Hi everyone,
Can you give me examples of your biggest weaknesses?
During an interview, I said that I was someone who is impatient to see the results and I gave an example with STAR method. The interviewer laughed at me. I think that he heard the same weakness 1000 times lol
Thank you.
Hey,
Have a look at these threads for answer to this question:
Hi there,
I would recommend the following structure to answer this question:
The main issue for many candidates is to identify the weakness to use in point 1 above. So, how can you find a proper weakness?
The best way to find a “good” weakness is to avoid standard answers such as “public speaking”. Instead, you can go through the following approach to identify real weaknesses:
This should allow to have “good” weaknesses that would also show personal improvement.
Best,
Francesco
Hello!
Totally agree with the interviewer laughing there, since I am sure he/she had heard it so many times... We all tend to look for those "weaknesses" that indeed are not so: being too perfectionist, caring too much, working too much until burnout... And tbh, usually they work.
However, you need to give a good story behind.
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Sorry to hear the interviewer loughed at you.
Besides the fact that they might have heard it many times before, you might also have come across a bit too rehearsed. The STAR method is helpful if you can deliver it naturally, but more often than not, people that use this method come across very robotic and superficial. Working on the way you deliver the weakness might be even more helpful than finding another one.
Other weaknesses I often hear are: struggeling to motivate oneself when "the case is cracked", sometimes getting lost in the details, loosing sight of the client's perspective.
Avoid giving hidden strengths or any generic weaknesses. Weaknesses are only weaknesses if there are negative repercussions for you whenever they come up. Be honest, no dealbreakers of course, but be honest.
Please make sure you report weaknesses in the following structure. Avoid stating a buzzword of how YOU describe the weakness while the interviewer may UNDERSTAND sth totally different.
1 - State the weakness (e.g. not the best at delegating)
2 - State the SOURCE of the weakness (e.g. childhood, uni, previous job) - this will help to make the weakness reasonable and allow the interview to relate to you
3 - State how the weakness manifests itself professionally (this is very important because everyone might understand sth else under that weakness)
3 - State what you have been doing to work on or mitigate that specific weakness
Ideally pick weaknesses that came up early in your career, classic stuff such as (problems delegating, focused too much on the details without paying attention to bigger picture, process management, time management, ownership, share of voice in meetings too low etc).
(edited)
Hello there,
Having your interviewer smiling is not necessarily a bad thing, they perfectly know that they are asking "standard" questions thata candidates have prepared.
Be sure that your STAR method is not too scholastic, I would rather prefer a weakness that is clearly addressed by consulting lifestyle (e.g. "I get easily bored of routines and repetitive work").
Best,
Luca
Hi there,
“What are your weaknesses?” can be challenging to answer. That’s why I would recommend preparing a list of all your weaknesses, which can help you classify them. After classifying, try to think about the improvements you can make for each of them. When it’s done, select three you consider the best for presenting during the interview.
Hope it was helpful,
GB
Hi there,
Remember that, when using any method, we can't make it sound like that! You cannot be too rigid/robotic! I'm sorry that he laughed, but if you said anything along the lines of "The situation is x. As a result I did x", then of course it doesn't fit!
Remember...no matter what all the websites/experts say, and no matte rhow much you prepare, fundamentally this is a conversation and you need to operate like you would in real life (i.e. like a human)
Remember, that for the weakness question, the key here is two-fold:
1) Your weakness isn't really quite a weakness in the right context (i.e. I get too excited about things and forget to wait for my team, I get really committed/devoted quickly and sometimes forget to take care of myself, etc.)
2) You've learned (from some interesting experience) how to tame the weakness. I.e. you know when it happens, why it happens, and you have methods to address it...so, ultimately it's not even a thing that really happens anymore.
If you need an example I'm happy to take you through mine. Just shoot me a message!
Some Prior Q&As:
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/what-do-you-consider-to-be-your-weaknesses-4818
(edited)
Be honest and identify a real weakness (one not critical to the job of a consultant), and talk about how you are addressing it. Watch out for the pitfall of saying something that isn't really a weakness. Interviewers easily sniff that out and it looks disingenuous. At the same time, don't mention something that will actually be critical in your role e.g. public speaking.
Frame the answer as this being something you are already taking steps to address.
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