Advice from anyone who regularly interviews people

[CAG12]

I have a job interview soon. I know im likely to be asked what my biggest weakness is. I feel like its such a terrible question as surely they never get an honest answer. My honest answer would be 'im always looking for a shortcut for things because im lazy' but clearly that doesnt come across well in an interview.

So whats a good answer to this question?

I’m not a big fan of rehearsed answers, but what really puts me off people is if I don’t think they’ve prepared at all for the interview. So if you’ve been asked to do something in advance, then please do it (you’d be amazed how many don’t bother or do a shoddy job of it) and make it clear why you want this specific job with this specific company.

@chomalungma

"Look, no one has a higher opinion of me than I do, but even I simply do not have the power to conjure up a quarter of a million pounds from nowhere!"

You have to play the game with that sort of question. I tend to ask about a mistake that someone has made as it is more concrete. You do need to pick a sensible example though. I had a candidate for a data analyst talking about how he’d made some major data entry mistakes that has a massive impact on results and he then didn’t really talk about what he did to fix it. Just that someone else had noticed. I like to see a good amount of self reflection but some people are a bit like turkeys at Christmas.

'I find I have little patience with trite interview questions'

I would never ask that question

You might reflect on what are your areas for development

@GoGoJo

From Cabin Pressure

DEROCHE (tiredly): And finally, what would you say is your greatest weakness as a pilot?
MARTIN: I-I’m afraid I’m too much of a perfectionist.
(Deroche groans quietly.)
MARTIN: I try too hard to do every aspect of my job really well.
DEROCHE: That’s your greatest weakness?
MARTIN: Yes.
DEROCHE: I see. Thank you for...
MARTIN: I mean I worry too much.
DEROCHE: I’m sorry?
MARTIN: That’s what I meant to say. I-I-I worry too much ... a bit. I don’t worry too much too much – I just worry too much about the right amount, which is almost not at all. What I’m saying is I don’t get panicky ... (with a rueful laugh in his voice) ... I do realise, by the way, that this, this may now sound a ... (he drags in a breath) ... a bit panicky, especially now I’ve used the word ‘panicky’, but look-look-look, the thing is ... (a little agitatedly) ... although sometimes I can appear a little agitated on the surface, deep down I’m ... (his voice becomes calmer) ... actually really calm. I’m like a duck.
DEROCHE: You are like a duck?
MARTIN: Yeah, you know: I’m paddling like hell on top, but I’m very calm underneath. ... Oh no. Oh no! I mean, I-I’m like a capsized duck.
DEROCHE: Thank you.
MARTIN: Can I have another go?

This thread is very useful 👍🏻👍🏻

I interviewed quite a lot. When a question like that is asked and I've probably asked it a million times by the time I got to a candidate, I don't even mind if the candidate just makes a joke and answer some lame answer and make the interview light. It is a horribly cliche question, don't worry too much about it. Focus on creating connection with your interviewers in general instead.

I’ve always made up the problem and solution when asked in interviews. I presumed everyone does! These sort of questions are really pointless.

Use it to give examples of some of the qualities they are looking for in the Job. Eg Team work in admin job

“When I first started in my current job 5 years ago, I was very nervous about talking to difficult customers on the phone. I always volunteered to do the mail so that I was away from the desk and someone else would answer first.

”I realised this wasn’t fair on my colleagues [shows awareness of how behaviour affects others ] and it wasn’t helping me develop in my job [ shows that you are motivated to improve skills ] or my confidence.

”So I asked my line manager for help [ knowing when to ask for help is always a good trait ] and she set aside some time to train me and we worked through different scenarios and how to deal with them [ good manager ].

”After a while I became much make confident with this part of the job and began to almost enjoy it - it makes me happy to know that I can deal with customer complaints promptly and courteously so we can resolve the issue and keep their business [ customer focus, commercial awareness ] .

So last year when we had two new colleagues join the team, I was given the job of training them in complaints handling and mentoring them for their probation period [ new skills ] . I think I was more patient with them because I could remember how hard it was when I first started [empathy] .

“I also set up a system for logging and monitoring complaints and I now produce a monthly report which is discussed by management to see how we can spot trends and constantly improve [ proactive , shows initiative, strategic thinker, aware of company values ].

This kind of example is much more believable that someone who says

“ I think my best quality is teamwork and yeah, I get on with everyone on my team “.

I've never asked that question in that format because sadly, people don't get it and indeed, just think of a weakness that is not really one and it makes the whole question pointless.

The reality is that we all have weaknesses and they will affect how we work, out relationships etc... What matters is first that we are aware of them, and second that we do something about them to minimize the impact.

I have much more respect for people who do admit to genuine weakness but learn to adapt to suit the need of the business and others. I'd rate higher someone saying that he was lazy by nature, but that he's learned that trying to do as little as possible often means passing by opportunities and that he's now learned to set himself a goal and a reward at the end for accomplishing what he set to do for motivation, than someone who would say 'oh you know, I'm a perfectionist, it's terrible isn't it!'