“What is your biggest weakness?”
The majority of job seekers do not like this question, However it is one of the most common job interview questions and you need to be prepared to answer it.
In order to impress an interviewer, you first need to understand the reason behind this question.
What most recruiters and hiring managers want to know when they ask “What is your greatest weakness?” is if you are able to be critical about yourself and realistic when it comes to your weaknesses.
Before answering you need to keep in mind, that whichever weakness examples you are going to give, ensure that it will not stand in the way of doing the job.
For example, if you were to be interviewing for a data-entry position, the last thing you want to list as your greatest weakness is that you don’t pay attention to details.
Here is a list of weaknesses with examples for your next job interview:
- I don’t always speak my mind
- I always speak my mind
- I’m not the most patient person in the world
- I have a hard time asking for help
- I have a hard time delegating tasks
- I’m not comfortable speaking in front of Audiences
Examples of weaknesses
I don’t always speak my mind
“What I consider to be my greatest weakness is that I don’t always speak my mind.
This is because, in situations where, for example, I’m bothered by something that a colleague says or does, I will just let it go.
I consider this to be a weakness because with time it can lead to accumulating frustration and escalating with me being demotivated.
I am working on it and I try my best to speak up if necessary.“
I always speak my mind
“I find that always speaking my mind to be my biggest weakness as not all people can handle brutal honesty and in most cases, it is not needed.
If a work mate did a good but not great job at closing a deal, for example, and asks me for feedback I will be honest about it.
While he or she might be happy about the result of the deal, if I’m being completely honest about it, my colleague might lose confidence and do a bad job next time.
That is why I consider this to be my greatest weakness.
I am aware of this, however, and recently I am trying to carefully pick my words to make sure that I am considerate to people around me.“
I’m not the most patient person in the world
“Ever since I was younger I considered not having a lot of patience to be one of my biggest weaknesses.
For example, if I’m working on a deal, I can’t wait for the deal to be closed, although it always takes more time than anticipated.
I understand that it is not healthy to lack patience and I am working on it by taking things easier.“
I have a hard time asking for help
“Due to the fact that my first jobs, at the beginning of my career required me to work mostly alone, I learned how to deal with things and sort out problems on my own.
This has contributed to having a hard time asking for help later on, which has become one of my biggest weaknesses.
For example, if I’m working on a project and there is something that I do not understand or I don’t know how to solve it, instead of asking for help, I will rather search online for a solution.
This eventually leads to spending more time on solving problems than it normally would if I were to ask for help.
I’m currently working on it, although I’m not yet fully comfortable asking for help every time I should.“
I have a hard time delegating tasks
“I find the difficulty of delegating tasks to be one of my main weaknesses.
I like to be in control of everything that falls under my responsibility, however not being able to delegate has proven to slow me down, which I’m also not comfortable with.
I am working on improving this and I have started to delegate small tasks. I’m sure that soon I will be able to delegate important tasks.“
I’m not comfortable speaking in front of Audiences
“I find speaking in front of other people to be one of my biggest weaknesses.
For example during team meetings, I am not comfortable giving presentations, which in the past, it was one of my main responsibilities.
I realized that it was affecting my overall self-confidence and performance and I started working on improving my public speaking skills by attending a few courses.“
The above is a great list of weaknesses for a job interview as it shows honesty.
Most “experts” will basically teach you how to disguise a strength into a weakness, and I can tell you from personal experience that recruiters and hiring managers have had enough of hearing the same answer from hundreds of job seekers.
List of weaknesses key takeaway
Stay away from the following examples of weaknesses:
- I work too hard
- I’m a perfectionist
- I care too much
And make sure you never answer things such as:
- I have anger management problems
- I don’t work well with people
- I have bad management skills
