Your answer should be right on the tip of your tongue – because we will work on it right now. The first thing to make clear is that you should only ever discuss a 'professional' weakness, unless the interviewer specifically requests otherwise, which is extremely unlikely. In a nutshell, the interviewer wants to know that you are able to look at yourself objectively and criticise yourself where appropriate. TWO CHOICES TO TAKE WHEN ANSWERING You don't just want to come up with a straightforward list of what you consider your weaknesses to be. You basically have two choices: - Talk about a weakness that's not necessarily a weakness at all. - Talk about a weakness that you turned (or can turn) into a strength. The problem with the first option is that you risk running into serious cliché territory. I'm talking about the kind of people who answer: - I would have to say that my main weakness is that I'm a perfectionist. - I have a reputation for working too hard; I often push myself far too hard in my work.
You risk sounding like you plucked your answer straight out of a 1990s manual on interview technique. Personally, I prefer the second option: Talk about a weakness that you turned - or are turning - into a strength. You are answering the interviewer's question by highlighting a definite weakness, but you then go on to reflect positively on this by outlining the active steps you have taken or are taking to overcome it. You are demonstrating a willingness to learn, adapt and improve and that you have the initiative required to make changes where changes are due. Choosing a weakness that has its root in lack of experience and therefore has been (or is being) overcome by further training is ideal because it is a weakness that is relatively easily resolved. Kryptonite: Saying none or answering something silly like kryptonite might not go down with the interviewer MORE THAN ONE WEAKNESS? NOT KRYPTONITE! Do be prepared for the interviewer to ask the follow-up question, 'Okay, that's one weakness.
If you really are a perfectionist, fine, use it, but understand it's way overused. Perfectionism can be a serious drawback. People afflicted with this tendency try to do everything perfectly --which is impossible. As a result, they are constantly revising their plans and second guessing themselves instead of taking action. Obviously things don't get done very quickly if you're always changing direction or tweaking things one more time. Perfectionists also tend to be procrastinators and slow decision makers. In this fast-paced world we live in, this could be a problem for an organization that needs to be competitive and quick to bring their product or service to market. But not so fast. What is wrong with trying to do something to the best of your ability? Most quality systems strive for zero defects and preach getting to the root cause of a quality problem or organizational dysfunction. Companies lose a lot of money because people make mistakes or do shoddy work. Low morale and job dissatisfaction can be the end result, not to mention lost business.