Can you help me come up w/ my weakest point for my interview?

[bertha katzenengel]

They usually ask this and I stammer because i can never seem to have a ready answer.

I procrastinate

Sometimes I get behind in filing

Sometimes I just get behind

I tend to daydream (I tend to surf but would never say that)

I can get a little too detailed in proofing

Argh. There's more. I guess you all can't help because you don't know me. But someone might have some suggestions as to how to handle this question.


GOD i hate job hunting. :banghead:

[lukasahero]

1. Go with the "too detailed"

What you want to do with this question is pick a "flaw" that's not really a flaw.

[quip]

6. Correct!

"too much energy"
"too eager"
"care too much", "get too involved in your work"
"perfectionist" (too detailed)

etc. :D

[Nickster]

12. I love too much! :-)

[Crabby Appleton]

18. Yep. nt

[XemaSab]

9. That is the CORRECT answer

My weakness is people think I'm slow about getting things done, but I think I'm just really picky about details. :P

[Nickster]

13. Just be careful about how you word that, it might come off as you over analyze things

which isn't great either. Maybe put a "perfectionist" spin on it. "My personality tends to fall on the perfectionist side of things, so with some tasks I get a bit too detailed." Or something like that.

I think the new fad is to ask you to tell them something about yourself that no one else knows. I went for "I really like to cook and watch Food Network way too much."

[5LeavesLeft]

17. Flaw = Strength

I am a programmer and a response that always works for me is "I don't always know what I don't know". I then immediately launch into an example like: " I wrote this code that worked, but then looking at somebody else's code I saw what a better solution that was!" This sets me up as somebody that can get the job done, but is willing and eager to learn a better way to do it. Most bosses are bosses because they were right more often than they were wrong, and they don't want some new guy telling them they were wrong. They want somebody they can count on and doesn't need babysitting, and also wants to get better at their job.

[lukasahero]

19. Well done

I like that - and being a team player who can learn from others is always a good thing. I'm going to have to remember that one. :) (Fellow programmer here...)

Oh and yes, concrete examples of specific situations in interviews are required.

[raccoon]

2. How about, "I'm lazy?" Seriously, I hate this stupid question.

And job hunting really sucks.

[flvegan]

3. "My irrational hatred for the Dutch"

That'll throw them off.

*no offense to anyone of Dutch-esque persuasion intended*

[madinmaryland]

5. HEY!! I'm Dutch and I find your remark offensive.

:grr:

[flvegan]

7. Oh, you're not Dutch.

Dutch wannabe.

[madinmaryland]

4. I was going to comment about spending long hours surfing the internets and postin

on DU, but I would suggest going the detail route. Employers like people who are detail oriented.

Now I'm using management speak. :scared:

:hi:

[DarkTirade]

8. I tend to go for a combo

when I get that question... I like to have something that can be a strength and a weakness, depending on the need at the time. For me, it's that I tend to be the tortoise rather than the hare. I plod through, but I make sure it gets done right. However, in some things I'm so ridiculously fast naturally that my tortoise speed is faster than most people's hare speed, so whenever I'm interviewed for jobs that involve things like typing or using computers that's only a strong point, not a weak point. :P

[Burma Jones]

10. At Pepsi, in New York, I was asked "What's your biggest weakness?"

I answered, "Coke"

I kind of already figured I wasn't going to work there........

[InsultComicDog]

11. I guess "I give inappropriate answers to stupid questions" doesn't quite work

if you actually want the job...

[Juche]

14. I was mentally ill from 1997-2000

Try that one.

Personally I say 'lack of experience'.

[Zuiderelle]

15. I usually say "I bite my nails"

"Too detailed" is a great answer. Don't give them too much. Just give them ONE weakness, and like Lukashero said... make it one that isn't REALLY a weakness.

[seaglass]

16. I would identify a weakness and in the same sentence state

what you do to correct it.

Sorry, I don't know exactly what you could say but think of a flaw maybe pointed out by a former boss and then how you worked to overcome it.

Or maybe a flaw that isn't directly related to what you want to do. So, for instance - I have a tendency to get nervous when speaking in front of groups but I...joined a toastmaster's group to overcome my public speaking fears or I now practice my presentations in advance and use note cards to ease my discomfort.

I wouldn't note a flaw that you don't have corrective behavior for.