What Are Your Weaknesses? How To Answer

One of the most popular questions in an interview, the “What are your weaknesses” question is also one of the questions that candidates dread most.

They have good reason, because interviews are supposed to be a positive affair and answering this question risks the interview taking a negative turn.

Why Do Interviewers Ask About Weaknesses?

When an interviewer asks this question, don’t panic! Think that they are searching for a reason to reject your application. They ask this question for two very good reasons:

• Are you honest enough to admit and accept they have weaknesses?
• Are you someone who learns from their weaknesses and try to improve them?

We try to hide our weaknesses but consider these quotes from one of the greatest sports stars:

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan, NBA Superstar

Here you can see that even the very best have weaknesses and fail. They are inevitable parts of life. It’s what you learn from your weaknesses however that counts and makes you into a winner.

Remember these key points and you will find answering questions about your weaknesses much, much easier:

3 Key Points To Remember When Answering Interview Questions On Failure

• Never say that you don’t have any weaknesses. This could lead the interviewee to think:
  1. You are lying (we all have weaknesses)
  2. You’re hiding the fact that you have a lot of weaknesses
  3. You are narcissistic and genuinely think that you have no weaknesses.
• Always be truthful and reveal a real weakness. Truth is very important in interviews and if you are speaking of a real weakness then your answer will come across so much better.
• Pick your weakness carefully. Pick a weakness where you can show how you have acknowledged it and are working on it to improve it, but not one that has a direct impact on your job.
  For example, if your role is solely based in the UK with UK customers, you could say that you regret not being able to speak a foreign language but are looking to learn one. Or, pick something that can be construed as a positive, such as being a bit of a perfectionist or hating losing. When you frame your answer the right way, lots of weaknesses can actually become positives!

Take this advice and you’ll find answering questions about your weaknesses so much easier in your next interview.