Saturday, December 15, 2012

Interviews - Strengths and Weaknesses

When considering Strengths and Weaknesses in the world of Job Interviews we are most often considering the two common questions, What is your Greatest Weakness and What is your Greatest Strength.

When working with candidates that are preparing for interviews these are strangely enough the area where we most often end up with rambling, incoherent and unfocused answers or the 1000 yd stare into the distance.

Let us think about the objectives from both sides of the table. Your objectives are to impress the interviewer with your skills, knowledge, capabilities and suitability for the position or to put it another way, get a job offer. The objectives of the interviewer are similar but in reverse and they are enhanced by the fact that a hiring mistake can be expensive, not only in the time it takes to find out that there is a mistake but also in the costs involved in finding a replacement down the line.

Interviews - Strengths and Weaknesses

The logic behind these questions is as much to see how you handle them as  to the answers that you give. So with that in mind we will start with the question about weakness. Why would any interviewer expect someone to give an answer that places them in a bad light, you would be surprised at how many candidates make this mistake without considering their actions and the results that stem from it.

It is OK to have a weakness just make sure that it does not impact on your ability to do the job. Explaining the weakness may be handled in a number of ways, a couple of examples are:

Using a strength as a weakness is very common and needs to be used carefully so that you do not appear rehearsed. This is typically something like attention to detail but most interviewers have heard this far too many times.

Demonstrate a past weakness or deficiency that does not relate directly to the job, this could be as simple as not having learnt a programming language or reporting tool that may have hurt you in the past but it now gives you the opportunity to demonstrate how you overcame that by taking classes in your own time.

A strength on the other hand should be directly related to the position you are interviewing for and explained in context with a story if at all possible. You can sometimes link both the strength and weakness in a single answer thus taking away the need for the second question.

If the opportunity arises and you may even want to consider raising both of these issues in advance. When answering an earlier question there may be a moment where you have the chance to mention your strength/weakness. For example management candidates are often asked how they might handle a situation with an employee who needs to be counseled. You could explain how you would deal with this and state that dealing one on one with employees is a strength you have developed although in the early stages one might have considered it a weakness but time and mentoring earlier in your career have now turned the situation around for you.

In summary, strengths and weaknesses are questions that can be answered in so many different ways and in this article we have only touched on the subject. Be positive and consider your words carefully. As a manager of mine once said God gave you two ears and one mouth so you can listen twice as much as you talk, a piece of advice I cheerfully pass on.

Good hunting

Interviews - Strengths and Weaknesses
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Barry Simpson
- Your personal job-search assistant.

http://www.virtualjobcoach.com

Extensive experience of working with people at all levels in Fortune 500 companies and other organizations with the goal to help them land a new and rewarding position. I am, with my colleagues translating much of that expertise and knowledge into our offering at Virtual Job Coach

If you are looking for a new position or simply interested in managing your career come over, visit our site and try it out for free. Contact me if I can help at feedback@virtualjobcoach.com

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