Can you speak to your greatest weakness?
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“Can you speak to your greatest weakness?” is a classic interview question.
At the same time, knowing and addressing your weaknesses as best you can is critical every day in your job.
In an interview, the wrong answer is something that sounds like a weakness but is actually an immediate strength.
A common bad answer is "Sometimes I work too hard."
The best answer is something that is a weakness, but not a crippling weakness, that shows self-awareness, and then what you have done to mitigate it.
In my case, I could say I am big, have a loud voice, and often have clear opinions on topics, which can lead to people being hesitant and uncomfortable in speaking up around me.
I've learned to try to sit down in meetings to appear smaller, to ask more questions in place of statements, and to invite the opinions of others before offering my own.
To sum, a good answer is:
True.
Real.
Can be expressed briefly. You want to answer this question honestly and get it over with.
Something you can speak to how you mitigate it, again briefly so that your answer ends quickly.
In your career, focus on knowing and mitigating them.
If you are applying for jobs and/or preparing for interviews, the following resources may help:
I developed, Leadership Resumes That Get Results, an on-demand online course that covers how hiring managers evaluate resumes, what a great Before/After resume looks like, how to tailor your resume to get the phone call, and how to create an effective LinkedIn profile. The advice comes from having reviewed over 10,000 resumes and conducted more than 2,500 interviews over my career.
Audience Insights
Additional ideas worth considering from my LinkedIn audience:
A great question to ask the hiring manager and their team: “When I work for you, what area do you struggle with that I should be aware of?”
If you work remote, a good reminder prompt is to have a sticky note on your monitor that says “Let others speak first.”
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Level Up is a newsletter from former Amazon Vice President Ethan Evans that breaks down how he succeeded and how you can get to the next level.