Tipsoninterview.in

Interview tips for Weaknesses

Failure and weaknesses are human – we all failed in the past and we all have our weaknesses one of the most common interview question asked in the interview is Describe your weaknesses please’ or ‘what are your weaknesses? Potential employers want to know if you have a reasonably balanced opinion of yourself.

There is common belief that tells that you should never expose a weakness of yours if you want to pass an interview. This question is in fact a key interview question and there is no agenda behind it. When the interviewer asks ‘can you describe your weaknesses?’, they mean exactly that.

1. When describing a weakness of yours the first thing to do is imagine your self in a work environment. There is no point in bringing up weaknesses that are exposed when socializing with friends or at home; these environments are irrelevant to the work one and the interviewer has no interest in them.

2. You probably know much better then anyone around you what are your weaknesses and what are your biggest challenges.

3. The main distinction between those that fail and those that pass this interview question is our ability to learn from our mistakes, acknowledge our weaknesses, embrace them and show how we strive to improve them.

4. Demonstrate to the interviewer you can face this question head on. Name a real weakness of yours and show how you strive to improve it. When describing a real weakness and showing how you are working hard to improve it, or better yet demonstrating how it can actually work to your benefit – you are likely to impress the interviewer.

5. Do not expose a weakness which is irrelevant to the work environment or a weakness that can seriously compromise your chances of success.

6. Show that you are aware of your weaker qualities and that you in fact are trying to learn from them and improve your ways; demonstrate that you are a worthy and serious candidate.

7. The best way to handle weakness question is to minimize the trait and emphasize the positive. Select a trait and come up with a solution to overcome your weakness. Stay away from personal qualities and concentrate more on professional traits

8. Weaknesses that can disclose at a job interview are:

Suspicion, Criticism, Being too demanding, Controlling, Lack of humor, Being too sensitive and Lack of assertiveness.

9. The secret to answering this question is to be honest and find a negative quality that has a positive spin. Think of things you have been criticized for in the past, and then think of a way to reframe it in a positive light.

10. Be prepared to follow up your answer with an example or an explanation. You will undoubtedly be asked for one or both. Choose an example that shows your weakness as a small, not a major, problem. Show that you have the flaw under control.

11. Talk about changes in attitude and what strategies you have found for turning your negative traits into positive attributes.

12. Avoid spending too much time on the weakness. Relating scores of examples about how your weakness has affected your performance in the past.

13. Once you tell the interviewer your weakness, follow it up with how you have a plan in place to improve this area of weakness.

14. Don’t reveal a work performance crippling weakness. You don’t want to tell the interviewer that you are always late, lose important files, or have zero people skills.