How do I answer this interview/application question?

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“Briefly describe your greatest strength and weakness,”

I hate this question. Here's how I answered it on my Facebook:

The trick to answering that question is:

Strengths - You must chose something that is relevant for the job on offer. If the job is filing in an office then say you are very good at being ordered and are meticulous in keeping things organised. If the job is for a sales person then say I am very good at persuading people even when they are not keen on doing something, my friends say I am very good at influencing them in their decisions...etc. you don't have to lie but you must keep the answer short and simple and relevant to the job.

Weaknesses - This is tricky. The employer is inviting you to say something negative about yourself and you must resist. The best thing is to say something that the employer will see as a strength. So you could say I am very thorough and at times can go a little too deeply into things, but I have learnt to keep a check on that if its not necessary for the task at hand. Or you could say something not work related like, I often put off the odd jobs around the house like fixing the leaking tap or sorting out the spare room after guests have stayed etc. Just don't say anything that the interviewer will see as a weakness in doing the job they are interviewing you for.

Hope that helps.

Even though you're being honest, I would say this is the time to twist it so it's not necessarily the truth. I agree with your friend because I thought the same thing when I read it; however, I understand what you mean, and I think it's wonderful that you'd be an employee who would take ownership of your weaknesses. Some people might just concentrate on your weaknesses, and not think of what it means when you state them.

Look at where you're applying to. If they're a company that enjoys aspects of socializing, your answer is not appropriate. It will show them that you don't get along with others and might be perceived as a know-it-all or arrogant. If you are applying to be a researcher or to be a contestant on jeopardy (random example), then it would be the perfect thing to say. Your knowledge would be their main focus.

You want to state what they want to hear. If they pride themselves in socializing and maintaining good relationships among employees, then you wouldn't describe your weaknesses as understanding peoples' knowledge. This is especially true if it's a job that requires you to use teamwork. They will expect you to be okay with divergent viewpoints.

What you wrote seems fine, even great from the standpoint of how job coaches say we are supposed to answer these questions. Your friend seems to have missed the point. The weakness was not always understanding other people's limits with knowledge you may have, then you turned that around and put a positive spin on it by saying you are aware and working on it, and your friend mistook the "working on it" part for the weakness.

I think I should state that this is a teaching position I am applying for.

I reworded the second part of my response:

I think you should focus the communication aspect of the "weakness", particularly as this is a teaching job for which the ability effectively to communicate information and knowledge is essential.

You have in the past struggled to communicate your knowledge effectively, but you have learned to have a greater appreciation for the particular needs of the individuals and groups to whom you are speaking and are better able to tailor your communication in order to meet those needs.

I hate those questions myself and the next time I find myself in the awful interview setting I want to just try to say something a long the lines of:

"What is the point of playing this game where I'm supposed to first tell you how I'm perfect for this job and then pretend I'm saying negative stuff about myself, when I really don't. I know I am more than capable of doing this job, but that is also why I am here. I do not want to become friends with everyone here and share everything about myself, so why is all the personal stuff relevant? Can't you just look at my CV? "

But I suppose I would have even less chances of getting any job then, than when I fail at trying to answer them the "proper" way.

I would omit the "to not be knowledgeable" part. It's implying that you think they're not smart.

I like the ending! The ending implies you care about other people and what they care about. So that's good.

i don't see anything wrong with your answer. when i aplied for my current job as a social worker, they asked me my weakness. i said i am quiet, but it makes me a good listener. i believe i went so far as to say that i had to really work to make small talk. they told me it is a skill i can develop. just don't say you tend to steal from your employer or hit people who disagree with you. and give them the impression that you are working on it, which you did. i think it's fine. i read an article from recruiters that said they hate hearing that line, "i'm a perfectionist" or "i'm too thourough". these things aren't real weaknesses and imply a lack of soul-searching.

Your statement is honest, and without doubt true. After reading it, I pictured in my head a member of the Ku Klux Klan, walking in the middle of New York City covered with a hood, stating that he tends to hate black people and jews who he honestly think are inferior races, but have learned with time and conscious effort to tolerate them as simply different. Now replace race with knowledge level and I think you will get the idea. Honest but pretty toxic. As an employer if I read that, I would think of what damage I would be liable for in the event that your blunt honesty causes drama at the work place someday, just because the people I employ don't share your knowledge base or life experiences. You are but one person, and could not possibly replace all of them for the sake of giving you a sane place to work in, even if you were the smartest person in the world and I worked you 24x7x365 to keep pace with the competition, which by the way would be illegal. In other terms, by making that honest admission, you cut off your own chances to land a job. I'm not saying you should lie your way to a job, just keep it about business and what you can do for the company.

Well in many respects it depends on what kind of job you're applying for, but I think your answer could use some improvement, particularly your weakness. The way you describe your weakness makes you appear very conceited and arrogant, regardless of whether or not you really are. I can't answer it for you since it needs to actually describe you, but to describe a weakness you have to take something that is a weakness and turn it into a strength. Describe a weakness, and then perhaps describe steps you have taken at previous jobs (if any) that have allowed you to use that "weakness" to your advantage. I'd pick an entirely different weakness also, I can't see the one you picked being able to work well at all. *edit*: I just read your revised version of your weakness...it's much better but I really think you should scrap that weakness altogether and come up with a new one. Describing a weakness is actually one of the hardest questions you'll ever be asked for an interview, so it's good to spend some time on it (it's the question that gives me the most trouble personally as well)

As for your strength, it's decent but I think it really needs to be re-worded re-worked. "Voracious" is probably not the best word to use for one . I'd probably say something along the lines of "I feel that learning is a life-long experience, and therefore I am constantly trying to improve myself by researching new topics and keeping up to date on recent developments in the __________ field" (note: don't actually use this sentence lol, but maybe try writing something similar in your own words)

Don't know if this helps or not, but here's how I might reword your statements:

I love to read, investigate, study, and learn. When I encounter a new subject that interests me, I learn more about it on my own. I take new information, use it and apply it and connect it with other information and knowledge. I focus on continually improving my knowledge to be a better teacher.

Sometimes, I forget that just presenting information is not enough; I need to learn more about helping my students through that same process of using, applying and connecting that new information.

Of course, you have to decide whether this is honestly how you feel or not, but expressing your weakness in this way suggests that you are aware of this weakness and are working to improve in that area. You might do a bit of websurfing on the term "constructivism," this is where this idea that we don't just present information, we have to help the students assimilate it, comes from.

I do agree with the other responses that said your original response comes across as too self-centered, "superior" and all that. The second response was an improvement, but used certain words repeatedly and just didn't seem like it "flowed" well. And there was still this sense of "my weakness is that I forget how dumb my students are" that is not going to go over well.

Anyway... use it or not, but there's how I would reword those statements so that they both work in your favor. There is probably a way to further tweak that second statement (weakness) so that it works even more in your favor...