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10 October 2009

When asked in a job interview "What are you strengths?" and "What are your weaknesses?", what are your answers?[More:] Just curious. Although I reserve the right to steal any good answers and use them as my own.
i always tie in my strengths to my weaknesses thusly: i'm a detailed-oriented worker who's often meticulous to the fault of sometimes expecting others to respond quickly to my expressed needs when auditing and troubleshooting. this being said, i have the ability to pull out an reexamine a situation in a perhaps unorthodox manner which often takes time to explain to others but has proven fruitful on many occasions.
posted by eatdonuts 10 October | 01:37
*although no one should expect anything from me at 3am.
posted by eatdonuts 10 October | 01:43
I trust you say all that in a single breath with unblinking eye contact?
posted by cillit bang 10 October | 04:18
My strengths are that I never take anyone's lunch from the office fridge and I sometimes bring donuts. My weaknesses are that I'm lazy and often hung-over.

I don't interview well.
posted by BitterOldPunk 10 October | 05:36
For my strengths: attention to detail, resourcefulness from working alone and needing to solve a problem by myself before it gets worse (they will ask for examples). Sense of humor ("at least I think that's why people are laughing at me", make 1 maybe 2 jokes but only at your own expense), gets on well with others (they might ask about out of work activities), patient with coworkers (they may ask about a difficult situation you had with a coworker).

Weaknesses: I need to more exercise, I'm always sitting at work, sitting at home (for my hobbies), sitting in the car. This shows that you work hard. You can also say you are a morning grump until you get your coffee. You may also want to word in to the conversation that you are impatient (if you are). My friend who works in HR and has held many interviews, says this is a common response. To the interviewee, it could be a personality flaw, but to the potential employer, it could mean that you strive to get the job done.

Eatdonuts's example is good but you'll need to have an example ready.
posted by chillmost 10 October | 06:28
"What are you strengths?"

Leap tall buildings in a single bound.

and "What are your weaknesses?"

Kryptonite. Puppies.
posted by The Whelk 10 October | 06:39
I've always wondered if saying that I expect people to work at the same speed/pace I do in order to get things done is a bad or good thing. One of my biggest frustrations when I was volunteering for anime conventions is that I'd get an email, do whatever it was that needed to be done, send it off to whomever I needed to for an answer to one question, and then WAIT... for an answer.

I mean, is it really too much to expect an answer to an email within 24 hours if you're working at a senior staff level of a volunteer organization?

I have a different question for people who are managers: do you read every email your subordinates send you? Like, even if you don't need to respond, do you read them? One of my biggest pet peeves is when I complete a project or task that she's been waiting for, send it to my boss, and then hear her ask a day or two later, "Can you send me the XXX?" My answer is usually, "I sent it on XXX, but I'll send it again" but is that too much to say?

Um... sorry for the thread-jack. But since you and I are in the same field (personal/executive assisting) I thought it might be helpful.
posted by TrishaLynn 10 October | 06:58
A job interview is a performance, and I tailor my responses to each individual job description, work environment and set of interviewers.

Okay, so maybe one of my weaknesses is that I don't always give helpful answers.
posted by box 10 October | 08:07
Not exactly answering the question, but I've had a lot of success in concentrating on what I'm going to do when I get the job, rather than what I've done in the past. When I applied for the job I have now, I actually developed a 'strategy for reform' and presented it in PowerPoint form at the interview.

When asked about any weaknesses I've identified, I always answer 'ice-cream' because, no matter what your real answer is next, it seems that that answer always strikes a chord.
posted by dg 10 October | 08:18
Can you believe that I never interviewed for a job? I've only ever had two in my life (besides babysitting), and the first was rather informal, with no traditional hiring interviews per se, and the second (my adult profession) was never ever a question, because I for the most part have freelanced. As a matter of fact, I only just created a CV for the very first time in my life, and it is for a volunteer position that I hope to secure!
posted by msali 10 October | 09:42
When I interview people I tend to avoid questions like "what are your weaknesses" because they just seem to me to be a invitation to be evasive or dishonest.

Anyway, I've interviewed with people that ask this question so let me tell you how it looks from my side.

If you say your greatest weakness is something stupid like "I work too hard" or something similar that's an enormous fail because not only is it bullshit but it's obvious bullshit (I get the impression you'd know better than that anyway, but you know, just saying).

