Posted

Every job seeker anticipates having to answer some tough interview questions when the time comes. Perhaps one of the more difficult of interview questions to answer is the standard “What is your biggest weakness?” This interview question can stump even the most practiced interviewee, turning them into a tongue-tied mess in 5-seconds or less.

Discovering Why HR Asks Difficult Interview Questions

Before you fumble your next job interview, let’s take a moment to discuss WHY hiring managers often ask this question in the first place. There are actually several reasons that may surprise you.

  • Hiring managers want you to consider a difficult topic and see if you can think on your feet.
  • The interviewer is looking for signs that you are a problem-solver and can overcome weaknesses.
  • Interviewers often focus on behaviors and potential actions to see if candidates are a good fit.
  • You are being asked to share something more personal than what is on your resume.

Keeping these reasons in mind, now you can come up with a strategy for answering “What’s your biggest weakness?” in a constructive, positive, and professional manner. Here’s how!

Know Your Weaknesses and Strengths

Every individual is born with unique strengths, gifts and abilities. Likewise, everyone has a few weaknesses, formed as part of a personality or from life experiences. These aspects are what make you human. Before walking into any interview, jot down a list of your strengths and your weaknesses. Then decide what strengths offset what weaknesses. You’ll recall this while in your interview.

Think of a Weakness that is Actually a Strength

When you read that, you probably formed a large question mark above your head, right? It’s natural to think of weaknesses as negative things, when in fact they can be positives. For example, a weakness may be the strong desire to help other people when you don’t have enough time. Or a weakness may be that you tend to accept many tasks, but forget to ask for help. These weaknesses are actually strengths that you can use to illustrate your personality in a work-positive light.

Explain How You Turn Weaknesses into Strengths

Once you have identified your weakness, you can then share a short story about how you have turned it into a strength. Using the above examples of weaknesses, you could say that in the past you have struggled with wanting to help many people, and you have learned to schedule time to be able to accomplish this. Or, in the past you have struggled with taking on many tasks and forgetting to ask for help, so now you have tools to better manage your time and delegate tasks to others on your team. See how that works?

Remember, the person sitting on the other side of the hiring desk wants you to prove to them that you are the best person for the job. Take the time to consider how your weaknesses can be shared in such a way that your strengths shine through. Be willing to come up with a few examples of how you have overcome any weaknesses you perceive in yourself and you will easily demonstrate your value to a hiring manager.

Looking for a dream job in the greater Michiana area? Get in contact with Wood Staffing today and let our caring team of recruiters help you locate a wonderful permanent, temporary contract, or temp-to-hire job.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *