# Interview question: "What is your greatest weakness?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2016, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078 "2016-04-25T11:24:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/81 "2016-04-26T13:48:08Z")
What has become readily apparent in this thread is that some people (on either side of the table) prefer task based interview questions and some prefer behavioral based questions. As for me, I already know from the resume and vetting process whether the applicant can handle the technical aspects of the job. I’ll ask some follow up questions from the resume/skills arena, but what I’m really trying to suss out are those qualities/attributes that determine whether the applicant is someone who will be a good fit on my team. Everyone on the team, including me, has strengths and weaknesses. Together those make up the team skills matrix. Hiring a team of people who all have the same strengths/weaknesses is a recipe for disaster. When I hire, I have a very specific skill set in mind based on the current skills matrix. My job is to find the person who best fits that “puzzle piece” to complete the team. The sports analogy would be something like American football teams relying more and more on the Wonderlic test when drafting players. The coach/GM already knows the player’s skill set, that the candidate is likely good enough to perform at that level and that his physical/technical skills fit a need on their team. What they have to figure out now is whether he will be an asset or a distraction from a behavioral standpoint. That is exactly what I am trying to determine by asking behaviorally based questions. I won’t always ask the weakness question, but I will ask questions designed to draw out behaviors. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/82 "2016-04-26T13:56:26Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I think this really depends on the interviewer and department. My mom is, for whatever reason, very concerned with people “playing the game” properly. So she often rejects people if their cover letter is formatted “incorrectly” or is missing; or if they don’t give a stock non-answer to one of these questions. The reasoning is that there’s a certain “interview game” and that you’re not professional or aware enough of business culture if you don’t give those non-answers. > > She fully admits the answers are stupid and vapid, but her argument is that if you’re a non-executive employee (like she or the applicants are) a lot of business relationships with other companies boil down to scripted stupid, empty, vapid appeasement and knowing the correct magic words is more important than giving a thoughtful answer. To be fair, your mother appears to be selecting for plugheads; people who know how to “play the game” and get along by following the pantomime of corporate cargo cultism. Although it doesn’t do anything to assess their actual skills in performing work, for many corporate and government jobs getting along is more important than getting things done, so she’s selecting based on the ‘needs’ of the company and work culture. (Why companies ‘need’ plugheads is another question, but they are certainly in demand.) Personally, I need ‘shooters’ who can show initative, take on a task, and get work done with minimal bullshit or direct oversight, so plugheads and their babblespeak ilk are an anathema to me. I want someone who will work within an established team and get along with people, but I want them to be confident and assertive enough to speak their mind rather than just make polite noises in the approved venacular, so a question and response that tells me nothing genuine about their response or offers them the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and attitud is worthless to me. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/83 "2016-04-26T17:36:01Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > This is exactly why I hate that question and those like it. Here is candidate A who would be a perfect fit for the company and who desperately needs a job. His application is a very good one, but he gets marked down and/or loses the job because he doesn’t answer the bullshit question in the expected bullshit way _of the particular interviewer_. I agree if the interviewer is not the person they will work for or directly with. On the other hand, they are not a perfect fit if they don’t meet these expectations of the person they will be responsible to. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/84 "2016-04-26T17:53:28Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Yes, but what exactly do you want as an answer? A confession of alcoholism? Their biggest weakness is that they’re an unlovable loser destined to die alone? > > Nobody is going to tell the interviewer their real weaknesses, the things that keep them up at night sobbing quietly. And yes, if they give obvious bullshit like “I’m a perfectionist who puts his employer ahead of my personal life”, that’s disqualifying. > > The interviewer doesn’t want an honest answer, because an honest answer would reveal that the candidate doesn’t understand how the process works. The only possible answer is a brisk professional “I don’t do X well, so I do Y to compensate, which means Z.” > > Is that what you’re expecting? Or do you want the candidate to sit and think in silence for 5 minutes and suddenly gain a burst of insight into themselves? Because that expectation is not reasonable. You say you don’t want a canned response, but what could you possibly get that would be acceptable other than a decent canned response? The number one thing I’m looking for is truth, by which I also mean something meaningful. Most prepared answers