ANSWERING THE TOUGHEST INTERVIEW QUESTION ‘What are your weaknesses?’

As a former corporate recruiter and current Career Advisor to students and adults, I have found that this question is without question the most damaging to a majority of job seekers. I would ask this question in each interview to learn some very negative personal traits that the applicant would volunteer!! In my “Effective Interviewing” workshops, I ask everyone how they would answer the question, and virtually every student or adult job seeker fails this test. Some answers are so harmful, that I would basically end an interview.

Why is this a difficult question to answer? Simply put, the interviewer is seeking negative information about you. We all have some less-than positive aspects about us—DO NOT VOLUNTEER THEM. All throughout the interview, you are telling the interviewer how you can help the company or why you are better than other applicants. Now, all of sudden, applicants forget this and throw out a damaging personal quality that undoes all the good that the previous answers have built up.

In answering this question, you need to be thinking about not so much what you intend to communicate, but what I hear and react to. Let me offer my reaction to these common responses to this ‘Weakness’ question:

• “I expect the same effort from my co-workers as I put forth myself.” (recruiter concern is ability to work in a team)
• “I would rather do the work myself than delegate to ensure quality performance.” (recruiter concern is ability to work in a team or develop subordinates)
• “I am a perfectionist.” (recruiter concern is ability to prioritize or to meet deadlines)
• “I have the habit of taking my work home at night with me.” (Nice try. Recruiter does not believe this is a weakness. Give me another one)
• “I like to have total control over my projects.” (Recruiter concern is that you may be difficult to manage in additional to teamwork issues)
• “I do not have any weaknesses.” –the worst answer possible (recruiter impression is that you do not know yourself or that you are very arrogant)

Now that you know what answers will not work, you are thinking ‘how do you answer this question’. First, here is the rule to keep in mind: Minimize the damage so you can move on to more positive questions. Below are three ways that I recommend approaching this question:

1. Tell the interviewer something that they already know.

A. Example: “I am not bilingual.” (you would have this listed on resume if you were)

B. Example: “I do not have experience in the food industry.” (as long as it is not required)

2. The ‘relative’ weakness

A. “I am not as creative as I would like to be” (as long as this is not a key trait to the job; note that you are not saying that you are totally lacking of this quality)

B. “I am not as knowledgeable of financial statements as I would like to be.” (of course, not for a finance or accounting job)

3. The ‘former’ weakness that you have identified and are trying to fix

A. “Several years ago, I noted that I was afraid to speak in front of a group. Since then I joined Toastmasters to get public speaking experience and currently am taking a Public Speaking course at Chicago State University. I am now to the point where I am getting some confidence.”

You can expect this question worded in some similar way in more than 80% of interviews that you will have. I always suggest to job seekers to have 2-3 weaknesses prepared for an interview, just in case a tough interviewer will not accept one of them. By being prepared for this difficult question, you will enhance your chances for success in the interview (or at least make it more difficult to find out about your limitations).