Shricareer Mon, 10/31/2022 - 12:19

You have so succeeded in getting a job at your ideal company. You’ve delivered the idea; resume and captured the recruiter’s attention on the phone screen. The recruiting manager must now be won over during the face-to-face interview.

You must now respond to the most crucial interview query: “What are your weaknesses?” Recruiters often ask this question in interviews to judge if the applicants have self-awareness and the capacity to recognize and address their faults. This blog will guide and offer you tips on how to answer this query and offer concrete examples you can utilize in your upcoming job interview.

Why Do Interviewers Ask the Question, “What Is Your Greatest Weakness?”

Understanding why recruiters ask the question in the first place is the first step to providing a suitable response to it. The following three things are what recruiters are seeking when they ask you to list your three biggest weaknesses:

Honesty: they are curious to find out if you are sincere enough to reveal a true weakness. Remember that if you get hired, your professional weaknesses will surface in some form, so it’s best to be upfront about them beforehand.

Self-awareness is the capacity to assess oneself and identify areas that want improvement.

A willingness to develop. Even recruiters themselves have flaws. They don’t anticipate you to lie about it because of this. However, what employers do anticipate is that you’re willing (and trying) to improve.

How to answer this Question Effectively?

1. Lack of experience

This is typically a really good response if you recently graduated from college or are changing careers. As an illustration, suppose you are a new college grad looking for work as a graphic designer. Because you have practiced using diverse software, you can claim that you lack experience with a particular piece of software. When asked, “What is your greatest weakness?” you can respond as follows.

Example:

“I have extensive knowledge in the field that I am applying for. But my weakness lies in my lack of experience. I might have good knowledge about SAP but knowing it and doing it are two different things. So, if I get selected for this company, I’ll give my best to learn and do work effectively and give my 100% to the company.”

2. Teamwork

Lack of teamwork is a totally acceptable flaw, particularly if your job doesn’t require you to collaborate with many others. Even though the two are related, it’s important to distinguish between excellent communication abilities and teamwork skills. since almost all occupations today demand good communication abilities, it might not be a good idea to state this as your primary area of weakness. On the other hand, teamwork entails close cooperation with a team, to work together towards a common objective, which is not always necessary in every sector. Here’s how you can disclose this weakness to the recruiter.

Example: “My weakness lies in working as a team. till now in my career, when I working alone, I have worked my best. but I have been least productive when I am working in a team.”

3. Procrastination 

How many people battle procrastination may surprise you. This has been a bad habit for a lot of people for a long period of time. Procrastination can be a double-edged sword in terms of weaknesses. Recruiters can conclude you are likely to miss deadlines or submit low-quality work if you don’t frame it correctly. The goal here is to be specific about how you have strengthened or intend to strengthen this weakness. Here’s how to word your response:

Example:

” My weakness is I procrastinate a lot. I used to procrastinate a lot during my college. however, I never thought it could be a weakness as I used to complete all the tasks on time. but when I joined a company and started working, then I realized how my procrastination affects my tasks, the productivity of the entire team, and the quality of a project’s result. Then I decided to change my work ethic and no longer rely on completing the work at the last minute.”

4. Self-criticism

The struggle with self-criticism is common. We all have the impression that we could have done more or didn’t give a task our all at some point. For this reason, when recruiters ask you what your greatest shortcoming is, you may typically cite self-criticism as an answer. Here is how you might approach it:

Example:

“Often times I have criticized myself instead of focusing on my achievements. I have always felt like I could have done better instead of praising myself. Maybe it's good in some situations, but still, I'm trying to acknowledge myself with what I did better. I am working on overcoming this weakness and focusing on a list of positive, self-loving affirmations."

5. Impatience 

One of those flaws that are almost excusable is the struggle to maintain patience.

Consider this. When you’re working, it’s nearly hard to avoid losing your patience sometimes. It could occur as a result of a challenging assignment you are unable to perform or a teammate missing a deadline. The key is how you handle your impatience and if you let it affect how you interact with clients or coworkers. So long as you frame impatience favorably, you can utilize it as a weakness unless you work in a position where having patience is imperative (like teaching). 

This is how you can accomplish it.

Example:

“My weakness is that I am a lot impatient. I get annoyed very soon if I am working on a project and find that we’re not handling the task at hand in the right way. this weakness has impacted my relationship a lot and now I'm trying to practice having patience outside of work to make it a habit in my daily life.”

6. Organization

It’s okay to admit to a potential employer that you struggle with the organization as long as you make it clear that this has no bearing on the caliber of your work. You can say you’re used to working in a cluttered environment but that you’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time for a change. Include strategies for enhancing your organizational abilities and maintaining a clean workspace in your response.

Example: “I must say, my weakness lies in organization. While working on a project I need to have more time to plan my work in order. this will help me get my work done hassle-free and in no time as well. So, to overcome it I started by keeping my desk and home spaces more organized. And now I've started to keep things in order naturally."

7. Overworking

Overworking may be your weakness if you consistently accept new work without even completing the previous one. You need to understand how to establish boundaries between work and your personal life if you want to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Describe how you want to focus on setting priorities and giving yourself enough time to lead a more balanced life in your response.

Example:

“My weakness is that I overwork a lot. I never refuse to work on a task if I am assigned, even when I already have loads of work. I used to sit in the office and work for hours, without realizing it is affecting my physical and mental health and also hampering the quality of my work. So, to overcome that, I am making an effort to reduce my work pressure and maintain a good work-life balance, to have a healthy lifestyle and work efficiently."

8. Public speaking

This is a valid problem to admit because many people have a general phobia of public speaking. This is particularly true if public speaking doesn’t play a significant part in your job. Demonstrate why you find public speaking difficult in your response. Then make a list of the methods you want to get over your anxiety and improve as a public speaker.

Example:

"I am really shy in nature and public speaking has bothered me a lot. Since I think a lot about what other people will think, I am unable to speak in public. Hence I am focusing more on enhancing my public speaking skill more to prove my effectiveness in the workplace.”

9. Asking for help

Asking for assistance is something that happens frequently while starting a new career. when you have a lot on your plate or lack a certain skill, the ability to ask for assistance is helpful. Employers can tell that you are aware of your fear of asking for help by your disclosure of this problem. Explain in your response that you are aware of the advantages of seeking assistance. Share the steps you’ll take to increase your confidence when seeking assistance.

Example:

"At times I am really reluctant to ask for help from my colleagues as I feel it bothersome. but I have started to realize that I will need to learn new skills in the workplace. so it will be necessary to ask for help in my workplace. Also, I help everyone who asks for help in the workplace. So I also need to assume the same as well."

10. Lack of computer skills.

Since everything is digitalized today, lacking some computer skills while looking out for a job can be a real struggle. Even if you possess great knowledge of the job profile that you are applying for, not having good computer skills might degrade your value. if you are struggling to answer the question in your interview, then here is how you should answer it:

Example:

“I have written various short stories and poems during my graduation time. And since I'm applying for a content writer position, I'm sure I have enough skills to get my work done effectively. But my weakness lies in my computer skills. Earlier I used to write on pen and paper, but since I have to work using a computer, I might have a hard time coping with it in the initial period of my work. However, I'll work on mastering it as well.”