what are her weaknesses?

Question

with regards to the question i asked earlier this colleague i worked with was a wholesale merchandiser. She was good at her job, she set up meetings with clients, managed a critical path, liaised with the design team, did overtime at a moments notice, she was friendly, got on with her well with colleagues at work, it was a shame the company couldn't afford to keep her on. She was made redundant four months ago and still i hear work colleagues talk about her.
I've been asked to give a reference on her and that was one of the questions and i hate that question because i never know how to answer it.

Answer 1

aim for the eyes with someting pointy!

Answer 2

The problem with References is that should the employee not 'fit in', the new Company can sue the previous Company for giving missleading references.

All large Companies know this, so References consist of :-
Dates Employed, Job Title, Final Salary and 'We would Employ them again'. The last statement is left off if they would not employ them again.

Answer 3

State the weakness but identify how she overcame the weakness or how she recognised the weakness and did something about it. A weakness is not a bad thing but an area that can be improved upon.

Tailor the weakness a little (if you want to help her) so that the prospective employer can see past the weakness and see a potential new employee that can be improved with little effort.

Good luck.

Answer 4

She sounds very efficient perhaps she didnt let others take responsibility, perhaps she took over a bit. Not necessarily a bad thing but you need to sometimes put trust in others that they will do a good job too.

Answer 5

If you don't believe she had any weaknesses that affected her work then simply say so.

Answer 6

'None that i'm aware of' x