4 Simple Answers to The Interview Question: What Is Your Weakness?

No matter at what stage of your career you are: an enthusiastic youngster looking for his first job or an experienced individual looking for a workplace change, interviews can always be nerve-racking and challenging. Specific questions might seem mainstream and overly used in every recruitment interview, but they are enough to get someone flustered. One of these questions is: WHAT ARE YOUR WEAKNESSES. No matter how strong you are in your particular field or how good you are with your speaking skills, this question can cause you to take a pause.

Judgement of Self-Awareness

Before learning a way to answer this question, first, we need to know why this question is essential for the interviewers. This question is an attempt to see if someone has explored themselves. It shows the interviewer how self-aware an individual is, which automatically depicts their maturity as a human. If someone can answer this question correctly, they know how to gather feedback from the surroundings and attempt to learn from criticism. Secondly, it shows the interviewer how comfortable you are when talking about yourself, and it further gives them a glimpse of whether you will be able to fit in their organization’s environment or not.

But you don’t have to worry next time when you find yourself in the hot seat, and this same question is asked to you as we have four simple steps to answer this tricky yet innocent-looking question while being honest and authentic at the same time:

Step 1: Picking a weakness

Pick a weakness that is acceptable and that you’re currently working on. It would be best if you didn’t start to portray any random weakness. Make sure that you are familiar with the job description and don’t mention a weakness that can directly put your position in danger. For example, if you are interviewing for a career in journalism, don’t mention your weakness of being camera shy. Such weaknesses can put a question on your reliability as an employee. Choose a weakness that is authentic yet not utterly related to the position you are seeking.

Step 2: Storytelling

Secondly, narrate a story about how this weakness has challenged you in the past. Make sure the story is told in a very concise and neutral way without bias. For example, if your weakness is delegating, tell them how this weakness added extra pressure at your workplace and how you realized that this problem needs to be addressed.

Step 3: Effort to Improve

Continue by telling them what you have done to overcome this weakness. For example, tell them about different courses and training programs you have completed to create a positive change. This is the most crucial part of the answer as it shows that you are self-aware and an individual who aims for self-improvement.

Step 4: A Showcase of Improvement

There is no better way to close the answer by showing them how much you have improved by making an effort and to what extent the weakness is mitigated. It shows the interviewers that you are capable of making an effort and can show a positive outcome. For example, show them how you are helping others with the same weakness and making a positive impact.

Now, if you are serious about taking your communication to the next level in your career or business, as a gift to my valuable readers like you, I have created a guide that divulges the top speaker’s success secrets on how to get your message across clearly and confidently on any platform.

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