have trouble speaking to people and communicating.” may win you big points for honesty, but it probably won’t land you the job.
Consider the Actual Job and Weakness
Consider the job requirements and how a specific weakness affects it. What are problems for some positions may actually be advantages or neutral for others. For example, being too aggressive may be fine if you’re interviewing for a coaching position, but won’t fly so well if you’re going for a customer service rep. Similarly, a deathly fear of heights would probably be fatal to your lineman ambitions, but would be fine for a senior systems analyst position.
So, how can you answer the question in such a way that you come across as genuine, and reveal something about yourself, but not cost yourself any chance at being hired in the process? First of all, do not lie, although leaving out serious weaknesses is akin to lying in some cases. Choose a failing that you actually have trouble with, yet one that will not eliminate you from contention for the position in the interviewer’s eyes.
Some popular (and real) ones include:
- Being overly critical
- Impatience (not impotence, although that could effectively eliminate your from consideration in some adult entertainment positions)
- Excessive sensitivity
- Talkative
- Too quiet
Have a Plan
After you’ve revealed your weakness, a critical step is to demonstrate exactly what you are doing to overcome it. If you already have a plan in place, have taken classes, or other actions to mitigate your weakness, that will go far, as few people have actually gone to such lengths. For example, if your weakness is shyness, but you’ve taken public speaking classes to help you overcome it, that speaks volumes about your commitment to success. What you may want to do is to find one of your weaknesses that can be turned into a strength for the job you’re applying for.
The important thing to remember is that everyone has a weakness or failing of some sort. You, me, and even the man or woman sitting across the desk from you asking the question. It’s how it affects the particular job in question, and what you are doing to improve yourself in that area that matters.
So, when you are describing weaknesses in your next job interview, prepare for the question beforehand, give a genuine answer, and specific details about how you are mitigating the problem, and how you’ve overcome weaknesses in the past. Your chances for landing the job will take a giant leap forward when you do.
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