Bringing Up Strengths and Weaknesses at Your Job Interview
Why Do Recruiters Ask About Your Strengths and Weaknesses in a Job Interview?Identify Your Strengths and WeaknessesUse the STAR System to Keep Your Answers FocusedHow to Present Your Strengths Without Showing Off3 Strengths for a Job Interview with ExamplesHow to Come Up with Good Weaknesses for a Job Interview3 Weaknesses for a Job Interview with ExamplesStrengths and Weaknesses for Excelling in Your Job Interview
Most of the time, recruiters could probably infer many of your strengths and weaknesses from your resume. However, they appreciate hearing your personal insights during the job interview. This allows them to gather more nuanced information based on how you talk about yourself.
Like many other common interview questions and answers, questions about your strengths and weaknesses are so-called "behavioral questions". They're designed to allow the recruiter a glimpse into how you handle yourself in challenging situations. Can you answer difficult questions with confidence? Are you trying to dodge any questions? Can you provide a concise answer that effectively sells you as a candidate?
When recruiters ask about your strengths and weaknesses during a job interview, they hope to see certain attributes that are vital in any working environment:
If you can demonstrate these qualities by answering such questions to the satisfaction of your recruiter, you can turn what appears to be a "gotcha" question into a strong argument for why you should get the job.
The first step towards acing these challenging questions is to gain a solid understanding of what you're good at and where there's room for improvement. This is important to ensure that you're not bringing up anything during the job interview that may not accurately reflect your abilities.
If you always thought of yourself as being highly organized when that may not be the case, you may be able to talk your way into the job. But you may find working at the company is quite stressful. And since your employer expects you to demonstrate your qualities daily once you're hired, it may not take long for them to realize you're not actually the perfect fit for the position.
Above all: Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses during the job interview. Don't create a false persona just to impress your recruiter.
To find out what you're good at, you can look at your past employment, your experience in the education system, and your personal interests. Your job experiences often give you a better view of yourself than your self-image.
Reflecting on your personal history, you may realize you've always been good at finishing your work within the allotted time frame (from painting the garden shed before the winter to consistently meeting deadlines at work). This could mean you're well-organized and disciplined, and you don't tend to procrastinate. Or perhaps you've always been good at talking with people and making them feel appreciated, which could mean you're a very empathic person with the skills to navigate many different social situations. On the other hand, perhaps you've never been comfortable talking to people (on the phone, face-to-face etc.), which could be a weakness to address during the job interview.
When identifying your personality traits, consider sharing one or two personal examples to support your claims. While any job applicant can claim to be disciplined, if you have a real-life story that can demonstrate it, your argument becomes much more convincing.
You may also want to ask your friends, family members, or current co-workers to identify your strengths and weaknesses. They might recall instances that exemplify these traits. This way, you can get an outside perspective on how others perceive you, which will help you identify things about yourself that you may not be aware of.
Note that when recruiters ask you about your strengths and weaknesses, they're not asking you to reiterate your professional skills or experience; they’re interested in your personality traits.
For example, if you're an experienced car mechanic, it's not very helpful to say, "I'm good at fixing cars", because that information is implicit from your job training and work experience. But perhaps you're good at fixing cars because you have a good eye for detail or because you have a talent for understanding complex systems like the workings of a car engine.
As a rule of thumb, the inherent personality traits your recruiter is asking you to identify are qualities that are relevant to various fields, whereas your technical skills might only apply to a limited number of specific jobs.
When practicing giving answers about your strengths and weaknesses during the job interview, you may find you're starting to ramble. This could be because you haven't clearly defined the one or two strengths and weaknesses you want to focus on. Or it could be because you're feeling anxious and you're not sure how long your answer should be to be considered satisfactory.
Either way, you'll want to keep your answers short and concise. One method to do so is to define your strength or weakness in one sentence and then follow the STAR guideline:
This will also help you make your claims more believable. Anyone can claim to be "a good team leader" but providing an example where you proved that strength makes it more believable and more memorable for your recruiter. Try to limit yourself to one or two sentences for each of the points of the STAR method and you'll ensure your answer is short and easy to follow as well.
When asked about your biggest strengths or your greatest professional achievements, resist the urge to list a dozen things you're good at. Instead, focus on one or two things you're really great at. Ideally, you'll want these to be related to the job description in some way. If you're applying for a position as a professional landscaper, it's much more impactful to talk about your diligent work ethic (even during rainstorms or under the blazing sun) rather than focusing on your ability to empathize with people.
Remember that employers may not be impressed by very basic strengths. For instance, it's great that you always show up to work on time, and you're disciplined enough not to slack off during work hours. But to an employer, these are the minimum expectations for any employee.
While preparing for a job interview, review the job description carefully to find out which qualities your prospective employer is looking for in an employee. They may mention such attributes explicitly ("applicants must be well-organized"), or, more likely, you'll have to read between the lines a little ("employees will be working on multiple projects simultaneously").
Once you've identified the most important points, try to compare them to the qualities you possess. If you find some of your strengths align with what the employer is looking for, make a note of it. Overlaps such as these present a prime opportunity for you to impress your recruiter with a personal trait that fits the bill perfectly.
