Weakness question in an interview.

[ILikeBigMuttsAndICannnotLie]

Hello all, I have an interview tomorrow for a Director role and I wanted some feedback on the dreaded ‘what’s your weakness’ question.
Can I be truthful and say I’m naturally shy? I’ve worked on it and it doesn’t hold me back but that’s the truth!

what do you think?

I usually say something like, I'm terrible at remembering names but I get always there in the end. Try to choose a relatively unimportant weakness with a positive outcome.

Note: yes it's important to remember names, but it isn't immediately going to tank the bottom line.

And FWIW I think it's a shit question and demonstrates weak interviewing technique.

I would answer how you have suggested.

I sometimes say I don't suffer fools gladly. I agree it's a rubbish question.

I hope you wouldn’t be asked such a cliche! But if you are I’d be honest but accompany it with the solution.

‘I sometimes need to psyc myself up before meeting new people. Since I’ve done X training / put Y plan into place I’ve found it much easier and have made new contacts that have helped with blah.’

Look up Steve Dalton CAR (Challenge Action Result). So if you are talking about shyness as a weakness, you need to then go on to talk about what you have done to try and combat this and a positive result that came about as a consequence of a change you made.

My understanding is that it's used to show you have self awareness.

So it can either be a development gap for the new role or something you have identified and are already working on.
Your example sounds fine except I would probably say instead you tend to be introverted, which has helped me in x situation (think of an example) but which has made me nervous in the past about doing x (eg public speaking). I've worked on it by doing x and although I still find public speaking nerve wracking I do x to manage and I have had great feedback on presentations I have given - or something to that effect.
Definitely mention the good things about being shy / introverted as well - eg you are very considered / well thought out with your responses.
Not sure how relevant this all is but definitely do you best to work it into a positive as well and show how you are working on it. (Without doing the obvious, my weakness is that I work too hard!)

I use this question as an opportunity to demonstrate how I work around potential problems, as opposed to about my actual weakness.

For instance, I might say that I can be a bit pedantic but I'm aware of it. Whereas in my past it may have caused some delays, nowadays I utilise it positively in my role to enable accuracy in my deliverables. I'd further clarify that my experience over x years has taught me the balance between thoroughness and time management. I find that my accuracy can actually help with time management as there is less error-correcting in the long-run.

I’ve been asked this question once on an interview. I said that I struggled with negative feedback, which I do. We then had a discussion on how I deal with this - by reflecting, accepting and challenging if need.

They were appreciative of an honest answer and the steps I took to overcome it.

I got the job.

I read it suggested that you say you don't enjoy giving presentations - because who does? Then you can give examples of when you have given presentations and that it was fine as you did lots of prep or whatever - or say it's something you'd be keen to work on and practice in the future. It fits in with your shy thing as well.

I had this in my police interview

First off, I said I reframed it as "strengths and areas for improvement" as weakness is very negative.

I then describe attributes like my striving for perfection or my own perceived lack of patience with myself as areas I keep a close eye on. I also tell them I have methods of keeping on top of these things. (Explain make up as necessary)

I was working on an answer for this in a recent interview for a senior role, but it wasn't asked in the end.

My weakness would be that I didn't have experience doing that exact job, but I would talk about how I had all the skills required to do the job.

I usually say (with a totally straight face) 'cake'.
They usually laugh, it breaks the ice a bit, and then I talk about an actual weakness and what I do to work around it.

I don't personally like the 'weakness that is actually a strength' type answer ('I'm such a perfectionist' etc), as I think they'd prefer a candidate to have some self awareness.

Yes it's a rubbish question but a lot of places still ask it and tbh if I'm asking about something that went wrong/something that failed what I want to see is the ability to be self-reflective, learn and improve. So if it does come up, important not to be trite or minimising - I think your example is a good one.

Interesting to see the views upthread, i don't think it's a rubbish question at all! As PP have mentioned, i think getting someone with self awareness who is willing to work on areas for improvement is key in any role, and you can tell a lot about what someone would be like by their answer to this question. If they think it's a bit silly, or they've chucked in something very generic just for something to say, that's a red flag for me. What I want to hear is:

• What the problem is
• What you've done to work on it
• Any direct positive outcomes/improvements you've seen off the back of changes you've made.

And I think your answer sounds great, it's not one I've heard before while interviewing, so it would make you stand out to me, especially if you followed up with 'I counteract this by deliberately volunteering for tasks that require meeting new people etc'

@Babyboomtastic I love that you said cake 😂
In my present position interview, I actually said "I can't make a decent trifle even if my life depends on it"
My boss laughed out loud and said he'd never heard that one...we swiftly moved on
I got the job anyway, and I still genuinely can't make a decent trifle.
Oh, my job is not food related at all 😂

It's a terrible and outdated question, I'm not sure I want to work somewhere that asks that. Nowadays, best practice is competency based questions where you can show what skills and experience you have rather than vapid responses about your personality. I'd say it is also a question that will show a very different response depending on male or female candidates, which should be avoided.

Ha! Ive said "chocolate" in a previous interview. It was quite informal and I sensed it would be taken in jest. I was offered the job but didn't take it in the end.

A friend of mine once answered "men with a twinkle in their eye". I wouldn't necessarily recommend that one

It's a personal development question - no one is good at everything, some things you can work on, other things you delegate. Having the confidence and self knowledge to discuss your skills gaps is a good thing.

I’m not naturally good at X. I recognised that in myself and addressed by doing Y. Now I find that I am much better ant X and In fact actually enjoy it.

Put anything you like for X depending on the job and what you’ve actually done.

I say that I say yes to too many things. However I try to overcome this weakness by using software to organise what I'm working on so I can see at a glance if I do have the capacity to say yes.

I was once asked this question - I answered honestly with I thought was my weakest area in relation to the job spec and explained in specific terms what I was doing to develop myself in that field. I was offered the job.

While I agree with this, I treat it as part of the game to demonstrate my good fit for the role.

Work out a highly desirable attribute that they are looking for, claim the opposite as your weakness. You set points for self awareness and whatever you claim to be doing to address it and underneath you seem like the right sort of person. win:win

When asked what your weakness area is start the response with "my growth area is...." totally changes the feeling of the response. It's not a weakness, it's a growth opportunity.

Don't say anything that could be a negative for the particular role e.g shyness for a sales role.
Being a perfectionist but working on what's good enough when the context is right etc