Example Answers To What Are Your Greatest Strengths
Suppose you are applying for a job as a marketing manager at a startup. Here are a few responses you could give if you are asked to talk about your strengths:
I would say one of my greatest strengths is my ability to work as part of a team. Toward the end of my last job, my manager gave me the opportunity to lead our efforts to streamline our email campaigns. On this project, I motivated other members of the team and we were able to meet our goal of streamlining email campaigns on time. Our efforts led to a 15% increase in engagement on our email campaigns.
I am a very detail-oriented worker. When I work on a project, I keep a close eye on all the details and remain familiar with high-level and low-level tasks associated with the project. In my last job, this attention to detail helped me identify a problem in one of our core marketing campaigns before it was released. This allowed us to mitigate embarrassment that could have been associated with the error being published to our marketing channels.
I have strong communication skills. I have been a marketing associate for four years in two different industries. During that time, I have been responsible for writing clear and concise marketing copy for my employers. This has required a high degree of creative thinking and I believe good writing makes or breaks a marketing campaign.
How To Answer Well
In order to answer the question well, you need to find out what your strength/s really are. First, you need to understand the meaning of strength as it can be confused with skills. Skill is something that is learnt, whereas, strength is something you are born with. Strengths can lead to other strengths which is why it is an important interview question, i.e. playing an instrument means being disciplined, creative, persistent and loyal. If your strengths are cooking, this can lead to being good at following instructions, being creative, having a knowledge of different foods and ensuring good presentation skills.
To prepare for the question, think about the things you love to do, recall any praise/feedback youve received, look at the strengths of other people in similar roles and yourself and see if you have these. Thinking about how these strengths relate to the job description and company will impress the interviewer.
It is recommended to use to STAR method to answer questions explain the Situation, explain the Task, what Action you took and what the results were.
Interview Questions: What Are Your Weaknesses And Strengths
How To Answer This Common Interview Question.
Quite often, interviewers will pose this question, what are your weaknesses and strengths? during an interview. While it may be very easy to describe ones strengths, describing ones weaknesses does not come easy for anyone.
Knowing exactly what a recruiter is looking for when they ask this question not only gives you the confidence to answer it but also helps you calm down when it comes to the much-dreaded bit of having to describe those weaknesses that could cost you your dream job.
When interviewers pose this question, they are are trying to find out more about your personality, who you really are and more importantly your level of self-awareness. Saying you do not have any weakness may seem the right thing to say, but on the contrary, it presents you as a dishonest person because the reality is everyone has a weakness.
In case you are faced with such a question. It is always advisable to address your weaknesses first before you go ahead and praise yourself through your strengths. This factor, enables you to complete this question on a more positive note that the recruiter is more likely to remember.
Since you know that honesty is key when talking about weaknesses the hurdle would be how to go about defining the weaknesses in a way that paints you in a positive light.
Click here to get some more examples of some weaknesses you can customize to yourself.
Here is a list of some strengths you could fit into your answers.
Recommended Reading: Interview Questions To Ask A Cfo
Parameters Measured During Strength
There are certain qualities that these interviews will highlight. The questions tend to discover the answers to the following questions:
- What are the candidates natural behaviours?
- How will they respond to the day-to-day situations as they fulfil their future role in the company?
- How likely will the candidate keep doing the job regardless of these situations? Remember, its not just whether you can do it or not. The more important detail is if you will be motivated to keep doing your job regardless of circumstances.
- Will the candidate remain energized and motivated to do the job?
First We’ll Start With The Strengths
During the interview process, its likely that the hiring manager will ask you to describe your strengths at some point. Many candidates probably wonder how to answer what are your strengths without bragging too much or risk appearing narcissistic.
You want to craft your answer with a high degree of self-awareness and professionalism.
Its important to be prepared for this question and have a statement ready. Even if you arent asked this question, you will be aware of your strengths and what you can bring to the position.
This will help you articulately weave those strengths into other areas of the interview.
Having a story ready to tell when you are asked this question will help you stand out from the other people interviewing for the position.
Rather than just blurting out, I’m detail-oriented and hard-working, or merely listing off your strengths, you can craft a compelling way to deliver your story while highlighting what you can bring to the position.
When the time comes to answer this question, youll need to be very specific. Take stock of what you believe to be your personal strengths or ask a friend to help you identify what youre good at.
Make sure to include a range of strengths, including knowledge-based skills, transferable skills, soft skills and personal traits to demonstrate your versatility.
