Where do you see yourself in five years? What is your greatest strength? And then the most difficult job interview question: what is your biggest weakness? Many of the job interview questions are tricky, but finding a suitable harmless weakness when the situation is hot on your hands is especially challenging.
This article has tips on how to answer this question. You shouldn’t take all the tips in the article for granted and should always use your own brain and values.
Searching for a good weakness
Traditionally, it is said that a good answer to the job interview question “What is your greatest weakness?” is some harmless and work-related weakness. These can be, for example:
- “I’m bad at drinking as much coffee as some workplaces drink.”
- “I get nervous when speaking in front of large audiences.”
- “I want to understand things properly before I make decisions.”
A particularly good weakness is one that suggests you’re secretly superhuman – even in your weaknesses. You can choose one of these:
- “I get so immersed in learning something new that I can’t stop.”
- “I want to take time to see people as people, even when I’m in a hurry.”
- “I always give my all to the employer.”
Bad weakness: don’t say this to the interviewer
The biggest mistake a novice job interviewee makes is complete honesty. A good guideline is that you can’t lie, but you don’t have to tell the truth either. So don’t answer any of the following, even if they are true:
- “I get bored quickly.”
- “I will never make a new pot of coffee.”
- “I keep stealing more and more valuable things, because ordinary everyday life feels so meaningless.”
In particular, it is better to keep weaknesses related to health or lifestyle to yourself:
- “I am selfish and a bad friend.”
- “My alcohol use is still under control – no matter what others say.”
- “Often I am left worrying about strange sensations in my body, and I can’t get my work done because it was said in online forums that it is probably cancer. Do you think this mole is bening?”
All’s well: a job interview is a job discussion at its best
There are no right or wrong answers in a good job interview. The purpose of the interview is to find out if you are suitable for each other.
At the end of the interview, when the interviewer asks if you have anything else to ask, you can smile and ask:
“What is your greatest weakness?”
If the answer is one of these, then you know that you are not necessarily perfect for each other:
- “We use up employees like toilet paper.”
- “We often have unrealistic expectations of what one person can do – week after week.”
- “Oops, the next interviewee is already waiting.”
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