Almost every interview starts off with the same questions:
“Did you find the office okay?”
“Would you like some coffee / water?”
“Did you just fart?”
Let’s move a little farther into the future. The room has been cleared or maybe an ambulance has been called, but in any case now it’s time to answer some real questions.
You are in a conference room and the Interviewer has your resumé and cover letter in front of him. The first question is about to come, and you have read this blog, so you are prepared for it: “Tell me about yourself?”
Of course you must be a carpenter because you nailed it!
Next comes the dreaded strengths and weaknesses question that is almost obligatory on the part of the interviewer to ask. It is almost as common as asking “how’s it goin’?” or “what’s up?” In the 2-5 interviews you go through to get the job, someone is going to ask you this question and you may have to answer it multiple times. So it would make sense to be prepared for it, because you know it’s coming, right?
There are several schools of thought on how to answer this 2-part question. Let’s start with the strengths first as no sane person would lead off with their weaknesses.
It is not enough to just list off a bunch of strenghts. Think of 3 things that you consider to be your strenghts. These can be things like communications skills, analytical skills, detail-oriented, good with people, quick learner or whatever you consider to be your greatest assets. The trick here then is to tie them back to your resumé with actual examples. Remember we talked about listing your accomplishments on the resumé? Think of your greatest accomplishments and associate it with a strength that you have that allowed you to succeed. Now you are taking a rather mundane question that the Interviewer knows they HAVE to ask and turning it around and highlighting your achievements.
In doing so, you have shown self-awareness and allowed the Interviewer to make the connection in her brain that these strenghts you say you have tie to these great deeds that you have done. It also makes it more likely for the Interviewer to believe what you wrote on your resumé!
Let’s use a quick example. Say that you increased sales by 20% in the first 6 months after you took over a Department. Maybe this is because you are good with people and your people skills got you the sale. Or maybe you are good at hiring sales people and building a department, which means you have good management skills, or again, good people skills. The point is, you just came out of the first half of this question smelling like a rose!
Now, let’s address the backend of the question – weaknesses. If this isn’t the most gotcha question ever, right?
When I hear someone answer the weakness question as if it is a hidden strength, my bullshit detector starts beeping like crazy. That’s almost as bad as someone telling me that they have no weaknesses. Pretending that you have no weaknesses is like saying your dog is housebroken while it is leaving sphincter-nuggets on my rug. It’s dishonest and you have just told me that you cannot be trusted to be straightforward. You can still be honest, not make yourself seem like a total wanker and still win points in the interview. Everybody has weaknesses. Let’s look at an example:
If you have trouble organizing things, that is a weakness. Ok, so now you have admitted the weakness. So, now what? Now you explain how you manage your weakness. “I manage my weakness by taking copious notes and I live by the calendar in Outlook.” Then, after you have successfully provided one weakness. Stop talking. Pause. Wait for the Interviewer to ask you to give up any more weaknesses. It might be an awkward silence, but no sense giving up more than you have to. Still, it is good to be prepared to give up to 3 weaknesses. In most cases, the Interviewer will be pleased with one weakness and will move on to more resumé and job specific questions.
So that’s all you have to do to knock the strengths and weaknesses question out of the ballpark! Just be prepared and know thyself!