If you have faced job interviews, you must have come across the question “What is your greatest weakness?” at some point or the other. Along with your strengths, the hiring manager is also interested to know about your weaknesses. Many of us either struggle in providing the answer or lie to it. Have you ever come across this interview question and had hard time answering it? Bit of a preparation will definitely assist you in answering this question confidently.
A bit of precaution and smartness is required while answering. You won’t want the hiring manager to understand that you will not be able to perform the job efficiently because of that particular weakness, do you? There are many ways to answer this question, but it would be best to mention skills that aren't critical for the job, discuss skills you have improved on, or turn a negative into a positive. Now lets move on to the other ways:
Highlight Non-Essential Skills
Before attending the interview, outline all your skills, strengths and weakness. Then, list out the ones that are not much essential for the give job position. From those non essential skills, you can pick one and go with your answer.
For example, if you are applying for the post of a receptionist, skills such as data analysis may not be relevant to the job position. Here, you can highlight on how you can deal with customers but have difficulty in data analysis.
Showcase Skills You Have Improved
While discussing your weakness, you can also elaborate on how you have improved on required skills in your previous job. This will provide them with a confidence that you can work on your weaknesses, if required.
Another option is to discuss skills that you have improved upon during your previous job, so you are showing the interviewer that you can make improvements when necessary.
Possible Answers to “What is Your Greatest Weakness?”
Having said that, now we can move on to some of the possible answers for the question:
- I lacked organization skills, but now I have overcome this weakness by using time management approach to be well organized, professionally as well as personally.
- I would be very nervous about public speaking. But, I overcame this weakness by participating in various formal and informal programs organized at my previous work.
- Sometimes, I spend more time than necessary on a task, or take on tasks personally that could easily be delegated to someone else. Although I've never missed a deadline, it is still an effort for me to know when to move on to the next task, and to be confident when assigning others works.
- I could not do multitasking at any cost. But, now I have I've learned to work on many projects at the same time, and I think it allows me to be more creative and effective in each one.
- As a student, I used to leave assignments until the last minute, but with the workload at office, I learned to schedule my time very effectively.
Have you ever faced this question in an interview? If yes, share with us what you answered in the comments section below.
