Weakness Interview Question

“Tell me One of Your Weaknesses”- Terry Devlin, Vice President of JOB Client Services, shares an opinion regarding how to approach this common interview question

I think a candidate should answer the interview question, “Tell me about one of your weaknesses,” with sincerity and honesty.

Over the years I have interviewed hundreds of candidates and I asked the weakness question, to see if a candidate would try to “out-maneuver” me with an answer.

One of the more commonly used responses is, “Someone once told me that a weakness is strength in excess. I’m very detail oriented and I can sometimes over-do things and get bogged down in too much detail.” This type of answer often comes across and “canned” and insincere.

I suggest to my clients that they think about some actual weakness that they have had over their career and focus on that issue and what they have done to correct / overcome the issue they had.

For instance I used to try and remember all the things I needed to do without writing anything down. When I got busy, I would invariably overlook a commitment I made or miss a deadline. To correct for that I began carrying a small notebook (today people would use a smart phone for the same purpose of course) and make a check list.

Be prepared to answer the weakness question twice. Most interviewers know that candidates expect the weakness question. Clever interviewers may ask It twice to see what happens the second time.