The ‘weakness’ question

Some people think that the weakness question in an interview is not relevant, that it is a pointless question and that it is none of the interviewer’s business to ask about someone’s weaknesses. It can even be suggested that if you get asked this question in an interview you would be well within your rights to walk out of the meeting at that point.

When preparing for interviews and speaking with hiring managers, the weakness question is one that many interviewees are unsure of how to approach.

It is a blinkered view that the question is irrelevant, as it can be one of the most important questions that you can answer.

What is the weakness question?

The weakness question, like the strength question, is an awareness based questions. If you can identify where your abilities are strong, equally you should be able to identify where they are not.

Why do interviewers ask it?

Admittedly, there are interviewers that do ask the question just because they see it as a standard interview question.

However, the more astute interviewers ask it because they want to see how someone handles or answers being challenged on a weakness. They are not so much interested in the actual weakness itself but whether the individual is aware of their weakness and what they do or have done about it.

“If you are aware of your weaknesses, what are you doing about improving it?”

How someone answers this allows the interviewer to assess how the individual will handle criticism/ or feedback in the role. Those that have identified their weakness and don’t do anything to improve it or make excuses for it demonstrate a different mentality to those that have actively sought to improve their weakness.

Think about it another way

I have assisted hundreds of candidates over the years in preparing for interviews, and once we get to the weakness question, circa 90% are unsure as to what they should say. Where they have had an answer almost immediately to all the other questions we have covered, they suddenly start to second guess what they should say.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve changed the way I ask the question from using the word weakness to asking if they have any areas or attributes they could improve.

It seems that people don’t like the word weakness and feel it is a personal attack on them. I noticed a significant difference when I changed the way I asked the question.

If we rank our strengths out of 10, you may rate them at 7, 8 or 9. So if we rank our areas that we need to improve, they may be anywhere from 1-6.

A weakness/area of improvement is never completely solved, all we can do is improve it and it is this that a potential new employer is looking for.

How to answer the question

Choose a weakness where you can demonstrate an improvement.

• Explain what your weakness is
• Explain the negative affect it has
• Explain what you have done to improve it
• Explain how it has improved.

Final tips

• As with all potential interviews tips, be prepared
• Avoid a weakness that is requirement for the role
• Avoid the stereotypical answers, i.e. turn a weakness into a strength
• Avoid funny answers, i.e. chocolate is your weakness

I have never known for someone to be offered a job based on their answer to the weakness question. However, I have had a few experiences of instances where the way in which someone has responded to the question has cost them the opportunity.

For advice about how to perform well at interview, speak to Levitate Recruitment, specialists in placing practice-trained accountants and insolvency professionals across the UK, and learn the skills that you need to be a successful candidate.