A Technique For The ‘What’s Your Greatest Weakness’ Question

It’s a job interview festival of suck: What’s your greatest weakness? Although arguably pointless, it’s often asked. In the past, we’ve suggested mentioning an irrelevant skill. Another option? Identify a weakness from the past you’ve overcome and explain how you did that.

Gym picture from Shutterstock

Author Bernard Marr suggested this approach in a recent LinkedIn post:

Talk about your ability to self-assess, find weaknesses and deal with them. Give one or two past examples of how you identified ‘development needs’ (a much more positive term than weakness) and then improved in those areas.

Another potentially handy strategy Marr suggests is identifying a current weakness, but making sure that you explain it only occurs in specific situations. Hit the link for more of his suggestions.

The Toughest Interview Question Of All …And How To Answer It [LinkedIn via Business Insider]