What's a good weakness to have?

[TheBeesKnee]

I have an interview coming up and I expect I'll be asked this question but don't know what to say! I'm the past I've said "public speaking" because I had awful stage fright.

I've since got much better at public speaking and feel comfortable delivering presentations etc. But now I don't know what to say. My honest point of development is my patience: I am not a very patient person but I'm not sure if that's something I should be admitting to in an interview! I don't want to lie if I can help it.

Any ideas or feedback would be very welcome

This interview is really important for me because it'll be a step up and a pay increase, it's something I'm confident I'll be able to do well, but I get nervous in interviews as it is and I don't want to fuck it up with something silly.

I said my PDP. I have gotten really bad at prioritising my development and it's something I'm making a conscious effort to work on now. How can I expect anyone else to invest in me if I don't invest in myself?

Mine is that I'm a massive perfectionist which means I can struggle let things go until I'm comfortable it's "perfect" causing me some internal stressing ... the benefit of my weakness though is that my output is always of a super high level and quality 🙂 hope this helps!

How can you turn your impatience in to a positive? 🙂

medium.com/live-your-life-on-purpose/3-powerful-ways-to-turn-impatience-into-a-strength-a25eeb0357

This could be a useful read with some helpful tips which will allow you to remain honest in your interview 🙂

When I’ve been asked I say whatever my weakness is and then the steps I’m taking to overcome it.
So say it’s organisation I’ll say I’m doing x, y and z which has already led to this improvement.
Though it’s a pretty lazy question I think

I was recently told that I think the best of people too often. It means I am always utterly shocked when a client or contractor is rude (thankfully not often!)

However, I’ve also been told it’s encouraging and means I have a great relationship with colleagues (especially the younger ones)

in my 30s and still naive

@LolaSparkle

Mine is that I'm a massive perfectionist which means I can struggle let things go until I'm comfortable it's "perfect" causing me some internal stressing ... the benefit of my weakness though is that my output is always of a super high level and quality 🙂 hope this helps!

How can you turn your impatience in to a positive? 🙂

Snap! Always seems to go down well at interview.

Former Headhunter here.

I think what recruiting managers expect from that question is an honest answer followed by an example of when it was a problem and the steps you've taken (are taking) to manage it and overcome it.

Quick example:

"I find basic admin challenging and was often scrambling to catch up at the end of the week. I've built 10 minutes into my daily schedule at the end of the day and now tackle all outstanding client expenses then.
I still find it frustrating and it's not my strength, but I'm managing it and getting better at it "

IBelieveInAThingCalledScience

That's a great example, I do neglect my emails too

You can still talk about public speaking. In fact, a weakness you’ve addressed is ideal- you’re not a natural public speaker but you’ve addressed it by doing X and Y so that now, although you still feel nerves sometimes you know you can overnight them because blah blah.

Another approach- if there’s an area in which they’ll already know you are weak you can talk about that- say the job encompasses x and y and your experience is mainly in x, You can talk about how your plan to address the gaps in your experience.

I would avoid the obvious answers like perfectionism unless you can really speak about why it’s a weakness and how you’ve addressed it.

OP, to improve your personal organisational skills, take a look at Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen. Book, website, whatever.
It's not something you can learn in 5 minutes but you can start to see results fairly quickly.
The PP who said 'schedule 10 minutes at the end of the day for client expenses' is an example of this.
(GTD is widely known and highly rated by many people, so don't claim wholesale adoption of his methods if you are new to it!)

Don't say perfectionism. That's such a common answer. I think talking about not being a natural public speaker and how you've overcome it is perfect.

Perfectionism, eh? One boss accused me of this. I argued that I wasn't, that I just had very high standards . He went on to tell me that I needed to learn when 'good enough' was 'good enough' because sometimes my efforts to reach an unnecessarily high standard was actually a waste of my effort (and, sometimes, my time). I hate to admit it, but he had a point. However, you'd need to back this up with real life examples.

As a hiring manager the answer to this doesn't actually matter (unless it's "I'm rude to colleagues and don't get on with anyone") its the way you answer the question.
"I struggle with prioritisation during extremely busy periods so to overcome this I make sure I have firm deadlines for each piece of work, I make lists and I highlight the things I need to achieve each day and what can wait until the following day."

Answer the question with the solution as part of the answer.

"I'm a perfectionist" is the most common answer and it always makes me internally roll my eyes because its what people think the interviewer wants to hear, not a real answer. I always really value people who know their flaws and have worked out how to overcome them.

Chocolate! But failing that, a need to check and double check the details - I never like to submit anything I'm not 100% sure of

I honestly never knew perfectionism was a common answer - it genuinely is my biggest weakness. I can spend hours and hours (to the point of loosing sleep) stressing over something that to other people would be great but too me it's not good enough!
I'm personally getting better at managing this but it's still a massive struggle for me. I even beat myself up until I've had some feedback to let me know what I've done is good enough which can seriously effect my mood until my work has been validated and I can breathe a sigh of relief.

I guess, it doesn't really matter what your weakness is, it's how you deliver your answer to the question. It's a shit question though to be fair and haven't been asked it for a long time in an interview

Mine is that I find it hard to say no (in a work context!)
I am solving this by being clear with myself and others about what my priorities and deadlines are.

The question didn't come up after all!

I was however stumped by "can you give us an example of a time when you overloaded the team and nothing got done?" Err no, I could not

Err no, I could not confused

Definitely do not say you're a perfectionist. I've done hundreds of interviews and this is the most common answer. Everyone who says it seems to think they are clever and original . To be fair though, it's not a very original question is it?

@DoubleYouOhEmAyEn

Definitely do not say you're a perfectionist. I've done hundreds of interviews and this is the most common answer. Everyone who says it seems to think they are clever and original . To be fair though, it's not a very original question is it?

It's a cringeworthy answer

I have an interview within the NHS, my first interview in a very long time. The invitation says that they will be asking "competency based questions" - What can I expect them to ask me?

@Justus77 competency based questions are where they ask you to give examples that show certain skills. The questions will be based along the lines of 'Can you tell me about a time when you've...'

Think about what the key skills needed for the job might be and some situations where you've displayed that. Things like negotiation skills, communication skills, working under pressure, adaptability, organisation. They will want examples of projects you've worked on, difficult situations you've overcome, solutions you've implemented, things you're proud of etc.

Good luck!

I hate the answer "I'm a perfectionist" - you'll need to have been pretty consistent throughout your interview for us to believe you - I'll have expected to see your perfectionist streak. Thankfully no one has every made this response.
What we are looking for when we are asking this type of question is that you understand what you need to work on, are you aware of your own needs - and everyone needs to work on something and if you can't be self aware and understand where you need to develop more skills we worry about your ability to learn from your mistakes and we worry that you have ego issues. We'll ask what you learned from a situation - lack of learning will be marked done. You should really think about how to improve your patience, how to manage your time better.

I said that I have a tendency to overthink things but this can also be turned into a positive as it means that I always take time to get work right.