Imagine yourself sitting in a room with an interviewer who asks, “What’s your Greatest Weakness” and you don’t know how to answer. 

It happens with most of us; some job interview questions give us the feeling that we have been struck by lightning. 

How to handle this kind of situation? Simple, do some preparation. Get ready ahead of time.

Why do Employers Ask Interview Question i.e., What is Your Biggest Weakness?

Many HR professionals are a bit skeptical about these weaknesses questions. They think that no one with an answer that question honestly. They are not wrong. No one accepts their shortcomings. Will you accept yours? 

However, interviewers still add this common interview question in the questionnaire for every candidate. They backed this decision with a perfect point. According to them, this interview question about Weakness helps them scrutinize the preparation level of a candidate and also his interests. 

Best Way to Answer What is Your Greatest Weakness Interview Questions

To create a better response, you first need to fully understand what is meanings of the Weakness in an interview. What exactly recruiter wants to know. He is not interested in your Weakness, he is curious to know:

1. How well you do your job 

and 

1. whether you are a good fit for the job or not.

So, don’t give an impulsive answer like:

•  “I don’t think I have any weakness.” 

                          OR

• “I think I am a perfect employee.” 

Both responses will leave a wrong lasting impression, which you never want. By giving these answers, you disagree with a universal fact that “No one is perfect.” If you don’t admit that fact, you are not fully self-aware.

What to do?

Accept your weaknesses and then try to paint them like your strengths. Admit what are your weaknesses in one sentence of your answer, and another sentence explains how did you overcome it or you are overcoming.

How to Choose your Weakness?

Here are some tips which can help you choose your WeaknessWeakness to provide. But before you start reading those tips, it is essential to know that you need to pick more than four weaknesses. Because it is quite possible that an interview question “What is your greatest weakness” is followed by other similar questions, “What are your other weaknesses?”

5 Tips for choosing your Weaknesses:

1. You can pick Weakness from two main categories, like soft skills and hard skills. 
2. Try not to choose a weakness that can have a direct impact on your job position. 
3. Read your job description carefully. It will help you pick a weakness that is not related to job requirements. 
4. Select a weakness that has nothing to do with current jobs. For example, some soft or hard skills not required of current job openings.
5. Play smart. Confess only those weaknesses on which you can work out. For example, your weakness can be related to your behavior that you can change at any point. 

Two Key Ingredients of an Answer for Interview Question, “What is your greatest weakness.”

Ingredient No.1 Admit a Weakness

Ingredient No.2 Tell them you are in Weakness recovering phase

Examples of what are your weaknesses

If you don’t know what are your Weaknesses and how to present them with a light of positivity all around you, then here is what to do. 

• Think about a time when your old boss or colleagues asked you to make some improvements in your behavior. At that time, you considered it well and brought changes in your behavior. You can put the same story in your answer unless it makes you a bad employee. 

“I was an introvert. I didn’t know how to start a conversation and how to get social. I had a limited circle. However, when I started working the very first time, then I started learning communication skills. I understand how important it is to interact with people around you. How enjoyable to experience this is. I realized I was missing a very excellent life exposure. Now I have turned into a person who can communicate well and better understand the social interaction aspect of our life.”

What is your biggest WeaknessWeakness? Example Answer

• Think about a situation where you feel that you were unable to do a task. But you learned it later from other colleagues and via training. So, this is how you get aware of your self weaknesses and learn some new skills to overcome that WeaknessWeakness. Here is what you can say:

While I was working in my last job, I realized that I couldn’t present a presentation like my colleagues. Although I didn’t have to make any good presentation as a part of my last job. However, I decided to learn this challenging skill. I started taking some evening classes at a computer college and watched some conferences where I witness experts come up with killer presentations. Since I have learned Powerpoint now, and I can go anywhere and give a viable presentation about anything.

Note: When you are not doing an IT Job in Pakistan, or when you have a job requirement are non-technical, then this answer would work in your favor.

Still not sure what to say when the interviewer asks what are your weaknesses? 

You can use the example answers I have shared above. Or:

•  You may like to look back into the past and recall a day when your boss called you in an office and ordered to you make some “Improvement” in a specific task.
•  Another way to know about your weaknesses is to think of a time of day when your colleagues or manager criticize you a lot. 

Conclusion

I’m sure it won’t be difficult for you to answer the interview question what is your biggest WeaknessWeakness. All you need to be a bit more self-aware, list all your Weakness, and then use them in a way that they don’t make you a bad fit for your current job opportunity.

Here are Some Typical  Job Interview Questions with Answers:

•  
•   How to Answer: What is your Biggest Strength?
• How to Answer: Tell me About Yourself?
• How to Answer: What is your Biggest Weakness?
• How to Answer:  Why do you want to work here?
• How to Answer: Do you have Any question for me?
• How to Answer: Why do you want this job?
• How to Answer: Where you see yourself in 5 years?