Interview question "what is your biggest weakness"?

Question

I like to steal things but I dont want to say this in an interveiw (I do not really consider it a weakness) and every other answer I have come across sounds contrived as in "I sometimes work to hard" etc etc. Can you give me a convincing answer?

Answer 1

If it was ME, I would say to them... "Well, I like helping people with their work when they're overloaded. But, sometimes the ones I help, tend to take advantage of me and expect me to ALWAYS help them to the point where they don't even do it when I'm absent. Nevertheless, I have a habit of going above and beyond my own job description which, of course, is ultimately beneficial to the company with whom I am employed!"

Answer 2

There is no one right answer to this question though obviously there are some wrong ones. For example my biggest weakness is probably my difficultly I have in writing reports and other long documents. In an interview situation I can then follow that up with saying how I've managed to come up with different tricks to overcome this with experience. Pick something that you find difficult to do but that you have worked out different ways round.

Also when you say you like to steal things, do you mean actual objects or do you like to incorporate different peoples ideas into you work. The later is a positive thing (so long as you avoid plagiarism which could get you fired), the former is liable to get you fired and arrested.

Answer 3

the best way of responding to this type of question is by indicating that you have been aware of this weakness for some time but have already taken steps towards overcoming it. For instance, I always say:

Traditionally, my biggest has been my desire to prove myself, sometimes I have been guilty of trying to hard to assert myself and my ideas. I am now a lot more confident with my abilities, and feel a lot more relaxed and sociable around colleagues.

when ever an employer asks you this question, it means that he's too lazy to think of anything original, he/she is unlikely to care to much about your response, they might pretend to be interested but there just following the same old formula. A solid interviewer will try and probe for your weaknesses in a more subtle manor, so if someone asks you this, the best thing to do would be avoid indicting yourself by being honest, give something that isn't;t really a weakness.

Answer 4

Even stealing answers for you interview Jimbob?
Choose a weakness that can be turned into something positive.
For example if it is a boring repetitive job then you don't like change. You like to go to work knowing exactly what you will be doing that day Conversely, if it is a job where the tasks are forever changing, then you easily get bored with routine, repetitive work.
Get the idea?
Good luck in the interview.
PS. When they say take a chair they don't mean it literally

Answer 5

The entire interview is a contrived situation. Just go with the standards - those are the ones that work, and it's what they are expecting to hear.

-work too hard
-have really high standards
-tend to be an over achiever

Or, if you have something mildly wrong with you that you have taken steps to correct give that too. Like 'I used to have problems with public speaking, but I'm currently in courses for that...'

Definitely don't say the stealing thing, because they won't trust you and then they won't hire you.

Good luck.

Answer 6

I recently found that my weakness was kryptonite.

Seiously though you have to make your weakness sound like a strength, or mention things you have done to overcome this -

Think when i got asked this question I replied that I was too helpfull - but then countered this by saying had now become more assertive, and would prioritise before assisting if I had a lot of stuff to do myself - or suggest someone else who ay be able to help them if didnt have the time.

Also remember that they are likely to ask the opposite as well - i.e what are your strenghs - i thought of answers to strengths, but then got asked what my weakness was - which I hadnt prepared for. find it usuefull to jot down loads of questions that you think they will ask and put a few possible asnwers to these down -as makes you think

Answer 7

once I certainly have asked this question in an interview i'm commonly searching for a pair of issues. a million. How does the guy substitute into responsive to himself/herself. 2. If the say they have not got a weak spot, then i recognize they no longer being completely truthful. inspite of each little thing, even Superman could no longer face kryptonite. 3.How does the guy capture up on their weak spot. even if your weak spot, decide a fashion you are able to take care of it and contemporary that to your potential business enterprise. as an occasion, in the journey that your weak spot is being very controlling, clarify the style you utilize that to take can charge and be an valuable chief who's in a position to multitask.

Answer 8

I like to say that I am impatient. It answers the question without saying anything. The interviewer can't do much with it. In my opinion, "what is your biggest weakness" is a terrible interview question. The best you can do is get a free pass and I think impatient gets that done.

Answer 9

How about:

"I feel a strong desire to be hands on in my work. I like to take things that are mediocre and change them into something really worthwhile for the company".

i.e. Hands on being a sneaky little **** and stealing someone elses ideas and passing them off as your own. I hope you are not really the office rat you sound like!

Answer 10

This question is impossible. I have a friend who still thinks that saying 'I'm a Perfectionist' is the best answer, but to me, that's lame. Everyone has used that answer at some point and it's so obviously a lie.

I have no idea what a good answer to this question is, but would love to know too!