Evaluate this interview response

In My Humble Opinion
21

I agree that the OP’s response comes off as terse and dodging.

The best answer to that question is one which acknowledges a small weakness, but then illustrates the candidates’ attempt to overcome it.

For example:
“Sometimes I have a tendency to get too bogged down with small details. I now try to take a little time at the end of each day to focus on the overall scope of whatever I’m working on. I find that by stepping back and looking the bigger picture, I’m able to wrap things up and move on.”

Yes, it’s a bullshit answer to a bullshit question, but it works. Unfortunately I’ve had to answer it at almost every job interview I’ve ever had.

Don’t get me started on how much I hate the "Where do you see yourself in five years? question.

22

I think the question is meant to determine whether you’re a sincere person or not. It should be answered as sincerely as possible.

23

I can’t think of any off the top of my head.

24

Interviewing is a two way street and it most definitely not controlled solely by the interviewing parties. As a prospective employee, I have prematurely ended first interviews at least three times when I didn’t like the way the interview was going or the people I was talking with. I have turned down more second interviewees than I can remember partially because of questions like that. If you are ticked off by the question and aren’t really sure about the company or position in general, there is nothing wrong with just playing it straight up. It probably won’t be taken that well but maybe the interviewer was told to ask it and hated that question when he was interviewed. You never know.

I interview tons of people and keep it as straightforward as possible. I even start out all interviews by explaining that there not be a single trick question and that we are just here to talk about the position and relevant skills. Interviewees seem to like that and we haven’t made a true hiring mistake yet out of dozens of interviews.

I have been asked the question in the OP a few times. I developed the answer “Sometimes it seems like there are too many good projects to work on and sometimes I find it hard for me to sort them all out”. Everyone always says that it is a great answer and you can feel free to use it. It also shows what crap the question is. That response is like a horoscope and applies to everybody all the time.

25

Taken at face value, your suggestion isn’t practical for many people and I am not sure that is really what they are looking for. They asked for personal weaknesses remember? I am sure that you can use your imagination to see how that may not play out well for many people.

26

The question isn’t bullshit if everyone is completely honest about it. If your weakness is “problem solving” or “math”, you probably won’t be successful at my company. Do you want to know that now or several frustrating months from now?

If you react to the question with sarcasm or a flippant or frustrated tone, that will also tell me that you are not a good fit. If you can’t answer a bullshit question now, how will you handle other questions that you think are beneath you when they are asked by paying clients?

I think the question is particularly relevant to skillsets. People put all kinds of stuff on their resume. They aren’t equally strong at every skill they list. And since I’m also going to test you on what you put on your resume, you might as well tell me what your best at and what you need some work on.

27

It’s a dumb question asked by people who don’t know how to interview someone. I always responded with “If I told you, I wouldn’t get the job.” That would usually get a laugh and then the question would be asked again. My response then was “I guess my weakness is that I always go for the easy joke.” At this point the interviewer had to decide whether I was clever or a dick. Judging by the number of second interviews I got, I’m guessing most thought I was a dick. But I wouldn’t want to work for them anyway.

28

What do you base that on?

What kinds of questions should they ask?

29

That isn’t a bullshit answer…its exactly the answer they want.

“Sometimes I have a hard time prioritizing, especially when I have a lot of work coming at me from different directions. I’ve learned to ask people up front how important something is and when they need it, and to let them know if I 'll be able to meet that requirement. If I can’t and they still need it, we raise it as an issue.”

30

There are other ways to find out the answer to that than the psychobabble “What is your greatest weakness?” They may be weak in math, but not volunteer that info. You can ask their favorite subject in school, how far they went in math, give them some sample problems to solve. If the interviewer is up front with, “This job involves a lot of math and problem solving” then you can take it from there.

31

I haven’t asked the “biggest weakness” question in years. Most candidates know to expect it and have prepared answers that they think I want to hear (and may or may not have any truth in them). These days, I prefer to ask questions that they probably haven’t thought of and give me an insight into how their self examination process.

One that seems to trip people up is “what do you think you’d like least about this position and how would you address it?” It’s unrealistic to like everything about a job. If they answer something silly like “well, I wish you were located in the Bahamas,” I’d ask them to give me a serious answer. I’m as interested in hearing how they handle unpleasant areas of the job as I am with the specific item they state.