- Continuous Learning
- Self-control
You May Like: Questions To Ask A Cfo During An Interview
Choose A Weakness That Will Not Prevent You From Succeeding In The Role
When an interviewer asks, “What is your greatest weakness?” they want to find out:
- Whether you have a healthy level of self-awareness
- Whether you can be open and honest, particularly about shortcomings
- Whether you pursue self-improvement and growth opportunities to combat these issues, as opposed to letting these weaknesses hold you back
Ultimately, you’ll want to use this question to demonstrate how you’ve used a weakness as motivation to learn a new skill or grow professionally. Everyone has weaknesses your interviewer doesn’t expect you to be perfect.
If you’re applying for a copywriting position with little necessity for math skills, you might admit, “I struggle with numbers, and don’t have much experience with data analytics. While math is not directly tied to my role as a writer, I believe it’s important to have a rudimentary understanding of Google Analytics to ensure my work is performing well. To tackle this weakness, I’ve been taking online courses in data analytics.”
An answer like this shows the hiring manager that you recognize your areas for growth and are able to act on them without being told to do so. This kind of self-starter attitude is a plus for virtually any team.
Be Honest And Choose A Real Weakness
The answer perfectionism wont cut it when talking about your biggest weakness because its not a real weakness. Perfectionism can never be attained its a fear-based pattern that leads to short-term rewards like getting the job done early and exceeding expectations. However, in the long-term, trying to attain perfectionism leads to burnout, low-quality work, and missed deadlines. Burnout is one of the biggest contributors to , turnover, and low employee engagement all of which cost a company money, time, and talent.
Instead, choose a real weakness. Underneath the desire to do perfect work may lie a weakness of trust. Perhaps you dont trust that youll be able to make mistakes on the team, so you strive to do everything perfectly. Thats a real weakness that you can definitely overcome.
Read Also: Interview With Cfo
What Not To Say
This is not the time to be humble. While you don’t want to exaggerate your strengths, you should be comfortable articulating what makes you an ideal candidate. On the other hand, you do not want to answer this question with a laundry list of vague strengths. And neither do you want to seem boastful or arrogant.
As with any interview answer, it’s best not to ramble or speak for an eternity. Here are examples of answers that you shouldn’t give:
- I am probably the most gifted applicant you will ever meet. Everyone says that I am extremely intelligent, hard-working, and a fabulous communicator.
- My greatest strengths are writing, project management, quantitative research, event planning, budget development, and social media.
- I’m a talented musician, the life of the party, and a great joke teller. I roll with the punches and don’t take defeats too seriously.
- I should tell you about the time when our fraternity was under pressure. The president had mismanaged some money, and a lot of the brothers had gotten into trouble for hazing and partying too much. The dean called all the officers into her office, and they had a hearing about all our transgressions. I took over the leadership and turned things around, and we are now a well-respected fraternity with no problems.
Show Your Flexibility And Willingness To Learn
I’ve previously used Microsoft Word processing and presentation software exclusively, and haven’t used Google’s online equivalents. Although I’ll have to learn a whole new set of keyboard shortcuts, I’ll devote time to reading blog posts that walk me through the differences between the two types of software, and I’ll watch online tutorials.
Why It Works: While not misrepresenting the candidates skill set, this answer shows that theyve used similar software beforeand more importantly, that they know how to learn new skills.
Some Suggestions for Answering “What Is Your Greatest Weakness?”
Read Also: Interview Attire Womens
How To Answer Interview Questions About Weaknesses
What should you talk about when you’re asked what you can improve? Weaknesses are tricky to talk about, so you need to be careful when sharing examples of yours. You don’t want to knock yourself out of contention for the job because the interviewer thinks you’re not qualified. You also don’t want to come across as too arrogant and perfect, because almost nobody is.
You do want your answer to be honest, but as positive as possible. Be careful when you answer questions about weaknesses , and you’ll be able to show how you’re a good fit for the job.
Focus on steps you are taking to improve on your weaknesses, and avoid mentioning weaknesses in skills that are important for the job.
If you think carefully about the job ahead of time and prepare an answer, you will be able to remain positive while still being honest.
The Balance
Examples: How To Answer What Are Your Weaknesses
#1) I tend to be overly critical of myself. Whenever I complete a project, I cant help but feel that I could have done more even if my work received a positive response. This often leads me to overwork myself and leaves me feeling burned out. Over the past few years, Ive tried to take time to look at my achievements objectively and celebrate those wins. This has not only improved my work and my confidence, but it has helped me to appreciate my team and other support systems that are always behind me in everything I do.