like the perfectionist one are not even true to begin with (like a candidate who claimed to be perfectionist with two typo’s in his cover letter). Even when prepared responses are partly true, they’re rarely meaningful. A lot of them are just stealth brags and not weaknesses at all. The answer of XYZ is a great answer, and even if it looks overly prepared, at least it gives me something to ask follow up questions about and to maybe learn something real and meaningful. I do learn something about how this person might work in my office. Let’s look at my current assistant. She answered that question with “My husband and I only have one car, and I have to leave by 3 to pick up kids from school.” Yeah, that’s a real weakness. It’s risk to tell me that, though it was a weakness that fit the job requirements at the time I was interviewing for her initial position. We made it work so that she had the flexibility to pick her kids up on time and we considered it win-win. Two years later when we changed some things around, I said “Look, I need a full time - or even overtime - person in this position now. If it’s purely a day care and second car issue, I’ll give you a raise to make it work.” And it has worked out very nicely indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/85 "2016-04-26T18:34:54Z")
If I ever find myself interviewing for a job again, and I’m asked this silly question, I would like respond with “Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.” I do consider the lingering effects of my CTS to be among my greatest weaknesses when it comes to working in an office environment. I can’t do certain basic office tasks for more than a short period at a time, because my wrists start to hurt and my hands start to go numb. I had surgery in the mid-90’s, which helped, but I will always have lingering problems. If an employer isn’t willing to accommodate my greatest weakness, then they aren’t the employer for me. (If/when I do look for a job again, it will be something part-time, I’m happily early-retired now but may get bored someday.) (In my fantasy interview, I would like to say that my greatest weakness is I’m a bitch and I can’t stand working around stupid people.) ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/86 "2016-04-26T18:48:11Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > The number one thing I’m looking for is truth, by which I also mean something meaningful. But you’re not going to get anything that means more than ‘this person prepared well for this canned interview question’ or ‘this person did not prepare well for this canned interview question’. > [@](#): > > Most prepared answers like the perfectionist one are not even true to begin with (like a candidate who claimed to be perfectionist with two typo’s in his cover letter). How do you distinguish prepared answers from genuine ones so that you can make the call of ‘most’? Everyone I know who goes interviewing prepares an answer to that question, they just avoid a dumb one like your “I’m aperfectionist” people give, and put a little effort into making the story real. (Not literally everyone, I know a couple of people who are well off enough that they’re willing to give a flippant answer to a dumb question and not care if they get the job, but everyone who needs a job does) > [@](#): > > Let’s look at my current assistant. She answered that question with “My husband and I only have one car, and I have to leave by 3 to pick up kids from school.” Yeah, that’s a real weakness. It’s risk to tell me that, though it was a weakness that fit the job requirements at the time I was interviewing for her initial position. Looks to me like she was clever enough to game the question with something that sounds like a well-prepared answer to me. Since she had ‘have to leave by 3 as a job requirement’, she managed to avoid giving any meaningful answer to the weakness question (it’s a scheduling requirement, not really ‘a weakness’) and communicated her non-negotiable requirement in a way that doesn’t sound demanding. If you wanted to see if she was clever enough to game that question then you succeeded, but if you wanted to learn anything deeper you clearly didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/87 "2016-04-26T19:04:49Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Looks to me like she was clever enough to game the question with something that sounds like a well-prepared answer to me. Since she had ‘have to leave by 3 as a job requirement’, she managed to avoid giving any meaningful answer to the weakness question (it’s a scheduling requirement, not really ‘a weakness’) and communicated her non-negotiable requirement in a way that doesn’t sound demanding. If you wanted to see if she was clever enough to game that question then you succeeded, but if you wanted to learn anything deeper you clearly didn’t. I see scheduling limitations as a weakness. I’m not only interested in some sort of character/personality flaw. In any event, I’ve certainly had more than one person make scheduling promises during the interview/hiring process that they decided not to live up to later. Neither scheduling limitations nor problems living up to commitments made it onto _their_ lists of weaknesses. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/88 "2016-04-26T19:15:11Z")
