What is Your Weakness?

Last week a global financial services firm visited The Career Center to conduct interviews with Hofstra students. I had the opportunity to meet with the recruiters afterwards to “de-brief” and find out how the students did.

For each of the students, the weakness was, well, the weakness question.  In most interviews, you will be asked some form of this question.  It could be phrased in several ways, including:

“What are your biggest weaknesses?”

or

“What are some areas in which you would like to improve?”

I will let you in on an interviewing secret. The point of this question is usually not to find out the weakness itself, but to ascertain what you are doing to OVERCOME what you perceive to be a problem area for you.  It’s really designed to learn about your ability to solve a problem.

For example, if I said during an interview that my weakness is that I am afraid of public speaking, the interviewer would be looking for me to follow that with an explanation of how I am trying to overcome that fear.  An appropriate answer might be “My weakness tends to be my fear of public speaking. However, I am currently taking a public speaking class at Hofstra and I can see positive results already!”

Effectively answering this question requires some introspection.  Write down three areas that you feel are weaknesses and then think about ways to overcome them.  Then implement those solutions!

Of course, the best way to prepare for this or any interview question is to make an appointment for a mock interview in The Career Center. Give us a call at 463-6060.  We would be happy to help you ace your next interview!