What's your greatest strength may appear as a safe and easy interview question, but it is also one of the most critical ones. Frequently interrogated question helps the interviewer decide if or not the job requirements marshals with the candidate’s skills and capabilities.
Strength is a mixture of one’s skills, knowledge and talent. Amusingly, most candidates have a hard time answering this question or are not able to answer it well. When in fact it’s a question about yourself, about what you are good at and your capabilities.
One reason why it happens is maybe because you do not assess or judge yourself.
So what's the best way to prepare yourself for this question? Let’s take a look at things to be considered before answering this question.
1. Read the job description thoroughly to prepare yourself before an interview. List your skills & strengths that match together. Categorize them into three skills:
- Knowledge based skills: It includes your educational skills and your experience (for e.g. Degree, work experience, training, internships, computer skills)
- Transferable skills: It includes your mobile skills that can be used in a number of occupations (for e.g. Delegation, leadership, communication, analysis)
- Personal skills: It includes your personal, unique traits or personalities (for e.g. Adaptable, flexible, creative, passionate)
Narrow your list of skill down to 3-5 which directly correlates with the job you are applying for.
2. While answering this question, demonstrate your strengths with an example, each to explain why you consider that trait your strength. Doing so will create a strong and positive impact.
3. Ask a reliable person what they think your strengths are. They may point out your skill that you didn't consider could be advantageous.
Sample Answers to “What is your Greatest Strengths?”
Here are few examples of possible answers to this question. Relate it with your skills to you structure your answers:
- I have excellent writing skills. Having worked as a content writer for four years, I am very detail oriented when it comes to my work. I have also written blogs for merojob. I have also had a few of my articles published in a prestigious magazine. So, having said that I know how to structure my writing according to the audience.
- My strength is flexibility and adaptability to change. During my internship, a new data entry software system was introduced and my fellow interns were unhappy and grumpy about it. I researched and taught the new system to myself and was able to help others understand it too.
- One of my strengths is my top-notch communication skills. Having worked as a customer service executive for five years, I have been trained to handle and resolve customer issues. I work well under pressure. Last week, we had a client who was not happy with our service. I calmed him down and understood his issue and found a solution to his problem. I am also well known for my talent for giving presentations.
“What are your Strengths?” is a common job interview question often paired with the greatest weakness question. Choose your strengths carefully, make sure it’s relevant to the job you're applying for.
