How to Talk About Your Weaknesses in a Job Interview

How to Talk About Your Weaknesses in a Job Interview

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How to approach the weakness question

Ultimately, you want to discuss your weaknesses in a job interview in a way that helps you gain ground rather than lose it. Keep in mind that what hiring managers really want to know is how you handle adversity on the job. To start, think about the limitations that have challenged you at work. It’s a good exercise to make a list of your known 

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How to approach the weakness question

shortcomings, and one way to gather material is from past performance evaluations and notes from supervisors about areas for improvement. You also want to make sure to research the employer and the open position. Thoroughly review the job posting before the interview so you don’t identify something as a deficiency that’s essential to 

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How to approach the weakness question

the job. Reread the job description so you know what attributes and abilities are critical to the performance of the job. Those hard or soft skills shouldn’t be on your weakness list. Everything else is fair game.

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Examples of weaknesses on the job

Do any of these weaknesses ring a bell? Note that these aren’t good choices for your answer if the job requires specific skills in these areas. – Inexperience with specific software or a non-essential skill – Tendency to take on too much responsibility – Nervousness about public speaking – Hesitancy about delegating tasks

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Examples of weaknesses on the job

– Discomfort taking big risks – Impatience with bureaucracies

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What to avoid in your answer

Your first reaction may be to say, “I have no weaknesses, and nothing will keep me from doing a great job.” But no one’s perfect, and hiring managers know that.  If you respond to this question with an enthusiastic denial, the interviewer will probably write you off as someone with a lack of self-awareness or someone who is overconfident or 

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What to avoid in your answer

unable to understand and learn from their mistakes. Hiring managers are also wise to responses that attempt to frame a positive trait as weaknesses in a job interview.  Classic examples include “I’m a perfectionist,” “I’m competitive,” and “I just work too hard.” Interviewers are on to these stock answers, but they can still be effective if you add details 

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What to avoid in your answer

relevant to the job to show you’ve put real thought into it. For instance, you could say something like, “I hold myself to very high standards and sometimes put too much pressure on myself. I’ve learned to recognize when I’m starting to do this, such as spending a little too much time on bigger projects like quarterly reports, and I’m usually able to keep myself in check.”

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Put your weaknesses in a positive light

Once you’ve established your weakness, craft a response to put it in the most positive light.  How do you do that? Here are three suggestions: – Emphasize the positive, avoiding negative words like failure or inept. – Talk about how you’ve transformed your weakness into a strength. – Show how you recognize 

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Put your weaknesses in a positive light

where you need to improve and take steps to better yourself. What are ways you can improve yourself to address a weakness? – Take a class or get training. – Discover tools, such as apps, to track your time, schedule breaks or collaborate more smoothly. – Work with a mentor. – Engage in volunteer work to build a skill.

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Why is the weakness question important?

Like most common job interview questions, “What are your weaknesses?” can be challenging to answer. But it’s not just an obstacle to clear or a pitfall to avoid.  It’s an opportunity to show the employer how you can learn from constructive criticism, how you’re willing to make changes when you face challenges, and how you can 

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Why is the weakness question important?

pick yourself up and dust yourself off when you falter. Any employer would count those things as strengths.

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