After doing this for decades, I am still surprised by the stupid answers candidates give to simple questions for which they should be prepared. For example, “Tell me about your biggest mistake or worst failure and what you learned from it?” Of course, the important part of the question is the second part, but I have actually had candidates say, “I prepare very well for my assignments, so I don’t make any mistakes and I don’t have any failures.” Well, they just made a mistake and had a failure! No one is perfect and if an applicant thinks they are, they are not self-aware. Persons who are not self-aware do not make good employees. (I am in a good mood, so I am ignoring the simple explanation that they are lying.)
And then there is the weaknesses question, “What are your weaknesses?” or “What is your greatest weakness?” It is a great question because too many candidates say things that they want to sound positive in order to impress the interviewer by telling them things they think they want to hear. Things like, “I stay too long at the office” or, “I’m a perfectionist.” They think they are telling the interviewer positive things, but the interviewers are hearing “I have time management problems” and, “I have trouble meeting deadlines.” Oh, and “I don’t want to answer your question!” But more importantly, they are hearing (a) that the person is not self-aware or (b) that they have something to hide.
Everyone has weaknesses. They are nothing of which to be ashamed. The question isn’t just about things you do not do well, there are two additional components: Are you self-aware? And what do you do about your weaknesses? (There is also the issue of the employer wanting to know what extra training the applicant may need.)
I had a career counseling client who came to me because, while he was getting plenty of interviews, he was not getting any offers. I spoke with him for 2 hours and could not figure out what the problem was. So, I told him, “Let’s go through the standard questions.” The first was about strengths, the second was about weaknesses. His answer to the latter: “I’m a procrastinator.” Then I asked him, “What else did you say?” He replied, “Nothing. That’s it. I’m a procrastinator.” I looked at him and asked, “And you don’t know why you are not getting any offers?”
We proceeded. “What do you do about your procrastination?” “It’s silly.” “I don’t care. Tell me.” “When I finish a project on time or early, I buy myself a Snickers bar.” “Did you tell them that?” “No.” “So you left them with the impression that while you are self-aware and recognize your weakness, you don’t do anything about it. Next interview, tell them about the Snickers bar!”
The next day he had another interview. He got the offer. He told me that the only thing he did differently was to tell the interviewers about the Snickers bar.
Now, to be fair, there are 1001 different reasons why someone qualified can get a job offer. But he credited my advice, which I believe is the most important factor in answering the question, namely saying what you do to overcome your weakness.
Another time I had a client whose weakness was technology. He would get frustrated when the computer would start acting up. I asked him what he did about it. He said, “I visualize picking the damn thing up,” pardon my language, “I go to the window, look to make certain no one is walking by, and I drop it watching it smash into a thousand pieces!” I told him that was the perfect answer. He was just starting his job search. A week later he had his first interview and when he was asked about weaknesses, he told the interviewers what he had told me. He got the job offer because, even though they knew he was making light of the situation, they liked the fact that included in his fantasy was consideration of the ramifications of his actions, namely, checking to see if anyone would be hit by the computer before he dropped it out the window.
So, there are three components to the answer: Saying what your weakness is (showing that you are self-aware). If necessary, explaining how it manifests itself (frustration). And, finally, saying what you do about it (eat a candy bar/fantasize about destroying the source of the problem).
And that, dear reader, is the strong answer to the weakness question.
In light of the economic difficulties job seekers are facing, I have lowered the price of my career counseling services by 50%. This will continue through the end of the year.
Employment Edification 