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Interviewing: “What is your weakness?”
Everyone at one point or another in an interview is asked that painful and kind of weird interview question, “What is your greatest weakness?”
We all pretty much agree it’s not a helpful question, even for those who ask it. But many interviewers feel compelled to ask it, perhaps because at one time THEY were asked it and found it a challenge. Or perhaps they hope to put you on the spot and see how you handle it. In any case, be prepared for it.
Your options:
Answer it. Things to remember in answering this question:
- Stay in control here; don’t turn it into a confession.
- Don’t try the “Make the weakness a strength” approach, e.g., "I work SO many hours...." First of all it’s not genuine and people see right through it. And it’s an old approach that never really worked so don’t risk them challenging you on it.
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Describe a mistake or weakness that is NOT related to the central responsibilities of the job you’re interviewing for.
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Address your recognition of a weakness, and how you work on it/control it/manage it. In other words, take their “weakness” question and rephrase it back to them AS IF it’s been asked in this way: “In other words, ‘No one’s perfect…what’s something that’s a challenge for you and how do you manage it?’ ” They will likely respond with “Yes” or “Exactly”. Then answer that question instead; it takes the word “weakness” out of your answer and instead shows how you manage (and fix) problems.
Another possible way of handling this:
I urge candidates to hear the question instead as, “What weakness do you have that you compensate for?”, telling them how you make up for this imperfection by having strengthened some other aspect of your work behaviors or habits.
And a third possible way:
Don’t answer it, and instead address it as a dumb question. So you could counter with, “Would you really hire someone who has a weakness that would affect their performance?!” This may get you mentally (or literally) escorted out the door. But since it’s an unimaginative company that would put a lot of weight on this question, do you really want to work for them?
However you handle it, know that you might be asked. So be prepared by practicing with one of the above responses.
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