<p>What’s your biggest weakness? It’s been a popular question of job interviewers for ages.</p>
<p>It’s a tough one. Everyone says pick something you can turn into a positive like the cliche “I work too hard.” But to me it sounds phoney. </p>
<p>Between you and me my biggest weakness is the fact that I like to brainstorm and dream up new ideas a little too much. But it is part of my job since I work in a creative profession. How do I spin this so it sounds good?</p>
<p>How have you handled “the biggest weakness” question?</p>
<p>I absolutely despise this question, and think it doesn’t show too much creativity by the interviewer to ask it. I really can’t imagine what value the question has, especially since everyone tries to find something meaningless that is a weakness.</p>
<p>One thing I read recently, that I liked, is to talk about a situation where you learned something. So, the focus is on how you grew from making a mistake.</p>
<p>Maybe for you, the spin is that you had to balance the creativity with getting the job done.</p>
<p>Seriously? This is then truly the biggest weakness you can think of about yourself? One that even comes with an explanation because its valued in the industry in which you work? </p>
<p>Maybe I’m misunderstanding. Maybe you mean this is the one you want to share in an interview but it’s not your real weakness. I thought when you said “between you and me”, you were actually sharing a real weakness and you were looking to make it sound better.</p>
<p>I’m left with the impression that you must walk on water as no other human being I’ve met or worked with, OR, you have a whole lot of defense mechanisms going on and I wonder why. How can you possibly grow if you don’t see areas of weakness in yourself? </p>
<p>Now i totally understand if you don’t want to share with an employer a true weakness, but that is a different story.</p>
<p>My biggest weakness? I really have too many to count or say which is worst. I’m judgmental and expect a lot from others around me. I’m sometimes too open with my thoughts and feelings and lack diplomacy if I don’t take time to think first (can’t you tell, :)?).</p>
<p>(1) Be sincere and honest
(2) Choose a legitimate weakness that is “correctable”
(3) Show active steps of what you are doing to rectify said weakness</p>
<p>It might help to give an example of your weakness in the past, but also talk about how after the fact, it made you pause and reassess the choice of action you made at the time. That would signal you are open to seeing your faults and working on them.</p>
Well, I’ve asked the question and it can sometimes be insightful. If answered honestly and openly, which is some valuable info in and of itself, it can confirm the interviewer’s sense of the individual as a result of the interview up to that point. It can also give a sense of how self-aware the person is and whether they’re humble enough to come up with an open and honest answer. If the person ends up getting hired then understanding the weaker areas can be helpful and might even result in opportunities for the employee - for example, training in certain areas, seminars on presentation skills, etc.</p>
<p>But it doesn’t matter whether people like the question or not, the candidate s/b prepared to provide an open and honest response. I don’t think it’s worth sweating over since I doubt that the answer will sink the person unless the interviewer gets a sense that the person isn’t being open and honest.</p>