Question

One of the most difficult job interview questions is: What are your strengths and weaknesses? How would you go about answering this question at an interview? Why do you believe it’s such a difficult question for many people to answer?

Answer 1

The Strengths and weakness question is not a difficult question to answer but it’s a tricky question as most of the people fail to answer the weakness in them properly even though they could manage to tell about their strengths. Some people fail in the strengths part by bragging too much on their past achievements. Many other people have the answer searched on the internet and come up with a specific set of predefined replies even though it does not suit them. For example, An individual may say that the strength in him is the communication but the way he responds to the interviewer may not be clear in terms of communication. People fail to answer this question because they don’t analyze themselves to determine what they are good at and what they are not. If I was asked the same question in the interview I would reply with my strengths that I truly have like my self-control, flexibility, honesty, etc., and if possible I would give a short example of how I managed to be in my past experience. In terms of weaknesses, I would quote on my financial literacy, being too detail-oriented, feeling stressed when I miss the deadline and more importantly I would explain what I am trying to do to overcome such weaknesses. Being honest in answering the strengths and weaknesses attracts the interviewer and on the other hand, we should not be too open on it or list too many strengths or weaknesses. Hence the answer must be crafted with a high degree of professionalism and self-awareness.