How to Talk About Your Biggest Weakness

What Are Your Biggest Weaknesses?

Everyone has weaknesses, yes even you. And just a quick tip – saying you are a perfectionist is not a valid weakness. Interviewers are really bored with that response. You need to come up with a biggest weakness that is not a cliche and is relatively insignificant to the role. You want to appear to be the model employee, and while you never want to lie, you do not want the interviewer to think your biggest weakness prevents you from doing the job.

Strategies to Answer “Biggest Weakness”:

1. Weakness/Not Weakness – You don’t want to share something that will not get you the job, like “I often sleep in late” or “I sometimes go on Facebook at work.” Your weaknesses should be a “tame” weaknesses – especially ones the interviewer can identify with.
2. Plan in Advance – Try to come up with two or three weaknesses that are not really big weaknesses. This question comes up a lot, so make sure you’re prepared. Thinking of weaknesses on the spot may cause you to make mistakes.
3. Be Original – As I said earlier, the “go to” answer is just as bad as a real weakness: “I’m a perfectionist.” Only use that answer if you can’t think of anything better. That answer is one of the biggest interview clichés.
4. Share Your Fix – The most important part of answering this question isn’t the weakness itself, but what you are doing to fix it. For example, if your biggest weakness was organization, say “I’m actively working on developing some organizational strategies to prevent mistakes in the future.”
5. Don’t Script Read – While you should plan your answers in advance, don’t forget to make it sound natural. Practice answering this question but be careful about making it seem like a genuine response.

You should always be honest with every answer, but obviously there is a limit to what you can share. Here are a few sample answers you can consider:

“Organisational skills were not my strongest asset, but I have implemented a time management system and various online planning tools that have really helped with my organization skills.”

“I used to wait until the last minute to set appointments for the coming week so that I could ensure I met everyones needs, but I realized that scheduling in advance makes much more sense.”

“Sometimes, I spend more time than necessary on one given task especially if it is critical to the businesses key goals.  Although I’ve never missed a deadline on any of my other tasks, it is still an effort for me to know when to move on to the next task and accept that the work I have done is complete.”

If you’d like to see more examples of “biggest weakness” answers check out our post – the big list of ideas for biggest weakness answers.

See Also Related Posts:

How to Answer the Biggest Mistake Question

What Are Your Greatest Strengths and Weaknesses