Alternatively, I may ask “assuming you get the job, what do you expect would be your biggest challenge getting up to speed?” Again, I’d like to hear about how they plan to address that challenge.

If you do get asked the “biggest weakness” question, I’d suggest being honest but be sure to state how you’re addressing that weakness. I used to answer that I tend to get impatient if I don’t believe someone is pulling their weight. I then go into how I’ve worked on that and minimized the negative consequences of it. Frankly, if that’s going to be a major obstacle in the job, I’m better off not getting it!

32

As an interviewer, by the way, my response to that is “thank you for your time, you aren’t what we are looking for.”

I’m not interested in hiring someone who sasses me back…I get that from my kids.

It doesn’t show the interviewee is evaluating the company - it shows me that the interviewee is going to bitch about every unpleasant task I assign. Identifying your weaknesses in an interview is an unpleasant task, but my job is filled with executing on strategy I might not buy into, but I need to make my concerns known and once the chips fall, do my job - not argue.

33

(deleted)

34

That is a horoscope phrasing however. It applies to everyone and every single person reading this thread could memorize it and use that as their good response. That makes it a poor question.

35

It isn’t about finding a weakness…its about answering the question and admitting you have a weakness - even if its one of those “oh, I’m a perfectionist so I never want to finish anything until its perfect even when its acceptable two hours earlier” answers.

Which one of the horoscope answers does tell you something… cause people do pick a horoscope answer - perfectionist, prioritizer, time management, small picture person, big picture person, need to over communicate, too independent, etc. Since you are asking them to describe one weakness, whether they choose to be a Leo or a Gemini is telling.

36

I hate that question, and refuse to ask it. I prefer to ask questions like “what was the biggest challenge you faced in the job you are leaving for this one, and how did you handle it?” or “can you tell me about a time when you had to deal with a team member who was not performing?”

You know, questions that revolve around people telling me something meaningful.

If I did ask that question, I would find the response offered in the OP flippant and dismissive, and that would not score points for me in the interview.

37

But do you really think people will honestly TELL you they aren’t good at something they put down on their resume when you ask them what their biggest weakness is? I mean, I can see how you might get an honest and specific answer if you framed the question differently (“of the following skill sets, which do you struggle with the most?”) but it seems to me that asking them to state their biggest weakness is just asking for a bullshit response.

38

I got this question during my first professional job interview, with a twist:

''What would your* former employer* (in this case, my research director) say are three weaknesses that you have as an employee?"

At first, I was stumped. I am an employer’s dream–I honor authority, I am conscientious, I work well with others but also have a high degree of independence… what’s not to love? :wink:

I came up with two.

  1. I can sometimes be obsessive about little details and check and re-check things to make sure they are accurate.

When my potential employer wondered aloud how this could be a bad thing, I said ‘‘While accuracy is important, sometimes you can arrive at a point where efficiency is compromised.’’

They liked that.

My #2 was: ‘‘My self-confidence. I can be nervous and insecure about my abilities sometimes.’’

(both of these are absolutely sincere and honest answers.)

Then my employer asked, ‘‘What would YOU say is your #1 weakness?’’

And I said, ‘‘My self-confidence. Absolutely.’’

I was hired the next business day.

I don’t worry too much about being open about weaknesses, I guess, because the accomplishments on my resumé speak for themselves. Obviously if my self-confidence was a crippling drawback, I wouldn’t have achieved all those things or otherwise made a good interview.

Now that I have the job, what is my biggest obstacle? Overcoming my own insecurity. They can’t say I didn’t warn them. :wink:
I would not hire someone who gave the response in the OP. Smarmy, superior, overconfident, and evasive. That is a shit answer if you ask me.

39

I would reply, “Yes, and in order to know how we can benefit each other, we need to be aware of each other’s weaknesses so we can compensate them.” I also would wonder if this person’s weakness is a reluctance to admit weaknesses and mistakes. It wouldn’t make me interested in the candidate.

40

Negative.

We’re not here “to talk about how we can benefit each other,” we’re here to figure out whether we want you to work for us.

It only matters that the interviewee is evaluating the company if he is planning to buy the company.