#2) I am incredibly introverted, which makes me wary of sharing my ideas in a group setting or speaking up during team meetings. I feel that I had good intentions, I just wasn’t always comfortable speaking up. After my team didnt meet expectations on two consecutive projects, I decided to start making changes to get more familiar with sharing my ideas for the benefit of my team. I took local improv classes and started trying to get comfortable discussing my thoughts. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s something that I’ve improved dramatically over the past year.
#4) I’m not familiar with the latest version of the software that you use. Ive spent my time recently focused on generating a positive user experience and have always been willing to learn new things. Throughout my career software has always changed and Ive always been willing to adapt to changing technology. I will put in the time it takes to learn this new software.
Read Also: Preparing For System Design Interview
A Particular Hard Skill
Example: âMy writing skills are very strong: Iâve been a copywriter and content creator for the past ten years and during this decade, Iâve had the chance to learn from some of the best in the industry. So much so, that my work has been published in Forbes, The Inc, Entrepreneur, and other major publications.â â
âHere’s a list of skills for various professions and industries you can use:
Office and Administrative Job Skills
- Data Entry
Need more ideas for hard skills? View our list on adding resume skills to your resume.
How One Should Talk About Their Strengths
Now to answer this question that how anyone should talk about their strengths is, the most important and first thing the person should do is to take time and identify his or her strengths and then practice about them that how you are going to talk about your strengths in advance. So, in this way, you can prepare yourself for your dream job. Now lets get started by identifying your biggest strengths and how we can do this, we can do this by the process which is given below-
You May Like: Mailscoop Io
Think About Weaknesses In Your Own Personal Life
If you humanize yourself in the interview, itll allow your interviewer to connect and visualize working with you in the future. Its not just about weaknesses that pertain to the job. For example, if you are an introvert and you notice your preference for quiet time stops you from taking risks, this is a relatable weakness. When you demonstrate your self-awareness this way, it shows you understand that self-improvement correlates to work performance.
I Dont Know My Own Strengths
If you get stuck trying to develop a list your strengths, try these techniques:
1. Get a second opinion.
Ask a trusted friend or colleague what they think are your greatest strengths.
2. Dig for clues.
Go back to previous performance reviews and analyze the positive feedback. Dig up old emails praising your work . If youre a student or new grad, think about the feedback that youve received from professors and supervisors from past internships and jobs.
3. Review your resume.
Look for common themes in your achievements. Sometimes, were so close to the subject that we lose perspective. Try to read your resume with fresh eyes as if it was the resume of an admired friend. What stands out?
4. Get scientific.
Try the StrengthsFinder assessment. You can answer a series of questions and get a report that summarizes your top strengths. This should spark some ideas and/or help you focus your thinking. I use StrengthsFinder with many of my coaching clients and the results can really help with your professional and personal development. Many corporations also ask their employees to take the StrengthsFinder assessment as a foundation for their performance improvement plans.www.StrengthsFinder.com
Don’t Miss: Top 10 Behavioral Questions
What Is Your Greatest Strength Answer Samples
- /
When interviewers ask what is your greatest strength?, there are a couple of things theyre looking to hear. There are also a few things they really do NOT want to hear.
So in this article, were going to look at some sample answers for what is your greatest strength, and tips for creating your own answer that will impress the interviewer.
Lets get started
Why Employers Ask Strengths And Weaknesses Questions
When employers ask about your strengths and weaknesses, they want to know more about how you work. It can also give them insight into how aware you are about where you excel and where you can improve. Giving an honest answer that details how you achieved certain strengths and how you’re working toward overcoming your weakness shows how you can contribute to the company.
You may hear a variation of the “strengths and weaknesses” question, so it’s helpful to prepare for some variations, like, “What would your last supervisor say your greatest strengths and weaknesses are?”
You May Like: Best Interview Clothes For A Woman
Example Weakness : Self
I can be too critical of myself. A pattern Ive noticed throughout my career is that I often feel I could have done more, even if objectively, Ive done well. Earlier in my career, this led to burnout and negative self-talk. One solution Ive implemented over the last three years is to actively pause and celebrate my achievements. Not only has this helped my own self-esteem, but it has also helped me genuinely appreciate and recognize my team and other support systems.
Greatest Strength Answer Sample For Service Industry
Im very communicative and really get along with people.
After 3 years of experience in the service industry, I have no problem with building instant rapport and actively engaging with customers.
Im also pretty good at performing under pressure. At Restaurant X, there was constant chaos, especially during peak season.
The place was completely packed at all times, and the whole thing felt like a race against time. I actually enjoyed the experience, though. Ended up going back 3 summers in a row.
Also Check: Women’s Outfit For Job Interview
