Job Interview Questions

Lamb

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How do you answer some of the basic job interview questions such as what is your biggest weakness? Or what is your greatest strength?
 

tango

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A lot of years ago I liked to answer the question about my greatest accomplishmeny by saying I achieved the impossible. It usually made the interviewer's expression shift noticeably.

The story behind it related to some hardware that a particular company supplied, that was a real hassle to manage centrally. A friend and I had worked at a place that used them, and asked the company whether they offered some software to control them. They said it wasn't possible to control them with software. Logic said it had to be possible, so my friend built a hardware doodad to control them and I wrote the software to pair with it. And, lo and behold, what was described as impossible came to be in the space of a couple of months.

The question about your greatest weakness is the sort of thing that seems to have no right answer. The person who says they have no weaknesses shows an arrogance that is unlikely to help but admitting to a weakness provides an easy excuse for an interviewer to throw your resume in the trash and move to the next candidate. Some say the best answer is to acknowledge a weakness and demonstrate how you turn it into a strength. I haven't interviewed in years so don't know how well it would work these days but I often brushed the question aside with an answer, offered as a half-question, along the lines of "a disinclination to shoot myself in the foot?" Usually it seems to have been taken in the spirit it was intended.
 

Lamb

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For greatest strength I talk about my organizational skills but then I also bring up how I like to be a team player and that sometimes I'm often chosen for leadership roles even though I don't go looking for them.

For my weakness I'll bring up something that will apply to the position so that I'm honest. I got hired at my last job because I was completely honest about my skill level (novice at that time) at Excel. I promised them I could learn it and yes, I became advanced in 2 weeks by watching YouTube videos. Honesty pays!
 

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I like to say that my biggest weakness is my tendency to take on more than I should. Aside from being completely true, it is an indirect way to promote my strong work ethic, something that is desirable in any job for sure.
 

NewCreation435

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I think one of my biggest strengths can also be one of my biggest weaknesses. I like everything done correctly and all the details covered. So, when it isn't like that I get anxiety.
 

ImaginaryDay2

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For greatest strength I talk about my organizational skills but then I also bring up how I like to be a team player and that sometimes I'm often chosen for leadership roles even though I don't go looking for them.

For my weakness I'll bring up something that will apply to the position so that I'm honest. I got hired at my last job because I was completely honest about my skill level (novice at that time) at Excel. I promised them I could learn it and yes, I became advanced in 2 weeks by watching YouTube videos. Honesty pays!

I think this is best - relate strengths and weaknesses to assets you bring to the position as well as areas of improvement you see making over the next year or so. A good example is that I have very basic skills with PowerPoint, but some of the intermediate and advanced things I still need work. So if that was an expectation, I'd note it. I'd keep it practical and not focus on personality traits and such. If I needed training relevant to the job, focus on how I'd achieve it and in what time-frame.

Same with the "tell me about yourself" question - that's a good one to focus on where I've been in my career, what I've done/accomploished, and how that is applicable to the position.
 

Josiah

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My greatest weakness answer: "I tend to be too humble."


j/k
 
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