Job Interview: How to Present Your Strengths and Weaknesses?
12 May 2015
Read by 7608 persons
Talking about yourself during an interview is, for many candidates, much harder than describing an experience or training. How to best prepare? What answers should be avoided?
What are your strengths and weaknesses? Even if the question is often considered old-fashioned, or even useless because it's overused, it is advisable to prepare for it. Seasoned recruiters won't ask you in such a blunt way, but some find strange ways to get you talking. An example? This tricky question posed to a candidate: "If your husband had to talk about you, what qualities and what flaws would he highlight?" Enough to feel disconcerted. However, like her, you can answer naturally: "Probably the same as me..." before presenting them.
Why this question?
It's not simple curiosity that prompts a recruiter to ask you this work of introspection. They have a position to fill, with a team perhaps already in place, clients to consider... They are trying to understand your motivations, what drives you, and to identify your ways of behaving with others.
Always keep a connection with the professional context of the interview. If you disconnect, you risk disconnecting from your interviewer's questioning as well. And straying into overly personal paths.
Beware of clichés
Answer to avoid because it's been repeated a thousand times: "I have the flaws of my qualities". Also beware of those that, too prepared, start from the premise that a specific grid corresponds to such a job. "Some candidates give us the whole list of flaws and qualities supposed to correspond to such and such a profile," explains a recruitment manager. "For example, they think that a salesperson must be dynamic and stubborn... When we feel that the candidate has over-prepared their answer based on what they assume is the recruiter's expectation, it deeply annoys us."
Don't forget your flaws!
It is practically mandatory, if the question is asked, to "reveal" one or more flaws, but always presented in a professional context. "If we don't see any weaknesses and no flaws, we worry," confides a recruitment consultant. An absolute mastery of one's speech, which reveals nothing of the candidate's personality, provokes mistrust rather than confidence. Don't flagellate yourself either. If necessary, plan to explain how you try to cope and correct yourself by taking an example of a real situation in the company. This will allow you to show your qualities (perseverance, questioning yourself...).
Examples of "acceptable" flaws that can be illustrated in a professional context: "I admit a tendency to stress, I take things too much to heart to the point of making it a personal matter, I'm a little too meticulous"... Even being too kind, said humorously (and again if it's the case!) can help relax the atmosphere. Illustration. During an interview, the recruiter asks: "What kind of manager are you?" The candidate replies: "I am a very strong participatory management man, too strong, I am perhaps a little too kind, as my assistant says. Nevertheless, for the moment, it's working." By asking him for an example, the recruiter realized that this manager did not share the collective hysteria of the company, in which shouting was the rule. Rather a good point!
Examples of answers to avoid
Source: L'Express.fr
Published on April 24, 2014.
What are your strengths and weaknesses? Even if the question is often considered old-fashioned, or even useless because it's overused, it is advisable to prepare for it. Seasoned recruiters won't ask you in such a blunt way, but some find strange ways to get you talking. An example? This tricky question posed to a candidate: "If your husband had to talk about you, what qualities and what flaws would he highlight?" Enough to feel disconcerted. However, like her, you can answer naturally: "Probably the same as me..." before presenting them.
Why this question?
It's not simple curiosity that prompts a recruiter to ask you this work of introspection. They have a position to fill, with a team perhaps already in place, clients to consider... They are trying to understand your motivations, what drives you, and to identify your ways of behaving with others.
Always keep a connection with the professional context of the interview. If you disconnect, you risk disconnecting from your interviewer's questioning as well. And straying into overly personal paths.
Beware of clichés
Answer to avoid because it's been repeated a thousand times: "I have the flaws of my qualities". Also beware of those that, too prepared, start from the premise that a specific grid corresponds to such a job. "Some candidates give us the whole list of flaws and qualities supposed to correspond to such and such a profile," explains a recruitment manager. "For example, they think that a salesperson must be dynamic and stubborn... When we feel that the candidate has over-prepared their answer based on what they assume is the recruiter's expectation, it deeply annoys us."
Don't forget your flaws!
It is practically mandatory, if the question is asked, to "reveal" one or more flaws, but always presented in a professional context. "If we don't see any weaknesses and no flaws, we worry," confides a recruitment consultant. An absolute mastery of one's speech, which reveals nothing of the candidate's personality, provokes mistrust rather than confidence. Don't flagellate yourself either. If necessary, plan to explain how you try to cope and correct yourself by taking an example of a real situation in the company. This will allow you to show your qualities (perseverance, questioning yourself...).
Examples of "acceptable" flaws that can be illustrated in a professional context: "I admit a tendency to stress, I take things too much to heart to the point of making it a personal matter, I'm a little too meticulous"... Even being too kind, said humorously (and again if it's the case!) can help relax the atmosphere. Illustration. During an interview, the recruiter asks: "What kind of manager are you?" The candidate replies: "I am a very strong participatory management man, too strong, I am perhaps a little too kind, as my assistant says. Nevertheless, for the moment, it's working." By asking him for an example, the recruiter realized that this manager did not share the collective hysteria of the company, in which shouting was the rule. Rather a good point!
Examples of answers to avoid
- I am disorganized, but I make sure it doesn't show at work.
- I don't really think I have any flaws, I'm rather an easy-going and efficient person at work.
- Oh, that's a difficult question! (followed by a litany of flaws and qualities learned by heart)...
Source: L'Express.fr
Published on April 24, 2014.
