The Insider Guide to Careers
Insider information, secrets and tips about getting hired and building careers. For employees and job candidates.
If you have read my newsletter post on recruiter psychology, you will understand why a recruiter is looking for any reason to eliminate candidates in the early stages. During the first and second interviews, the focus is on rejection rather than selection. As you get to later interviews, you will become part of a selection process where you can afford to be candid about who you are. Hence, the answer to the weaknesses question also varies based on your interview stage.
From a recruiter’s perspective, they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by asking the question. I have seen excellent candidates giving the darnedest of replies to this question because they have not prepped for this answer. Some candidates reveal honest, personal, and terrible sides to their personalities, automatically removing them from the candidate list. If only these candidates knew how to polish their answers and be thoughtful about answering interview questions. Candidates have everything to lose and little to gain by answering this question. So let us get into the details of how to respond to this trick question.
One answer you cannot give is that you have no weakness. This answer demonstrates a lack of maturity and an inability to do an honest self-appraisal. If “no weakness” is the answer, you will get a zero for that question. Your overall evaluation will be impacted. You also cannot answer this question on the spot, so do your preparation and prep in advance. I will give you a three step approach.
Step 1: Read the JD:
Irrespective of whichever stage you are in the interview process, you have to be aware of the skills and expectations of the role. Hence, go through the Job Description (JD) in detail and understand your strengths – your life experiences that align with the skills required for the role. I have covered this exercise in great detail in this post.
At no point should you give the impression that your weaknesses is directly conflict with the skills in the JD. If that happens, your candidature is headed straight to the garbage heap, and nobody can save you. To sum up, be aware of the JD skills and never say anything suggesting you have a weakness with any of the skills. Philosophically, if you find that some of the skills in the JD are your weakness, you should strongly reconsider if you want to apply for that role. If you get an offer by a fluke and join the company, you are guaranteeing yourself a lot of despair.
Step 2: Customize the answer depending on the interview stage
Step 3: The right way to close the answer:
Talk quickly about your weakness, and don’t spend time on it. Instead, spend time on how you are working to get over it. Whatever your weakness is, never stop after mentioning your weakness. You have to talk about what you have done to become better at it and show that you are on a path of self-improvement. For example, if you carefully analyze speech retention, you will find that people tend to remember how you closed more than how you began the conversation; Hence, you want to close on a positive note.
Sample answers to the weakness question:
Let me know if you have other questions. For more, also follow my Substack and Careerbolt channels.
