Job interviews today are more comprehensive than in the past, with interviews often being a 360-degree assessment of the candidate. When it comes to discussing weaknesses and strengths, it’s important to note that these seemingly harmless questions can lead to answers that might harm your chances of being hired.
The behavioral questions about your weakness and strength can impact the interview outcome significantly.
Unfortunately, many job seekers fail to prepare adequately for these questions and end up losing the opportunity.
In this article we will discuss the importance of preparing for job interview questions related to your weaknesses and strengths to avoid critical mistakes.
It guides you with the do’s and don’ts of answering the behavioral questions strengths and weaknesses questions during an interview.
Keep The Target Job Profile in Mind
A.) How to Discuss Weaknesses
When asked about weaknesses, it’s important to keep the target job profile in mind.
The weakness should be something experienced in the professional environment, not a personal flaw. It’s crucial to describe how you have handled and overcome the weakness and what you’ve learned from the experience.
However, avoid mentioning a weakness off the top of your head that may upset the interviewer.
B.) How to Discuss Strength
When it comes to discussing strengths, it’s also important to consider the target job profile.
For instance, if you’re seeking a leadership position, you can mention your ability to lead and take charge. If you’re looking to be a supervisor, you can talk about your skills in delegation, coordination, and supervision.
Answer the question confidently and truthfully without coming across as either self-deprecating or overly boastful.
Thoroughly preparing for these questions is crucial for success in the interview process.
13 Mistakes to Avoid When Answering
When answering these questions, there are a few mistakes to avoid ensuring that you present yourself in the best possible light.
The interviewer will determine whether you will work for the company based on your answers.
Therefore, do your best to answer these questions correctly and avoid making up a weakness that is not genuinely a weakness.
1.) Do not avoid answering –
The worst mistake that an interviewee can make while answering questions about weaknesses and strengths is to evade the question.
If the interviewer suspects that the question is being avoided, they may bring the interview to a halt until the question is answered.
Therefore, being well-prepared and knowing how to answer the question before the interview can save you trouble during your job interview.
2.) Being overly humble or dismissive – It’s important to be honest about your strengths and weaknesses, but don’t be too modest or dismissive about your strengths or too critical or negative about your weaknesses.
3.) Providing irrelevant strengths or weaknesses – Make sure that the strengths and weaknesses you mention are to some extent relevant to the position you are applying for.
4.) Mentioning a critical weakness – Avoid mentioning a weakness that is critical to the success of the job, as this could raise concerns about your ability to perform the duties of the position.
5.) Focusing only on weaknesses – While it’s important to be honest about your weaknesses, make sure you also highlight your strengths and achievements.
6.) Answer Honestly and Concisely – When answering questions, it is best to provide an honest and concise answer that reflects one’s real personality.
7.) Avoid Scripted Answers – Many interviewees tend to make up an answer using a ‘well-known answer’ as their weakness or strength.
As previously mentioned, do not provide scripted weaknesses and strengths that may appear as cheesy.
Avoid using overused phrases or responses that lack specificity or detail using clichés or generic answers.
Remember that the interviewer can easily detect these types of answers, as they have probably heard them hundreds of times before.
You want to provide a realistic answer that the interviewer should be convinced that you genuinely possess a particular strength or weakness.
8.) Avoid Common Answers – Some common answers to avoid include:
- “I’m a perfectionist”
- “My biggest weakness is actually my biggest strength.”
- “Planning and prioritization as a weakness” – this is the worst answer for managers or project managers.
- “I like to take control of groups or dominate discussions” – this may hinder your chances of getting the desired job if not explained correctly.
9.) Lying or exaggerating – Never lie or exaggerate your strengths or weaknesses as this can damage your credibility and potentially lead to termination if hired.
10.) Not showing how you’re working on improving – If you do mention a weakness, make sure to follow it up with how you’re working on improving and addressing it.
The best way to discuss your weakness is to talk about it and also discuss the steps you have taken to address it. This tells the interviewer that you carry out ongoing self-analysis, which helps you learn more about yourself and improve yourself independently.
11.) Avoid blaming others – If you are providing a reason for your weakness, make sure it does not implicate or blame anyone.
Weaknesses are like any organ of our body. How it looks cannot be blamed on anyone.
12.) Failing to provide examples – Experienced interviewers usually ask for an example or case that supports your answer. Therefore, you want to be prepared to provide this.
When discussing strengths or weaknesses, always provide specific examples to support your statements and make them more memorable and impactful.
13.) Focus on Your Strengths – Experienced interviewers know how to evaluate their interviewees’ skills.
Therefore, they assess the way an individual works and use their strengths to achieve the best company success. Therefore, talk about your best strengths, and the interviewer will take note of them.
14.) Do not get carried away – While answering questions about weaknesses may be challenging, answering questions about strengths is comparatively easy.
However, interviewees should remember not to get carried away when discussing their strengths with the interviewer.
By avoiding these mistakes, you can present yourself as an honest and qualified candidate who is self-aware and continually improving.
In summary,
Weaknesses and strengths are tricky questions in job interviews.
A true answer may jeopardize the candidacy, while a false response may come across as insincere. Therefore, it’s vital to prepare thoroughly and answer these questions in a profitable way to advance to the second interview phase.