How do you answer the question: what is your weakness(s) question @ at an interview?

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Hi People.

How do you answer the Question: what is your weakness(s) question @ at an interview?
I know you turn it into a positive but would be a good answer?

Cheers!

FatP

 

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I usually say something along the lines of " My weakness is taking too long to consider all of the options when encountering a problem, as I end up weighing the pros and cons of each solution before implementing the solution I have decided upon".

 

An area that I currently reqiure more work on is 'X' however, I feel that I have demonstrated that I have the ability to learn new products/software/concepts quickly and efficently by achieving A+/N+/MCP/MCDST through self study.

If you felt I was a suitable candidate for this position, I would be willing to learn 'X' in my own time and take the exam to prove my commitment to the company and the position.

Simples!

 

lol

I think that's as useful as the one I used when I had an interview for Sainsbury's when I was 16.

The Woman said what is your weakness? I said Chicken Vindaloo I still got the job however, left after 2 weeks

 

Work too hard, try too much, care more than I should......

 

not that I've ever really been asked it, but I suppose I would have to use the cliche 'Perfectionist' routine. Unfortunately for me it can be true. I've been accused of blowing a budget looking for the 'right' (or 'perfect') solution, rather than the quick and dirty solution (what can I say, I want to do things right the first time).

 

I think it's a stupid question. It's obvious you are only going to say something which isn't too bad, and which can be worked on.

 

Whatever you do, don't say what I said when I went for a job as a fitness instructor a good few years ago, when I responded that my weakness (being totally honest) was that I lose my temper very quickly with the ignorant and ill mannered, to which he replied 'this is a public facing job, a lot of the public are ignorant and ill mannered' so thought it best to stop wasting both our times and leave then

 

Haha, I had an interview, where I asked the question 'Tell me about the career progression here'. There answer 'there is none'.

I actually laughed as I thought the guy was being sarcastic

 

I would go with a twist on sparkys and say something like " Don't know when to stop and call it a day"
and then to follow it up with greenbruce's answer, that should hit the mark.

 

Best thing to do is to pick a fault that you have taken steps to correct.

If you tend to lose your temper, say you're reading a book on anger management.

If you aren't very organised, say you force yourself to make a 'to do' list every morning.

The important thing is to show that you are able to self-criticise but even more important is to show that you then do something useful with that information.

Things like 'I'm too much of a perfectionist' or 'I care too much about my staff' don't really work as weaknesses. Firstly because they aren't really weaknesses and secondly because any corrective measures would be counter productive. 'I care too much about my staff so I'm trying not to give a **** about them' doesn't sound too good.

 

Spot on !

before going for an interview take some time to list your strengths and weaknesses. Then for each point, say why the strength is useful/relevant to the position. For weaknesses be prepared to comment on how you strive to overcome the problem. Generally the interviewer is looking to see that you can identify these things and try to do something about them rather than just bumbling along with "I don't know" or "I haven't got any" type answers which don't show that you have really thought about the role very much.

 

This is one of those questions I really hate, might be because I can never come up with an answer which doesn't sound trite and bull****ty...

and 'my basket weaving skills could use some work' never seems to get the laugh I'm aiming for...

 

Saying you're a perfectionist is possibly the worst answer you can give as it's so totally overused.

Be honest, just not too honest.

 

unfortunately, it is my biggest weakness. i wouldnt say i was a perfectionist, but i would say the rest.

 

What I hate even more than this one is 'describe when you've been in a position of conflict and explain how you overcame it' or something along those lines.

That's a real double edged sword as nobody is going to believe that you have never encountered conflict in your life - or if you haven't does that mean that you're a pushover?

So you have to come up with a conflict that occurred preferably as no fault of your own that wasn't TOO serious yet was serious enough not to be trivial and that you resolved in a sensible way.

It's a nightmare...

 

'i broke his nose'

 

I normally pull out the "I like to know exactly why things happen when they do, but I've taught myself to resolve the issue and then look into the issue in depth for a longer term fix".

Normally seems to go down quite well as it shows that I am keen to learn and dont just want to keep fixing a problem when it occurs but rather look into a resolve the cause of a problem. I kind of point it towards the fact that I used to take a bit to long to resolve some things because I was looking into the base cause but now I will just fix it then look into why it happened and what I can do to stop it happening in the future.

Well its either that or I like quality checking the new female members of staff, that one however doesnt seem to go down quite so well, fnar fnar!