If you are going through the gruelling process of preparing questions for a job interview , there is almost certainly going to be a part on developing what your strengths and weaknesses are in relation to the position. Presenting your strengths and weaknesses is arguably one of the hardest tasks in the job interview. Weaknesses especially are difficult to tackle, as you may reveal something that immediately makes them suspicious of your suitability to the job. Many interviewees are usually dismissive of the weaknesses question, thinking that simply saying that you don’t believe you have weaknesses. This is too much of a cop out.
The difficulty of listing your strengths is that you can get bogged down into cliches that don’t make you stand out from the rest of the interviewees. With good preparation though you will be able to communicate your strengths and weaknesses effectively, and convince them you are the right person for the job.
What are good ways to communicate weaknesses for a job interview?
Before you start writing down what you are going to say, you need to do an important self-reflection exercise about your weaknesses. Think of around 3 weaknesses that characterise your professional behaviour. These have to be weaknesses that do not relate to your personal life but rather have a relevance to the way you operate at work. It can be something quite common like a lack of punctuality, being disorganised. Once you know your yourself you will be able to address weaknesses in a far more effective manner.
An example is saying that you can be a somewhat disorganised person, but that you have made steps to resolve this by taking a great interest in productivity software.
This not displays your ability to address a weakness, but also displays a potential strength in that you are considered tech-savvy and able to self-regulate and discipline yourself.
Another example is mentioning a time you made a mistake sending an email out to everyone in the company, that was meant for one person. What you do now is put a delay of 10-15 minutes as a standard on all your emails. This shows initiative and
Lastly, one of the most common weaknesses cited will be “lack of experience”. You can mention this upfront. But then make sure you are ready to address this with extensive knowledge of the industry and showing you are willing to learn and focus on your positive skill set.
What examples of strengths can you put in an interview?
You should be able to build on your strengths based on your weaknesses. For every weakness you cite, you need to be able to sell yourself based on the ability to address that weakness, and thus display a certain strength.
Make sure you describe your strengths based on active verbs and keywords. This implies using more verbs and less adjectives when describing your soft skills. For example, saying you negotiated a conflict between your team and another branch that you accidentally created through poor communication and describing the steps you took to address this is much more effective than simply stating you are adept in conflict resolution.
Example answers can include :
- I have always enjoyed writing. I believe my experience for 10 years as a content manager and provider in several industries is an indicator of this. Throughout I have always managed to combine different objectives and delivery, whether it is writing SEO articles for advertising purposes or delivering research projects.
- I am an analyst capable of delivery in tight deadlines. I am able to read briefs, do extra research and use structured analytical techniques to deliver quality reports. For example I contributed to writing a fund-raising application by identifying a clear gap in the industry. I was able to demonstrate this in layman’s terms, while also outlaying the potential risks.
- I am an excellent salesperson. You can look at my Key Performance Indicators showing I had the highest sales conversion rate of any employee, and a strong client retention rate. I delivered x amount of sales and always looked towards new sales strategy working closely with marketing and my management to continue to improve.
Some tips for addressing strengths and weaknesses in the job interview
Here’s what you can also remember for when the strengths and weaknesses question comes up :
- Rely on stories rather than self-description : anecdotes may seem unprofessional. Actually far more effective terms are used for displaying your character than simply repeating very common strengths or citing weaknesses that are overused in job interviews.
- Make sure what you are saying is relevant to the skills in the job description : try to find anecdotes or activities you engaged in effectively that relate to the job skills they are seeing. Your strengths and weaknesses relate to the professional environment, not your personal traits. Distancing these two makes your weaknesses seem smaller too : saying that you are a natural
- Try to alternate between one and the other when answering these questions. Don’t simply list your strengths then weaknesses in a formulaic manner.