[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Interview Question. Great weakness? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 1/18/2017 11:01:21 AM EDT
| Need to pick some brains of people here. I have a big interview tomorrow for a job I really would be a great fit for. Every interview usually has the question of your greatest weakness. What is the correct answer? Thanks |
 Comedian Steven Wright job interview |
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Tell the truth. BUT, explain how you mitigate this in the workplace. That is the "real" answer they want to hear. Don't give some BS answer of ... "I just work to hard..." thinking you are funny. As someone who interviews people often, I would look past you at other candidates. I want to hear what the weakness is and how much self-awareness do you have to identify that. Also, how do you or what do you do to limit that weakness or prevent it from hampering your abilities to do the task at hand.
I've conducted more interviews than I can count and for me, there is no magic answer other than I want to hear the plan ... don't care so much about the weakness. Good luck! |
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Quoted:
Need to pick some brains of people here. I have a big interview tomorrow for a job I really would be a great fit for. Every interview usually has the question of your greatest weakness. What is the correct answer? Thanks It tells the employer you are aware of certain problems, which could be seen in a positive way. Like you might say you are a hard worker because you are the type of person who is driven to complete a task, and sometimes, you put too much pressure on yourself because of that. Others might be, "I'm a perfectionist and sometimes that slows down the completion of proofreading or editing a document/report." or "I like to put out quality work at the expense of meeting a deadline. I'm a believer in quality over quantity." If you say this, but don't really mean it, its going to come up if you get hired and people who interviewed you will think, "This goofball lied in his interview. He put out work that lacked in quality and its late." You don't want to say something like a character flaw like "I'm lazy" or a personal issue like "I have a small bladder and find myself going to the restroom often." Â |
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I was Honest with my last interview and said I can get distracted easily and sometimes I have issues with procrastination.
Got the job. Honesty may not be the best strategy for every interviewer. You could always say "My weakness is that I work too hard" (they usually see right through this) |
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If you want to impress, avoid the stock, self depreciating answer that actually implies you're God's gift to the business world, i.e.
- I'm so detail oriented, and so obsessed with perfection that sometimes my boss needs to tell me, "that's good enough". - I have a small problem with work/life balance. When I'm in the zone I have to remind myself to go home and sleep. - I get caught up in team building, and sometimes forget that days deliverable takes precedence over building a solid foundation under our group dynamic blahblahblahblahblah... Consider something they teach in prep for television interviews - deflect and bridge...reflect for a moment, then, "I do know my limitations, but first let me use the question to illustrate how strong I am for this position. To do this job well, it requires broad competencies in A, B, C and to a somewhat lesser degree, D. I excelled at A when I worked for XX Corporation where I put together.... Then, later, when I spearheaded product development for YY Corporation, I used B, C and D to drive a 35% increase in ... while decreasing production costs by 10%. It's important to me to work in a field that matters to me, where I can see the difference I'm making....My father always told me, to be successful, do what you love." Then, to demonstrate candor, list a fairly minor weakness that would make you less effective in an unrelated job...i.e., "I'm a type A personality, and don't enjoy working in a solitary setting (a cubicle) where I'm cut off from interaction with my teammates. That job in Accounts Payable would be a bad match for me, because of the lack of communication...but I don't think that's going to be an issue here." Unless you're applying for a job in accounts payable, of course, in which case you should just go ahead and tell them your life sucks. |
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Quoted:
If you want to impress, avoid the stock, self depreciating answer that actually implies you're God's gift to the business world, i.e. - I'm so detail oriented, and so obsessed with perfection that sometimes my boss needs to tell me, "that's good enough". - I have a small problem with work/life balance. When I'm in the zone I have to remind myself to go home and sleep. - I get caught up in team building, and sometimes forget that days deliverable takes precedence over building a solid foundation under our group dynamic blahblahblahblahblah... . As an interviewer, I would call BS all over this. |
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This would probably be a bad thing in some jobs, but I was honest and told them that I was a perfectionist. Things could potentially be done faster, but I made sure they were perfect and presentable before anyone else saw my work.
I also said that sometimes I'm afraid I might be micromanaging. I let people do things how they see fit, but I tend to be hands on in a supervisor role and let everyone know what I expect the final product to look like and when I expect to see it. I try to let them do their thing, but check in periodically to make sure they're progressing as they should. |
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Quoted:
Need to pick some brains of people here. I have a big interview tomorrow for a job I really would be a great fit for. Every interview usually has the question of your greatest weakness. What is the correct answer? Thanks Answer: "My intolerance for stupid questions asked by dumb-ass interviewers who know nothing about the job they are trying to hire someone for" |
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Quoted:
Not holding out for the best employment opportunities that would be a perfect fit for my talents and interests. I'm absolutely saving that for my next interview. Any place that asks that question and doesn't expect at least a half-way sarcastic answer obviously takes themselves far too seriously and wouldn't be a good fit anyway |
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Quoted:
This would probably be a bad thing in some jobs, but I was honest and told them that I was a perfectionist. Things could potentially be done faster, but I made sure they were perfect and presentable before anyone else saw my work. I also said that sometimes I'm afraid I might be micromanaging. I let people do things how they see fit, but I tend to be hands on in a supervisor role and let everyone know what I expect the final product to look like and when I expect to see it. I try to let them do their thing, but check in periodically to make sure they're progressing as they should. 
I love to leave wanton gifts on other desks. |