The question about your strengths and weaknesses is an opportunity for you to showcase your abilities and prove to the employer that you are the most potential candidate. Therefore, preparing your answer before the interview is extremely necessary. Even if the question is not specifically about strengths and weaknesses, writing down your strengths and shortcomings will help you to orient yourself for future development.
Strategies for Addressing Your Strengths and Weaknesses During Job Interviews
Mastering the Art of Addressing Your Strengths and Weaknesses
I. How to Respond to Weaknesses in Interviews.
II. How to Respond to Strengths in Interviews.
I. How to Address Your Weaknesses During Interviews
Your weaknesses may be related to skills, habits, or a personality trait. You can choose to mention a few weaknesses depending on the job requirements. State your weaknesses first, then provide an example of a specific situation where this flaw has affected your life and work. This way, the recruiter will gain a deep understanding of your self-awareness and desire for self-improvement.
We all have weaknesses, but not everyone has the courage to admit them. However, during the interview process, you should not mention a detail as your weakness if it is a mandatory requirement for the job.
You can list some weaknesses such as:
- Lack of organization
- Sensitivity and self-blame tendencies
- Perfectionism (However, this is not necessarily a weakness. For certain jobs, it can even be a strength)
- Lack of confidence, fear of appearing in front of a crowd
- High competitiveness (Similar to perfectionism, high competitiveness is sometimes considered a strength)
- Some limited skills
- Lack of delegation skills
- Procrastination
- Lack of attention to detail
- Unwillingness to take risks at work
- Sometimes prone to distraction
Great Responses
From the weaknesses listed above, you can form some responses like the ones below, or base them on real-life situations to provide the most convincing answers:
1. I tend to be quite hard on myself and always believe I can do better. I used to even beat myself up over it. However, recently, I have better control and know how to be satisfied with what I have achieved.
2. I often feel embarrassed and rarely want to appear in front of a crowd, even when I was in high school or university. However, after my team failed to complete the task twice, I knew I needed to change to avoid affecting other team members. I enrolled in a presentation course, and now, things seem much better.
3. I always believe I can do everything by myself, but that's not always the case; I even have to rely on others' help. Since realizing the issue, I have been trying to think carefully before starting anything, whether I should do it myself or collaborate with my colleagues.
4. I tend to procrastinate even though I know how it will affect my work. I have also experienced a very stressful period because of this bad habit. Gradually, I realized I should break down my tasks into smaller ones and set deadlines for each task. Only then can I overcome this weakness.
II. How to Address Your Strengths During Interviews
Similar to weaknesses, you can talk about your strengths based on skills, habits, and even personality. According to experts from the job search software vn.joboko.com https://vn.joboko.com, you can also rely on the job description to highlight your strengths. After mentioning your strengths, you should also provide an example of a situation where your strengths have been effective.
If you're unsure about your strengths, you can refer to the list below:
- Clear action orientation
- Always have detailed work plans
- Spirit of cooperation and teamwork skills
- Always dedicated to work
- Creative
- Decisive
- Adhere to principles, high focus on work
- Know how to share with friends and colleagues
- Enthusiastic, passionate about work, and know how to self-motivate
- Flexible, multitasking
- Honest
- Patient
- Respectful of everyone around
Great Responses
When discussing my strengths, it's crucial to provide specific answers that align with the job requirements and the employer's expectations. I also need to demonstrate a serious and professional attitude. For example:
1. Thanks to my meticulousness and patience, I always complete every task assigned to me, even the smallest details. Before starting any project, I always spend a lot of time researching relevant aspects as well as the most efficient ways of working. As a result, not only does my productivity increase, but I also avoid unnecessary mistakes.
2. Thanks to my adherence to principles and high focus on work, I always complete tasks within the allotted time. In my 7 years as a project manager, I have only missed a deadline once. It's also because of my organizational skills that I can complete every task without feeling too much pressure.
3. I always value cooperation and teamwork. At my previous company, when given a management role, I tried my best to create a creative and comfortable working environment for the team, resulting in a 20% increase in labor productivity over the past nearly 3 years.
Although considered one of the most dreaded questions, with thorough preparation, you can even turn the question about your strengths and weaknesses into a golden opportunity to showcase yourself. Turn your weaknesses into challenges you've overcome and let your strengths prove that you're the ideal candidate.
The work environment is also something that recruiters want to know what you need from them and see if you fit with the company culture or not. Mytour will help you learn how to answer 'what kind of work environment do you want to work in?' to gain interview skills that satisfy recruiters.