Three Ways to Respond to "What Is One of Your Weaknesses?"

“What is one of your weaknesses?” is a traditional interview question that makes jobseekers feel uncomfortable and defensive. It also provides little useful information to the employer, because most people answer with a strength spun as a weakness: “I’m a perfectionist, so I stay up late making my work perfect and don’t get enough sleep.”
Savvy employers no longer inquire about your weaknesses and instead ask: “What area of professional development are you working on?” “What skills are you trying to improve?” “Tell me about a time you took steps to improve your professional skills.”

Since you may still be asked about your weaknesses in an interview, it’s best to prepare an answer that shows one of the following:
1. You actively strive to identify and strengthen your weaker skills or lack of knowledge.
2. You accept and respond well to constructive criticism.

How to Choose an Example

Choose an example that:

• Is not relevant to the position you’re interviewing for (for example, if you’re applying for a management position, don’t choose “delegating” as one of your weaknesses).
• Does not set off a red flag (such as, that you lack a core skill required for the job or that you have a problematic habit, such as procrastination).

Three Easy Ways to Answer

Here are three formulas you can use to answer “Tell me about one of your weaknesses.”

1. Talk about how you improved a process or procedure:
I used to do _____, but I realized it was inefficient/ineffective.
Here are the steps I took to resolve this problem: _____.
As a result, _____.

Example: “I’ve always been a very organized person. However, in my current position, I’m managing large-scale projects for the first time, and I realized fairly quickly that it was taking too long for me to find emails and files. So, I set aside a half day to develop a new organizational system, which included creating email and desktop filing systems. The result is that I can now find emails and files quickly, and I’m more organized than ever before.”

2. Discuss how you responded well to your manager’s suggestion for improvement.
In my last performance review, my manager said I should _____.
Here are the steps I took to resolve the problem: _____.
As a result, _____.

Example: “In my last mid-year review, my manager said that she would like me to improve my presentation skills. So, I joined Toastmasters and have been practicing my presentations weekly. I also watched YouTube videos on how to make great presentations. The result is that the quality of my presentations has improved dramatically, and my manager gave me an “exceeds expectations” for presentation skills on my year-end review.”

3. Talk about knowledge or a skill set you needed to gain in order to be successful in your job.
I discovered that I didn’t know enough about _____to do my job as well as I could.
So, I took these steps to gain this knowledge/skill set: _____.
As a result, _____.

Example: “In my current job, I handle a large amount of data. I realized that my Excel skills weren’t strong enough to manage it all, so I took two advanced Excel courses and completed some online tutorials. As a result, my Excel skills are now quite advanced, and I can easily handle the large volume of data.”

The Next Time You’re Asked this Question

Before your next interview, prepare an example using one of the three formulas and practice saying it out loud a few times. You’ll be pleased to find that when an employer asks you “What is one of your weaknesses?” you’ll feel strong and confident when you respond.