Right, which is why expecting people to honestly tell you the reason you shouldn’t hire them is naive, since you hired these guys even though they didn’t actually tell you their real biggest weakness. I understand that you wish they’d tell you “Don’t hire me because I’m chronically late and steal other people’s lunch from the company fridge”. But they’re not going to do that. They want the job so they can get paid. So you’re never going to get a real weakness. Instead you’re going to get a canned answer. But if you say you can accept a canned “Situation, Action, Result” answer that’s at least in spitting distance of the truth, then fine. Which is why I say that the question isn’t a question, it’s a metaquestion that answers the question, “What do you do when somebody asks you a bullshit question?”. And the only acceptable answer is “I respond with bullshit, but polite professional bullshit”. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/89 "2016-04-26T19:43:58Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > (snip) And the only acceptable answer is “I respond with bullshit, but polite professional bullshit”. In the military that is said this way, “With all due respect, sir.” ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/90 "2016-04-26T20:24:53Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > This is a good thing when say, you want me making a reticulated framus for a rocket engine. > > It is NOT a good thing, when say, you are flipping houses and I’m in there making sure every piece of plumbing is mil spec, all the tiles are perfectly aligned, and the walls are painted so well that Leonardo goes “dayum”. This is my issue with this question. Aside from being really generic, “weakness” is always going to be a matter of perspective. I mean, I know I’d make a lousy IT specialist. This would be why I never apply for IT jobs. I’m very direct in communication style, so I can be efficient, and get at exactly the information I need to know. Some people see this as a strength (I do), and some as a weakness. So I have trouble coming up with a real answer to this, because if it’s a true weakness, I’m not looking for a job that involves it in the first place, and if it’s a matter of perspective, I have no idea what their perspective on it is while mine is likely neutral to positive so I wouldn’t consider it a weakness anyway. I make a point to avoid bringing my weaknesses into the job – I communicate what my strengths and expertise are so if they are, in fact, looking for an IT professional, they will (hopefully) realize that I’m not a good fit for what they had in mind. And not being a good fit is not a failing on either side. (This doesn’t always work, unfortunately. I’ve been bait and switched on a job description at least four times that I can think of, just off the top of my head. There’s a lot of corporate flacks who have no idea what they want or need.) I haven’t been asked this question in years, admittedly. I’ve always thought it was an unanswerable question because of the above, though. ---
**Author:** ![nicky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f0a364/32.png) [@nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicky)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/91 "2016-04-26T20:29:42Z")
Three things Firstly, Im damn sure that most peoples greatest weakness is some flaw they dont even know they have. I include myself in this. Second, the canned answers can still be a gotcha as you try to second guess the interviewers prejudices. Do they prefer an antfucker or a daydreamer ? Third, i think a good measure of an interview question is how it would sound asked from the other side. How does “what, as an Employer, is SpumCo’s greatest weakness ?” sound ? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/92 "2016-04-27T13:50:24Z")
> [@nicky](#): > > How does “what, as an Employer, is SpumCo’s greatest weakness ?” sound ? I, for one, would be happy to answer that question from a job candidate. All companies have weaknesses, just like all individuals. Where I work it’s reporting. We pretty much suck at mining the data we have and A) reporting on/analyzing the true metrics that drive the business, and B) monetizing the data. I then follow up with “We’re working hard to correct that deficiency, how do you see your skills and experience helping us become a great data/reporting company?” ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/93 "2016-04-27T15:29:21Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I see scheduling limitations as a weakness. I’m not only interested in some sort of character/personality flaw. But do you really think that wasn’t a prepared answer, that she just honestly and earnestly came up with that clever way to both dodge giving any serious weakness and ask for a specific schedule in a non-confrontational way? I don’t agree that a requirement is a weakness. “I will only work here if I can leave by three,” “I will only take the job if it pays at least $50k,” and “I will only accept if I get to take the week of July 4th off” are not weaknesses, but apparently with a little phrasing can qualify as an answer to your ‘what’s your biggest weakness’ question. “I can only work here if I can leave by three because we have one car”, “I can only accept a job that pays at least $50k because I need that much to pay for the second car,” “I need to have the week of July 4th off so I can drive my mother on vacation”. > [@](#): > > In any event, I’ve certainly had more than one person make scheduling promises during the interview/hiring process that they decided not to live up to later. Neither scheduling limitations nor problems living up to commitments made it onto _their_ lists of weaknesses. I’m not sure how this counters anything I said, I’m saying that it’s a useless question that just gets some vague canned answer unless the person doesn’t know how to interview or doesn’t care. Giving examples where the question did nothing useful supports my contention that it’s actually a useless question. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/94 "2016-04-27T18:35:41Z")
