What is your greatest weakness? How to handle this interview question
Nimish Thakkar

The challenge is often compounded by the fact that each interviewer would have her own idea about what constitutes a good answer. Wit, substance, honesty, ability to think fast, performance under pressure, intelligence, diplomacy -- the expectations of individual hiring managers are as diverse as their personalities.

I have come across many candidates who answer the weakness question with very naïve responses, such as “I am a perfectionist,” “I work too hard and often go overboard,” “I can’t quit on a project until it is perfect in all respects,” “I often work at the cost of my family’s happiness,” and many variations of these samples. Come on. The hiring manager is on the other side of the table because she can easily spot fact from fiction.

So, how does one answer the “what is you greatest weakness?” question. Unfortunately, there is no “right answer” and the success of your response will depend, largely, on how you carry it off and how well you connect with the interviewer. While there are many ways to deal with the question, I am going to share one strategy in this article.

The first step

Before you go for the interview, conduct a thorough analysis of the position’s requirements, the company’s background, and the cultural norms within the organization. This is absolutely critical.

Layering the response

To stay on the cutting-edge of my profession, I often post my own resume and attend job interviews. Recently, I was interviewed for an online marketing manager position. When I was asked about my greatest weakness, I responded as follows:

“From a professional standpoint, I would say that my unfamiliarity with Adobe Photoshop would be my greatest weakness. I have, however, on many occasions led global teams of highly experienced graphic designers and by leveraging my creativity and leadership skills I was able to bring the best out of these teams. Together, we were able to provide my employer with hundreds of eye-catching designs … last month, I started training for Photoshop and within the next three weeks, I should be at par with professional standards.”

The strategy

I had carefully studied the position’s requirements and I was very sure they were not looking for graphic design skills but they did want someone who could manage teams of designers. I leveraged this fact to my advantage and layered my response by starting with an unrelated weakness (my unfamiliarity with Photoshop), described a desirable strength (my leadership skills and my experience in directing graphic designers), reinforced a benefit (how I benefited my past employers), and closed the so called weakness by describing how I am overcoming it (by taking classes).
 

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