How Should We Answer the Question of “Your Weakness” Asked in Interviews?

Dilara Avlupınar

Dilara Avlupınar

Boğaziçi Ekonomi

One of the most frequently asked questions in interviews, perhaps the most dangerous: “What is your weakest point?” So, what kind of answers can we give to this question, which is usually asked to understand how well you know yourself? When talking about your weakest side, you need to be careful to stay positive, focus on the solution and be honest. The following three methods will turn this question to your advantage.

1) Mention your features that are not required for the Job/Project.

For this, first of all, you need to analyze the basic features required by the position you want to enter. After analyzing, you can honestly talk about your non-work-related weaknesses.
E.g; In an interview where you apply for assistantship, you can emphasize how strong your one-to-one relationships are and mention that you have difficulty presenting to large groups.




2) Talk about your strengths.

Another way to avoid this dangerous question is to describe aspects that you strengthened in your previous work. In this way, you send the message to the other person that you have weaknesses, but that you can improve them when you encounter situations where it is necessary.
E.g; I used to wait until the last minute to plan for the next week, but I’ve found that planning ahead is more effective.




3) A negative aspect may actually appear positive to others.

In fact, you can talk about a positive aspect of you as if it were negative.
E.g; Let’s say you want to complete the to-do list perfectly as soon as possible. Expressing this will paint you an image of an employee who completes their project on time and with near-perfect work.



Here are a few examples of answers:
* When working on a project, I don’t focus on deadlines. Instead, I try to finish the project earlier.
* I have a perfectionist personality, but I turned this to my advantage. Despite my detail-oriented work, I make sure that my work is correct and delivers my work to the deadline.
* I would not move on to another without completing one task beforehand. However, I learned to work on multiple projects at the same time and realized that it made me more productive and creative.
* Working with a plan is not something I am good at. That’s why I started implementing a time management system that really helped my organizational skills.

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Kategoriler: Career

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