This question is definitely getting close to played out, and the reason is that everyone is now aware of it and has memorized an acceptably bland answer, so we (HR folk) are no longer getting any useful information from it. If you do still encounter it, whatever you do, don’t humblebrag (“I work too hard”, “I don’t know when it’s time to go home, I get so engaged in my work”, “I forget to take vacations”). What we are looking for is the ability to be self-aware (I’ve realized I don’t have enough information on the new technology realizable with the whattsmacallit) and the ability to format and enact a plan to fix it (and I’m spending an hour each night researching the capabilities of the latest tech in the field and will soon be putting my research to work by volunteering to upgrade the whattsmacallit at the children’s center). We want you to demonstrate that you can see a problem, even one very close to you, analyze possible solutions, and put into place an effective plan of action to correct it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/95 "2016-04-27T19:28:14Z")
I’m just too modest, I don’t call a lot of attention to all of the great things I do and the ease with which I do them better than anyone else can dream of. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/96 "2016-04-27T21:25:40Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > Uh-oh. I just ran through this scenario in my head and the only answer I can come up with is “apologized profusely and fixed the issue.” I’m guessing that answer wouldn’t get me a lot of points. I can think of a lot worse answers than this. People who admit mistakes are more rare than you’d think. I had a Director who inspired great loyalty by going to people’s offices and admitting he screwed up when he did. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/97 "2016-04-27T21:30:50Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I… disagree with her on this, but I think you’re kind of in a crapshoot with what kind of answer they want to these non-questions. It depends on the groupthink of that particular corporation or HR department, and the specific biases of that interviewer. Candidates should interview the employer as much as the employer interviews the candidates. I format and proofread pretty well, but I’d not be interested in a company this rigid at all, and it would be a terrible match. I hope this company never wonders why its people don’t come up with new ideas or suggest better ways of working. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/98 "2016-04-27T21:49:32Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I hope this company never wonders why its people don’t come up with new ideas or suggest better ways of working. Man, there are a lot of companies with management that does everything they can possible do to discourage employees from coming up with new ideas or suggest better ways of working. You can usually identify these companies by how stridently they insist that they want their employees to come up with new ideas and suggest better ways of working, just like shitty hotels assure you how clean and quiet they are. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/99 "2016-04-27T23:04:14Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’m just too modest, I don’t call a lot of attention to all of the great things I do and the ease with which I do them better than anyone else can dream of. I have a version of this I’m prepared to haul out at any interview using a canned script that I can’t financially afford to walk away from. I just couch it in terms of having the “bad habit” of thinking my work speaks for itself, and thus forgetting to explicitly take credit which leads to my contribution being taken for granted. All this is true, I just leave out the part where I believe that my work SHOULD speak for itself and I shouldn’t have to play politics just to have my work valued. In truth though, every canned script interview I’ve had has ended in misery, so now I know it as a Big Red Flag. These are the managers who don’t actually listen to my answers, bait and switch the job on me, don’t have any idea what they need vs. what I am telling them that I’m good at, and don’t have a clue that this “full-time” job only requires maybe 3 hours of actual work per week. I would absolutely walk away from this red flag whenever and wherever I could. When I can’t, at least I am forewarned. And can plan to bring my own work to do in my copious downtime. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Man, there are a lot of companies with management that does everything they can possible do to discourage employees from coming up with new ideas or suggest better ways of working. You can usually identify these companies by how stridently they insist that they want their employees to come up with new ideas and suggest better ways of working, just like shitty hotels assure you how clean and quiet they are. These are the companies who take all employee suggestions “under advisement” every time you bring it up, for as many months as it takes for said employee to realize nothing will ever be authorized and to stop making suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078/100 "2016-04-28T22:33:06Z")
I think the greatest weakness I have is the fact that my penis is so very large that it disrupts my center of gravity causing tremendous back pain which affects my work performance in late afternoons. I have crafted a small sling that I wear under my clothing and around my shoulder which shifts the burden of carrying the weight of my ridiculously enormous and fertile penis from my back to my shoulder which alleviates much of the pain. Next question? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interview-question-what-is-your-greatest-weakness/753078.md?page=6)