I haven't been on a job interview for a job I didn't know I was going to get in nearly 12 years. But as someone who interviews, one of my favorite answers for strength is taking personal responsibility for mistakes. CCorn is right on when he says to identify a weakness, but then discuss what you have done to counter those.
It's a tricky classic question, once you start talking about your self you hurt your chances. Best way to answer is to use something excessively related to work only like : I'm a team worker, then bring an example of a made up experience, For weaknesses, it's related to being ...( Perfectionist), like (I had a project where I've done ( a made up extra efforts that display dedication like spending extra days optimizating your finish touches)
I always go with the ability to work autonomously as a strength. I mention that I approach my job as if it's my own small business. Most managers like to hear that they won't have to babysit you. For weaknesses, I say my strength is also my weakness. Because I like to work on my own and figure things out for myself, I sometimes don't ask for help when it would make things a lot easier if I did. Both are probably pretty cliche, but I haven't interviewed for an external position in 15 years so I'm definitely out of practice.
Haha, exactly.. Don't set yourself up. And making up a team story and improving steps on a weakness are always good/safe bets. Or..... "one impressive strength is that I'm a party animal but can control my drinking, unless my colleagues need help finishing all the drinks at the open bar... I always step up to the challenge, but my real weakness is procrastination... and if I'm hungover forget it". "when do I start?? "
I always tell them I'm color blind and that I have trouble formatting presentations sometimes, but I've learned to overcome that by memorizing the Excel color codes for our company's standard colors.
When they ask about your strengths, tell them: "Why don’t I tell you what my greatest weaknesses are? I work too hard. I care too much. And sometimes I can be too invested in my job." Never fails.
For weakness, choose something that doesn't apply to the job you're trying to get. For example: "My previous job required me to enter two timesheets, and I could never get the hang of the software interface on the second timesheet." Or... "My previous job would require me to develop press releases (which are not my specialty) and I found it challenging to find just the right verbiage for public statements." ...find something that will make them think "yeah, I can see how that might be difficult or confusing for him, but he won't encounter anything like that when he works here."
I strongly disagree with this. As someone who hires, I would not like this answer (and, for the record, I wouldn't ask the question). This answer is a canned, BS, non-answer that nobody would believe. If someone were to answer this, I'd feel that they're not taking the question seriously, they're not being straightforward with their answer, they're already blowing smoke up my ass, and they're willing to say anything just to get the job.
My biggest strength is that I am a Rockets fan and have yet to kill myself. My biggest weakness is that I am a Rockets fan.
Probably not a great answer but my go to is that I'm not a fan of networking for it's own sake. Those shitty adverse event questions implicitly call for a solution or remedy, so for that particular trait it's just making an extra effort to cultivate trust and affinity with colleagues and customers during extended projects or when troubleshooting protracted service issues. Second least favorite interview scenario other than being told they're "worried" I would be "bored" in the role.
Just explain to them that your weaknesses are actually strengths... More accurately, that's what Michael said...
