What are your Strengths and Weaknesses?

September 21, 2023

Strengths and Weaknesses in Interview

“Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses” or “What are your strengths and weaknesses” is one of the most common HR questions. In this page we have provided the complete guide to tackle “Strengths and Weaknesses” questions that are asked in interviews. 

Page Highlights:

  • What are strengths and weaknesses?
  • How to answer: ”Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses”
  • “What are your strengths and weaknesses” Answer
how to answer strengths and weaknesses in an interview

What are strengths and weaknesses?

“What are your weaknesses?”, “Tell me about your strengths”, “What are your strengths and weaknesses” etc. are some of the most important questions that are 9 out of 10 times asked in HR interviews of all service based and product based companies. The aim of asking this question is to check whether a candidate is aware of their strengths and weaknesses and how they perceive their qualities in a practical environment. It is a very common question to ask about a candidate’s “strengths” and “weaknesses”, therefore you should prepare an answer before appearing for any interview.

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How to answer: “Tell me about your Strengths and Weaknesses”

In HR Interviews every answer a  candidate gives is crucial, and determines whether they will be selected for the job or not. Therefore, for questions like “What are your strengths and weaknesses”. It is necessary to prepare answers beforehand.

Let us break down the question into two parts, :strengths and weaknesses, and look at them as individual factors. Before answering this question, a candidate should first be aware of their own strengths and weaknesses.

What are your strengths?

The definition of strengths in this context means qualities that make you a suitable candidate for the job profile. This does not include your technical skills, but more of your personality and behavioral skills.

what are your strengths

Strengths you can include

  • communication skills
  • Teamwork
  • Critical thinking/Creative thinking skills
  • Adaptability
  • leadership skills
  • Punctuality
  • Focused/Detail oriented
  • Self learning/continuous learning
  • Likes challenges
  • Diligent

What are your weaknesses?

A candidate is asked to share their “Weaknesses” in order to check how much a candidate knows about their drawback and whether they are trying to improve it or not. Mentioning your “weaknesses” is sometimes more tricky than mentioning your “strengths”. Some of the weaknesses you can mention include:

What are your weaknesses?

Weaknesses you can mention

  • Being too critical
  • Multitasking
  • Want to please everyone
  • Lack of experience
  • Take on too much responsibility
  • Being unfamiliar with technologies
  • Not punctual
  • Lack of attention/concentration

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"What are your strengths and weaknesses": Sample Answer

Sample Answer 1

I have extremely strong writing skills. Having worked as a copy editor for five years, I have a deep attention to detail when it comes to my writing. I have also written for a variety of publications, so I know how to shape my writing style to fit the task and audience. As a marketing assistant, I will be able to effectively write and edit press releases and update web content with accuracy and ease

Sample Answer 2

My strength I could say is knowing group work dynamics. I am a groupie and I love to work and collaborate with people on several projects. So when it comes to assigning roles, creating content or working around several areas in a project I have the potential to give proper directions and make sure that our task is completed with set goals and objectives.

Inspiring the team mates to give their all and maintaining cordial relationships between is something that I have fostered in these years. This has also helped me to increase my productivity ten folds during a certain task.

Sample Answer 3

I have been told that my words of criticism can be sharp or harsh sometimes. Giving constructive criticism can help the other person to improve their skills or performance. So in the recent times I am trying to filter my criticism and use words that may seem encouraging and constructive instead of judgmental or harsh. This practice has considerably helped me to gain trust, respect and stronger professional relationships.

Sample Answer 4

To state my strength and weakness can be a little confusing because both of the two concepts are same for me. My quality of being self motivated. I can work hard and consistently to achieve a goal if that helps me in growing and learning. I can motivate myself to do a task even when there are multiple obstacles and I can complete it. However, my weakness is being over self motivated because in that process I lose myself and get too goal oriented. If it is a team task then my self goals become a burden for them and as a result, I come across clashes and group breakdowns. I have been working on this for the last few months where I set a limit for myself and for the team and try not to affect my goals and objectives becomes a pressure for the others.

Hence, both my strength and weakness arise from the same quality.

Also Check:

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  • Can you work night shifts. Answer
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  • What are your plans for higher studies? Answer
  • Explain how would you be an asset to this organization. Answer
  • Do you have any questions for me.  Answer

FAQ on Tell me your strengths and weaknesses

Question: How many strengths and weaknesses should I list in an interview?

Answer:-

It is very easy to go overboard with when stating our strengths, however you should avoid listing too many strengths. Try to keep it up to 5 at max. And mention the strengths that are relevant to the job profile. As for weakness, try to mention at least 1-2 weaknesses.

Question: Will my weakness affect my overall performance in the interview?

Answer:-

No, mentioning your weakness will not affect your performance negatively. However saying that you have no weaknesses will make you sound arrogant.

Question: Can I include technical skills in strengths?

Answer:-

For the most part, strengths should include your soft skills. This question is mostly asked to check a candidate’s behavioral skills, your technical skills are tested in your technical interview.

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