Transcription
There is one question where lots of candidates fail their interviews, and that question is: "What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
Now, there is a specific way you must answer this difficult question if you want to pass your interview at the first attempt. Stay tuned because I am here to help you. And just very quickly, if you are new to my channel, please make sure you hit that subscribe button. Thousands of you, and I mean thousands of you, are passing your job interviews at the first attempt. I can only help you if you are subscribed. And please give the video a like because that really does motivate me to create more content for you. Thank you very much indeed.
Okay, let's jump straight into the tutorial. Okay, to begin with, here's an example of how not to answer the challenging interview question, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" Whatever you do, do not say this: "What are your strengths and weaknesses? Oh, that's a difficult question. I think my strengths are I am a good team worker and very professional, and I don't actually have any weaknesses because I'm a perfectionist." So that answer would have, for sure, resulted in an interview fail.
Now, to help you answer the question, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" let me give you the eight best strengths and five safe weaknesses for interviews, and I will then give you three brilliant example answers in a live job interview. Please take notes.
Strength number one is loyalty. Now, this means you are someone who is a great role model for the company and wants to work there long term. Strength number two is fitting into a team quickly. Now, this means you will quickly establish how you can contribute to the team and adapt to their ways of working. Strength number three is having passion for your work. Now, this means you are someone who is passionate about what you do, you take pride in your work, and you genuinely want to do the best job possible for your employer. Strength number four is being a problem solver. Now, good problem solvers take responsibility for difficult challenges instead of leaving them for others to deal with. Strength number five is being cost-conscious. This is a great one. This means you never waste company supplies or resources, but instead, you will seek ways to help the company streamline processes and systems to save money. Strength number six is being a supportive collaborator. Now, supportive collaborators are great team players who help their co-workers when asked, and they also are willing to train new team members whenever they join the company. Strength number seven is commercial awareness. An employee that is commercially aware understands, in basic terms, how a business operates. They understand that they are getting paid to do a job, and therefore, they must do their work on time and to the best standard achievable, and go above and beyond to ensure their employer gets a great return from their investment. And strength number eight is leadership capability. You do not need to be in a management or leadership position to demonstrate leadership capabilities at work. Now, some of the best employees will take the lead during difficult situations and do all they can to resolve challenging problems instead of passing them on to their manager to deal with.
So, there's eight brilliant strengths you can use when answering the difficult interview question, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" Now, in a second, I'm going to give you five safe weaknesses to use in your interview, but before I do, if you want one-to-one coaching with my team of experts to help you pass your job interview at the first attempt, check out that link.
Okay, so let me now give you five safe weaknesses you can use, and I will then give you those three top-scoring answers in a live interview. Weakness number one is public speaking. Now, a good weakness for job interviews is to say you are not very good at public speaking or giving talks to large groups of people. Weakness number two is giving people honest feedback. Now, another safe weakness is to say you don't enjoy giving people feedback because you tend to distance yourself from potentially confrontational situations. Weakness number three is saying yes all the time. This is a great weakness for job interviews. Now, you could say you are the type of person who says yes automatically when people ask you for help, which often results in you taking on too many responsibilities. Weakness number four is finding it difficult to let go of projects. You might be the type of person who doesn't like letting go of projects because you keep checking over them. However, you are aware of this weakness and trying to let go of projects and then quickly move on to the next one. And weakness number five is being too self-critical. This is a common weakness. Lots of people are tough on themselves, and they keep analyzing why they did certain things. Now, while it is good to be reflective of your actions so you can improve, beating yourself up for things is not productive.
Okay, now before I give you those three top-scoring answers in a live interview to that difficult question, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" let me quickly teach you how to structure your answer. So, the best way to answer the question, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" is to give three strengths that will add value to their company, and then just one weakness that is not a match for the job description. You do not need to give any more than one weakness.
Okay, so here's those three brilliant answers in a live job interview to that question, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" Please tell me in the comment section below the video which answer, option one, two, or three, you think is the strongest. Here we go.
"What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
"My strengths include commercial awareness, fast pace of work, and collaboration skills. I understand I must do a great job to help you succeed, complete all work quickly, and work closely with my co-workers and other departments to achieve the company's goals. My weakness is public speaking. I am not yet confident at giving talks to large groups of people. However, this is an area I want to develop in, so if there are any opportunities in this role for me to improve these skills, then I would love to give it a try."
"Tell me, what are your strengths and weaknesses?"
"My greatest strengths include being able to quickly fit into any team, my passion for work, which means I get more work done than the average person, and my problem-solving capabilities. I will always take ownership of difficult challenges to achieve a successful outcome instead of leaving them for others to deal with. My weakness is impatience. I have a strong hurry-up driver, which means I want to get things done quickly. This drive doesn't always match other people's ambitions, which I sometimes find frustrating."
"What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
"My strengths include my cost-conscious approach to work. I will always seek ways to help you save money. Another strength is my leadership capabilities. I will take the lead during difficult problems instead of giving them to my manager to deal with. Finally, perhaps my greatest strength is my flexibility and adaptability. I will do work outside of my job description and work overtime when needed to help the business. My weakness is I find it difficult saying no to people. Whenever people ask me for help, I immediately say yes, which sometimes results in me taking on too much work."
Okay, so there were three brilliant, top-scoring answers in a live interview to that difficult and challenging interview question, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" Don't forget to tell me in the comment section below the video which answer, answer option, you think is the strongest.
Now, the next thing to do, if you want to accelerate your learning even further and make sure you pass your interview at the first attempt, is click that link right now in the top right-hand corner of the video. Head straight through to my website, pmyinterview.com, and you can instantly download my 50 brilliant answers to difficult interview questions. It comes as a PDF guide, which means you can literally have it in your inbox within two minutes from now. Make sure you check out that link.
Also, please make sure you hit that subscribe button. Don't forget to give the video a like. That really does motivate me to create more content for you, and you can also connect with me on LinkedIn. I have put my LinkedIn link in the description below the video. It's always a pleasure and an honor to connect with like-minded professionals such as yourself. Thank you for watching, and I wish you all the best for passing your job interview. Have a great day.