had a phone interview today

[Aharami]

"I get bored easily and don't do well with downtime. I actually get my tasks done on time when my plate is full than when I am allowed to take my time doing something."

How's that? Actual weakness of mine

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

What about:

Once I gai na mastery of a subject, I tend to get bored with it. I can handle the tasks required, but it's not like my first date wth my wife. It's just another day.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Originally posted by: kaymin
Definitely DO NOT give a truthful answer. That usually means that it makes you look bad. Answer it positively but not in a super generic fashion like " i work too hard". My friend says "I have trouble saying no" and interviewers seem to love that answer I don't know why.



And how could you not have been prepared for that question? It's one of the most common questions to ask. Everyone lies on interviews... so just sound articulate and screw the truth!

Personally, I find interviews *so pointless. Seriously, if you can analyze my life in 5 minutes then either you're too arrogant or i'm too shallow.

It's like a stupid game that you have to put up with in the beginning. After you get the job, you can just do a 180 and do whatever you want.

There's nothing wrong with answering truthfully. Interviewers are hoping that you do, since they have to suffer through B.S. answers to the question all day long.

Just state what your main weakness is, what you're doing to improve it, and give a specific example of how it has improved and how it helped you at your past job. Most interviewers will appreciate the honesty and it'll show that you work through your limitations. And you won't be insulting their intelligence with a bogus answer.

But yeah, anyone who doesn't have an answer prepared for that question in an interview is a dumbass.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: QueBert
It was going pretty good, then she asked what I thought my biggest weakness was. Everybody has weakness'es, but I had no idea how to answer this. I'm curious how anyone here would have answered that.

You should have said, "I have no known weaknesses"

 

[FoBoT]

"my butt smells like ass"

 

[Hyperblaze]

My biggest weakness is probably that I want to make code as perfect as I can (perfectionist). Because of this, I might take longer to write stuff. I do not accept less then what I can do.

 

[KarmaPolice]

ok seriously, thats like asked in an interview situation at least 70% of the time you gotta be prepared for that.

And yes..its a stupid question...just about every question is.

 

[biggestmuff]

I drink on the job.

I constantly lie.

 

[compnovice]

A penchant for good food...... Now kiss my fat a$$...

 

[Nocturnal]

Actually patience and all that stupid rehashed stuff is worse than saying you don't know. You need to take a negative and spin it into a positive. I have an issue with x problem but I am doing y to improve upon x.

 

[EKKC]

you should have had one ready

"my biggest weakness is not being able to give up" "too hard working" or some crap like that

seriously though, you should say something real, if i was interviewing someone i would rather them be up front with it than to try and cover it up.

 

[djheater]

As I said the last time this was posted, my new one is:

I have trouble explaining complicated subjects in a simple manner. I want to give all the information to the person asking the question and this is sometimes more than is necessary to answer their specific question.

 

[Mo0o]

For med school interviews we were told to give legitimate weaknesses and not pseudonegatives that can be spun as good such as "i care too much" "I work too hard". basically any statement where you remove "too" and it because a positive statement should be avoided. Your interviewers aren't morons so they can spot a generic answer from a mile away. Give a truthful one and say what you're doing to fix the problem. To me this is a question to probe one's honesty more than anything

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

kryptonite

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Semidevil
something like, "you get really frustrated when you fail at a task.." because you are such a perfectionist...

Not really a good answer. It means that perfectionism will be your downfall and you can't move forward. Perfectionists make for bad employees.

better, "I tend to lead by example and that can be intimidating, so I try to empoyer others and allow them to lead when necessary. I'm working on it."

This answer is as stupid as the one you replied to. Only an idiot would fall for the "weakness that isn't a weakness" schtick.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Semidevil
something like, "you get really frustrated when you fail at a task.." because you are such a perfectionist...

Not really a good answer. It means that perfectionism will be your downfall and you can't move forward. Perfectionists make for bad employees.

better, "I tend to lead by example and that can be intimidating, so I try to empoyer others and allow them to lead when necessary. I'm working on it."

This answer is as stupid as the one you replied to. Only an idiot would fall for the "weakness that isn't a weakness" schtick.

meh, that really is my weakness. I work on it constantly.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Semidevil
something like, "you get really frustrated when you fail at a task.." because you are such a perfectionist...

Not really a good answer. It means that perfectionism will be your downfall and you can't move forward. Perfectionists make for bad employees.

better, "I tend to lead by example and that can be intimidating, so I try to empoyer others and allow them to lead when necessary. I'm working on it."

This answer is as stupid as the one you replied to. Only an idiot would fall for the "weakness that isn't a weakness" schtick.

meh, that really is my weakness. I work on it constantly.

No, it's not. Your weakness is that you're a bad liar and an elitist.

 

[jackace]

Originally posted by: CountZero

Originally posted by: Semidevil
something like, "you get really frustrated when you fail at a task.." because you are such a perfectionist...

Please don't do this. I have done panel style interviews and one of the other interviewees asked this question (I personally hate this question). More than half the people gave answers similar to or identical to this. At the end of the interviews when discussing people I put forth that people that didn't give what seemed like truthful answers can't seem to even admit they have weaknesses and if they can't do that they will need constant guidance in what they need to work on, and who wants to babysit?

You should answer with an actual weakness that you know about and are working on or have worked on improving. For example:

"I have tunnel vision and often concentrate on one task to the detriment of others so now I keep a list of tasks I am working on and ensure I spend an appropriate amount of time on all tasks instead of just one."

Its an actual weakness as opposed to a fake weakness that is really a plus. If you are going to lie might as well say you like working long hours for the same pay and hate spending time at home.

So find some weakness that you've overcome or are overcoming and use that but for the love of god don't use the cliche weaknesses.

From a recruiters stand point this is the correct answer.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: mugs
No, it's not. Your weakness is that you're a bad liar and an elitist.

Thanks!

I still work on it. It really is difficult to control but I make progress everyday.

 

[Vic]

Perfectionism is a common cause of depression, so I wouldn't say that.

My biggest weakness, in all truth, is that I am obsessive. Whatever I do, I do. Ask me what time it is and I'll tell you how a clock works.

 

[JackBurton]

I think the proper answer is, "I have the tendency to get really irritated when people ask stupid questions. I'm working on that, and as you can see I'm calming myself down now as we speak."

 

[Superrock]

My weakness is I get stressed out easily and have a lot of anxiety.

On the other hand, I'm constantly trying to master this weakness and turn it into a strength by trying to channel this anxiety from malstress into positive, eustress to speak a little louder(start speaking louder), to think a little faster, and perform my tasks all the more better.

 

[BrianH1]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
kryptonite

haha, funny thing is, I have said that in an interview before as a joke, then gave a real weakness, like being messy.

 

[postmortemIA]

giving some weakness that is minor and far from worst is a good answer, along with long thinking and concluding that you can't find any that affects work situations.