‘What are your strengths and weaknesses?’ is the job interview question that can easily confound a candidate. We’ll jump the gun a bit and reveal a secret: employers don’t expect their candidates to be flawless. Actually, it’s vice versa – they really want you to share your weaknesses with them.
If you’re confused but interested, keep on reading our article. It will help you get rid of the fear to reveal your weaknesses, as we explain what lies behind this notorious question. Understanding its aim and knowing some techniques for representing your weak points will only boost your chances of getting a desired job offer. Are you intrigued? Let’s get down to business!
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It’s worth mentioning that the weaknesses question isn’t aimed to help a recruiter downsize the list of candidates. Of course, it can lead to it, but only if your weakness is uncontrolled fury or feedback reluctance. In this case, we do recommend working on it before applying for a job. Jokes aside, the weak points question has three useful functions. Here they are.
Being able to recognize and embrace your flaws is a sign of courage. People tend to simply turn a blind eye to it or even reject the idea, but if you don’t belong to this group, it’s a green flag for the interviewer. Only by accepting your weaknesses positively can you create space for growth and self-improvement of your professional self. Demonstrate to your interviewer that you are aware of your weaknesses and have an open-minded approach to addressing them.
Another reason why you should openly talk about your weak spots is that it reveals your ability to solve problems. It’s a great idea to provide examples of how you turned your weakness into a strength in the past. You may describe what steps you took to address the issue and even share the conclusions of your self-reflection explaining how effective each step was and why. Sharing your plans for your self-improvement will also be relevant. Explain what your weakness is and elaborate on the ways to eliminate it. You may add that you’re already actively working on it, but only if you really are.
The brutal truth is that our world is full of negativity and being defensive is one of the common ways to withstand it. We tend to open up only to people we trust or respect, as it contributes to establishing a connection between the communicators. Therefore, if you want to show that you are eager to build trust and credibility with a company, don’t be afraid to share your soft spots with them. But, as we’ve already mentioned in the previous paragraph, you should back it up with your intentions to improve the situation.
Here comes the first secret of how to use your weaknesses to your advantage during your job interviews. Your weaknesses have to be relevant and acceptable to the role you’re applying for. Let’s have a closer look at what this idea implies.
You cannot say that your weakness is public speaking or communication skills if you are aiming at a teacher role, can you? These two soft skills are among the fundamental ones for the profession, and one cannot make it without possessing those. However, you may say that you’re prone to perfectionism and taking too much responsibility for your students’ results. Why is it good? Obviously, because you pose yourself as a responsible teacher who strives for high-quality work and is ready to implement any necessary changes to help your students achieve their aims. Why is it a weakness?
You cannot be completely accountable for your students’ results as the process of acquiring new skills implies putting equal effort into it. You are prone to self-criticism and can easily get frustrated if a student fails even if the reasons for that don’t depend on you. However, you realize it, and every time such a situation happens, you try to ground yourself and stay realistic. Furthermore, you’re attending counselling sessions and working on this issue with a specialist.
You may also pick a weakness that doesn’t really affect the job you want to obtain. For instance, the inability to delegate tasks. On the one hand, it’s not a key soft skill for a teacher, and it doesn’t influence the outcome very much. On the other hand, it’s a good exercise for students to be in the role of a teacher and interview each other and check each other’s answers on mistakes. Therefore, students train their active listening and communication skills, learn to evaluate information, draw conclusions, and consider multiple perspectives.
Emphasise that you are aware of the fact that delegating tasks to students is extremely beneficial for their progress, as it tends to maximise the productivity of the lesson. Add that you try to integrate this type of task more often to make your classes as student-centered as possible.
The third workable approach is acknowledging a weakness but at the same time showing how you use it as your strength. For instance, if you’re too talkative, sample answer would be: ‘I realise that students come to English language classes to develop their speaking skills but not to listen to their teacher talking for 80 minutes. I am aware of my issue and I am always conscious about my talking time. However, I have to admit that this skill came in handy in the situation when students turned out to be extra shy or reluctant to talk.’ Here you should give an example from your professional experience when being a chatter-box helped you get a student or students to open up and get engaged in further discussions.
Acknowledging the fact that you have a professional weakness is half of the success. The other half is how you represent this information to the interviewer. The successful presentation would comprise two elements, they are positive framing and illustrative examples.
Let’s imagine this is a job interview for a project manager role. This job oftentimes requires 24/7 dedication, responsiveness, and availability for your team or the client. You, as a truly responsible employee, try to meet this 24/7 availability requirement, however, it affects your work-life balance. You are prone to taking on too many projects which leads to a lack of time in your personal life. The way you present this weakness can be a game-changer. You may talk about it in an irritated or complaining tone, thus creating a negative vibe around the situation. Obviously, it won’t help.
However, talking about it in a positive light will create an absolutely opposite impression. Say that you realize the need for balancing your work hours and personal life and actively working on the issue. You might be taking a time-management course already and based on the knowledge, you’re going to develop your own project management system. On the other hand, say that you are so determined to provide the best possible service that you don’t mind going the extra mile every now and then, for the sake of the common success and prosperity.
It’s not enough to say ‘My greatest weakness is teamwork because I like working alone.’ Such phrases are superficial and will hardly make sense to the hiring manager. Teamwork is a multi-component concept. The interviewer will be willing to know which component is a challenge for you, whether it’s sharing responsibility with others, dealing with your leadership ambitions, communication issues, conflict resolution and reaching a compromise, and so on. You may have an issue with only one component, but by saying ‘My weakness is teamwork’, you automatically make the interviewer think that you’re challenged by all of them.
Instead, specify your answer as much as possible. For instance, say that you’ve had a negative past experience working in a team because your teammates weren’t able to provide constructive feedback. Explain that it made a negative impression of teamwork, however, you understand that it was a single case, not a pattern. Emphasise that due to that experience, it’s crucial for you to work in a team whose members tend to be polite and considerate towards each other and that you strictly follow this rule when giving feedback to others.
We have revealed the secrets of a successful weaknesses question response, and now, let’s have a look at what kind of weakness-related questions can a candidate face during the job interview with their sample answers.
Remember, you should present your weakest skill as a trampoline to the next level. Therefore, there is no room for embarrassment, self-criticism, or self-flagellation. Stick to a positive tone and watch your body language – it can tell a lot about your genuine state. The body language signals that indicate your confidence are:
Last but not least, some weaknesses may be a real deal-breaker for the interviewer. Therefore, there are examples of what you should definitely avoid saying when answering the question about your professional weaknesses.
