How would you answer what your weakness are on a job interview?

Answer 1

This is a common interview question. Despite the question, the interviewer isn't particularly interested in the weakness in its own right. The interviewer is interested in what you do to overcome your weaknesses. For example, if you say "one of my weaknesses is that I can sometimes be disorganised" you could use the following structured response:

Situation: When at college, I had lots of lecture notes and they were hard to organise

Task: In order to study more effectively I needed to organise the notes.

Action: I gave each days notes a code based on the date of the lecture and the subject and filed the notes in individual binders

Result: my notes were more organised, I was able to use my time more efficiently and i passed my subjects.

Notes to remember:

1. where possible, interview responses should me measurable. In the response above you were disorganised and no you're not; also, they should be empirical so if you could say that your grades improved you would be able to demonstrate the effectiveness with greater impact.

2. The interviewer isn't interested in the weaknesses in your private life only in your work life. So, you should avoid personal weaknesses unless they impact directly on how you interact with people.