What do interviewers want to hear when they ask about your weaknesses?

Interviewers asking about weaknesses is a pretty common thing. Have you ever wondered what do interviewers want to hear when they ask about your weaknesses at a job interview? Judging by the number of queries we’re getting and the interviewing sessions booked, jobseekers do!

Why is this an interesting topic?

Well, because job interview is when you leave a good first impression, and no one wants to blow it. Hence, to be as prepared as possible, people book sessions and are dying to hear what is it that interviewers want to hear when they ask about weaknesses.

So, let’s look into the most dreaded interview question, why do they ask it anyway, and how you should reply it.

 

The logic of job interviews

Now, we all know that you can only learn so much about candidates at job interviews.

That is why interviewers ask different questions and they read your body language and facial expressions.

Yes, that’s right – they don’t just record your answers somewhere – they actually care about how you react to the question, too.

So, keep that in mind when answering job interview questions: it’s not just what you say, but also how you say it!

 

Interviewers asking about weaknesses…why?

If you’ve read any of our interview-related articles, you already know that it’s a psychological game. Here, we’re talking rounds of interviews, not the initial contact with the recruiter.

Naturally, interviewers want to hear certain things that they are interested in. Mostly, they want to check how you react to questions, do you seem like a person who would fit their team, and how you present yourself and your experience. We all know that. And that is why some of the questions might seem like “trick” questions.

But, what people don’t know is this: whatever they ask you, you should connect with the job ad and the role itself. So, when asked a question, the answer should be job-related.

Meaning, if a job ad says they’re looking for a team player who is results-oriented, you can say that your greatest weakness is that you help out your team a lot because you care about the end result. Make sure you can back it up with an example (e.g. you went over someone’s report or you covered for them when it should’ve been your day off).

What do interviewers want to hear when asking about your weaknesses?

What do they want to hear? Honestly, this varies. It depends on the position you’re interviewing for and the interviewer’s affiliations. In general, the interviewer wants to see if you’re self-aware enough to recognize your weaknesses. And for bonus points, talk about a previous weakness that you recognized and corrected!

Meaning, say something like that you used to spend a lot of time on details when producing reports, like choosing color shades or something. But then, you realize that’s not essential for the report so you’re now spending less time on it.

 

How do I prepare for the job interview?

Ok, so you know what the interviewer wants to hear when asking about your weaknesses and you know you always need to relate your answers to the job ad itself. And what’s next? Well, prepare for the job interview. There are a lot of resources available online, even on this site here.

However, if you would like 1:1 guidance about the job interviews, please, book a one-off coaching session here. We can definitely help you with nailing your next job interview. Remember, practice makes perfect!

If your issue is landing a job interview, you need to spruce up your CV. We can help you with that through our CV writing services or you can order our step-by-step CV writing guide and learn how to write CVs like a pro! Simply follow the principles outlined in this book and secure more job interviews!

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