No one likes a show-off, but recruiters still want to see that you are confident in your strengths. So, rehearse how you describe your strengths before the interview. Invite friends and family to listen to how you'd answer questions about your personal strengths so they can gauge how convincing your arguments sound. Be careful you don't spend too much time explaining your strengths, as it may come off as bragging. You can use the STAR method to prepare your answers.
Quick learner: One of my greatest strengths is my ability to learn complex information quickly. At my first job out of college, I barely knew anything about the book publishing business, but I was able to learn all the ins and outs of the job within the first few months, including a few details about printing techniques that weren't the primary focus of my work there.
Born leader: In my last job, I started without any leadership responsibilities. But when the team leader went on extended sick leave, someone had to take up the reins, so I naturally gravitated into that position. I established a new reporting structure and implemented team-building exercises, which significantly improved our team’s overall effectiveness. This contribution led to my promotion as the team leader.
Resilient worker: I pride myself as someone who doesn't budge or make mistakes under pressure. This ability has been vital in my previous work, as we would frequently face strict deadlines and had limited resources.
Note how some of the examples clearly focus on one attribute, though recruiters can also use the information you provide to infer other strengths as well. For instance, the "born leader" mentions organizational improvements made to enhance team performance, which suggests they not only have leadership abilities but they're also a structured thinker. Here are some more examples of strengths that your prospective employer may value. You can use these to help determine what your own strengths are:
Imagine how many times recruiters have to listen to job applicants claim they're hard-working and diligent. So, try to identify an unusual personal quality that will be helpful on the job. Or try to put an interesting twist on it; or illustrate your strength with a very memorable, unique anecdote, following the STAR method. Providing an engaging answer that your recruiter hasn't heard a thousand times already will help you stand out during the job interview.
Your first instinct when asked to explain your greatest weakness may be to take a positive trait and try to present it like it's a weakness: "I'm just too dedicated to my job." This is not advisable! Recruiters know exactly what you're trying to achieve by framing your responses like this. They may view such answers as red flags, suggesting you either lack self-awareness or are actively trying to mislead your recruiter.
So before going into a job interview, try to identify some actual weaknesses by following these guidelines:
As we've already established, recruiters often ask you questions simply because they want to see how you react. "What's your greatest weakness" is a perfect example of this. When recruiters ask you questions along those lines, they want to see that you're aware of your shortcomings, able to talk about them honestly and (most importantly) willing to work on them.
Note that you could also try to talk about a weakness that satisfies all the requirements above but implies a strength as well. For example, you could tell your recruiter "I'm not good at managing my time well. When I work on a project, I often end up working additional hours because I get caught up in every detail." This is clearly a weakness, but it also suggests you're a meticulous worker who values doing a good job, even if it takes longer to complete.
As an electrician, this may be a point in your favor but it may not be if you're applying for a job where productivity is prioritized over quality. In any case, if you try to weave a positive into your answer, be careful in how you phrase your answer; make sure you’re not too explicit about it. In our example, you could've said "I often end up taking additional time because I'm entirely focused on the quality of my work", but this may be too on-the-nose, which can create a negative impression with your recruiter.
When you're trying to identify your weaknesses, you can once again review the job description carefully. However, be prepared to read between the lines. If the company is looking for someone to work directly with a customer, it's reasonable to infer they'll need you to have the social skills to make that interaction pleasant. But the job description won't spell it out for you: "We're not looking for people who are awkward around our customers."
Introverted person: My greatest challenge is that I'm very shy in social situations. It takes a lot of effort for me to pick up the phone and call a customer. I started to realize that I'm subconsciously trying to avoid contacting them, so now I use video calls to get over my anxiety, as I've noticed I have a much easier time when I can see the face of the person I'm talking to.
Timid team leader: I've found it difficult to make tough decisions when I'm confronted with team members who don't pull their weight. I tend to prioritize keeping them on the team more than maintaining team efficiency. That's because it’s difficult for me to let them know they're no longer part of the team. I've been working on that by building up my mental resilience to social pressure and reminding myself that, as the team leader, I'm doing a disservice to other members by keeping co-workers on the team who aren't doing their share of the work.
Procrastinator: I often find it difficult to start working on a task or to switch from one task to another during downtime. I feel I procrastinate too much, even though I have no trouble focusing on a task once I've started. To address this, I've started defining multiple milestones for each task I'm given to provide additional pressure to start working.
Note how all these answers focus on one weakness while providing information on how the applicant is working on improving in this regard. Explaining how you're trying to overcome your weakness is the most important part of your answer, so make sure you give enough information to make it credible. If you're still trying to identify your own weaknesses, you can use the following list of weaknesses for a job interview for inspiration:
You should always expect your recruiter to ask about your greatest strengths and weaknesses during a job interview. Such questions give them valuable insights into your character. Fortunately, they also give you a chance to shine with an honest, engaging, and well-structured response. Take care to craft your responses ahead of time to maximize their effectiveness during the job interview.
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