Interview tips: How to answer "What are your weaknesses?"

You’re at the interview of your life and you’re gleaming as you glowingly, successfully deliver the answer to “What are your strengths?”…..and then the dreaded question comes; “So tell us about your weaknesses?”

HORROR!!  Is this the moment you lose the job you haven’t got yet?

Of course not, because the answer to that question and key to hooking that job is right here:

a) Don’t mention a weakness that is a key/core skill for the job you are interviewing for, as the interviewer might doubt your suitability for the position altogether; so for example, saying that you are nervous about group presentations might be acceptable if you are interviewing for an office admin position, but not for a project manager; and

b) Use your weakness in context, don’t just come out with it, then ‘um’ and ‘ah’ as you try to squeeze it into possible context, and don’t say what it is and pause (that is an awkward space after a negative) for the next inevitable question “so what did you do about it then?”.  Turn it immediately into a positive, and without being prompted.  Continue to discuss how you have turned this weakness around to minimise its potential harm to your business.

Example: “I’m a perfectionist” - do not use this wording in reality as every other candidate will have; it is tiresome, lacks originality and after all, you do want to stand out from all the other candidates (for all the right reasons).

So, it might sound like this: “Over checking my work has sometimes been a problem for me.  In the past, I have wasted time double or triple checking a job, because I have not entirely trusted it was right the first time for the client on a big order, or because it was carried out by another member of staff.  Whilst checking the job is always essential, particularly when the buck ultimately stops with me as a manager, I have now put in place a check list system, so that I can just check the job once and know in my mind, the client’s order can be shipped without wasting time worrying about it.  This has had an unexpected knock on effect, that because I just worry about the work less, I have more confidence in leaving my staff to carry out the job, so I find that I can delegate tasks better and micro manage their work less, all because at the end of the job, I know I can simply check off once the work that has been done and send the order out with confidence.”

Perhaps “Organisation” is the issue, as you had a desk like a tornado hit it and were fed up of feeling rushed all day at work, and going home feeling frazzled, unsettled and unaccomplished all evening…so maybe you’re telling the interviewer that you decided to get organised and prioritise your day better – you decided that emails would be checked and responded to as far as possible in the first 30 minutes of each day, which gives you chance to have your morning coffee whilst you respond to queries/orders, and then from your emails, you know what the demands of the day are on you, so you then outline a work plan of attack for the day, so that instead of rushing through the day and letting down your colleagues with ‘sorry, I’ll do it in a bit’, you can respond accurately “well I must do this task before anything else, which will take about half an hour, and then your task is the next priority, so I will be with you afterwards".  Describe the knock on effect that you believe this has with your colleagues around you having more confidence in how you process your workload - perhaps less rushing has lead to fewer mistakes and you go home at the end of the day happier & more content and able to enjoy your evening, because you feel accomplishes.  In effect, it has affected your whole quality of life, and you did that for yourself.

Ultimately, whether or not you are gunning for a sales position, sell, sell, sell yourself.  Smile, and deliver your weakness as confidently and positively as if you were waxing lyrical about your strength, because in effect, this is what your weakness must masquerade itself as!

And finally....good luck!! :)

Written by Helen Gent  LL.B(Hons) CeMAP