Here's the key: every boss hates the employee that brings problems but no solutions. Bring up a genuine weakness but then explain how you work with it. It shows self awareness and maturity.

Strengths: this is just a chance for you to talk about how wonderful you are! Personally I hate saying nice things about myself but sometimes you've got to blow your own trumpet.

Any decent interviewer (there aren't many but bear with me) should explain the job role at the top of interview and they should say what they're looking for. Focus on one or two features that you think fit well with your experience and pound the crap out of them.

And remember, always talk in anecdotes where you can. They're more convincing to an interviewer. For example "yeah, I've worked with Excel" is less interesting than "I used Excel to produce sales statistics for the sales manager every day". OK, not a great example but I'm sure you get my point.

Sorry if I've stated the bleedin' obvious but I hope something in there is useful
posted by dodgygeezer 10 October | 11:15
Agree with what dodgygeezer said: why would I tell the interviewers the weaknesses that might not get me the job? "I'm incredibly lazy, always a do-it-at-the-last-minute person, haven't been on time to work in the morning for the past 20 years, and I get really impatient with engineers who can't communicate." Um, no. I always come up with some weakness that will make the interviewer think, "ah, we can work around that," like "sometimes I get a bit frazzled when the deadlines are close."

As for strengths, just find out beforehand what they really need, and play up to that. "I'm really good at finding missing commas," or "I really have a good idea of your mission, because I used to volunteer at --," or something like that.

Good luck!!!
posted by Melismata 10 October | 11:40
unblinking eye? of course and a devil may care attittude.
posted by eatdonuts 10 October | 11:44
My biggest weakness is that ever since I was damned to hell, there are always demons hanging around, stinking up the joint, pestering me, and just generally causing trouble. I overcome this by wearing eau de Holy Water Cologne and never sacrificing virgins on company time. My biggest strength is that I'm an inveterate liar.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson 10 October | 16:46
My main strength is making the decision to keep you alive for the remainder of this interview.

My main weakness is changing my mind, suddenly.
posted by Lipstick Thespian 10 October | 17:27
When I interview people I tend to avoid questions like "what are your weaknesses" because they just seem to me to be a invitation to be evasive or dishonest.

Absolutely. I took a wonderful management class a couple of years ago, and one thing I took away from the session on hiring and interviewing was the determination never, ever to ask that question. In asking it, managers are trying to look for your degree of self-awareness, and possibly your ability to create a positive message from a negative opening. Unfortunately, this hackneyed question isn't the best way to get at either of those, since most people expect to be asked it, and most have some kind of prepared, BS response. Still, since most hiring managers haven't had the benefit of that much HR training, they ask this question anyway, meaning the rest of us have to have some sort of answer for it.

A good way to answer it is, as was noted above, to focus not on essential qualities of yourself as you were in the past, but how your strengths and weaknesses would read in relation to the job you're asking for. So instead of naming vague qualities like "perfectionist," "see the big picture," etc., think about the job description and look for an honest match between what you have done/can do and what you'd be doing in the job, and present that as a positive: so, strengths, "I'm an attentive manager and work hard to stay in touch with my staff, even when I had seven reports at FormerCo., and from what you've described that's the sort of manager that will be successful here at FutureCo. Weaknesses, I'm not familiar with the product line at FutureCo yet, but I've been reading industry publications and am forming a plan for orienting myself in-depth if I'm offered the position."
posted by Miko 10 October | 23:19
I've been on a lot of interviews lately, so I can say with confidence that a lot of people are really terrible interviewers.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero 10 October | 23:25
I say "Oh, I hate this question", then make my excuses.

It'd be insulting to say "My biggest weakness is my piss-poor performance in interviews", because they should've worked that out by now.
posted by pompomtom 11 October | 01:14
"My strength is that I have no weaknesses."

"My weakness is that I have so many strengths, I can't choose just one!"

YMMV, but this is what the interviewers really want to hear, whether they'll admit it or not... I mean, seriously, WTF do they expect you to answer? The whole premise of the question is some kind of psychobabble powerplay mindgame.
posted by amyms 11 October | 02:16
Before it's too late, Happy Birthday to elizard! || I just saw Pretty in Pink for the first time

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