Hi everyone, I'm Amy Bateman from Career Cake TV.
I did a video a couple of months ago with the guys at
Firebrand Talent Search and we had some fantastic feedback,
so thank you.
Now I've spoken to the team and we've decided to do
another video to help you at interview.
And this time I'm going to be looking at the question,
what's your biggest weakness?
So we've all heard those textbook answers that tell you
to pick a weakness that is also a strength.
So something like I'm a complete workaholic.
My family get really frustrated because when I get
a job I throw myself into work.
Or your weakness is I'm a perfectionist.
I want everything around me to be perfect and I get slightly
frustrated when other people don't
want it to be as perfect.
Now the problem is that nobody is that incredible that their
weakness makes them more incredible.
And if you pick a weakness that is so obviously a
strength in the working environment, then people are
going to see straight through that.
So what I would really like, oh and remember, the
interviewer has also been a job seeker and been on
interview, and has probably read the exact same articles
as you and the same textbook answers.
So pick something that you genuinely struggle with.
Nothing too horrendous, however, that
nobody would hire you.
We all know what not to say, I'm sure.
I hope.
No, I'm sure.
So pick something genuine.
Maybe it's that you struggle in conflict situations.
Maybe you struggle with your confidence levels
amongst your peers.
So my weakness used to be public speaking, speaking to
large groups of people.
And in my job, that is a massive weakness.
However, obviously with what I do now, I've overcome that
completely.
But it is something I've really struggled with.
So I want to focus on four steps.
The first step being setting the tone by saying in the past
I've struggled slightly with.
So what you're saying to the interviewer is that in the
past, this weakness is already kind of behind us.
I've struggled slightly with, so this is not a big deal.
With da, ta, da, however, I'm really strong at da, ta, da.
So whatever it is, you're obviously counteracting the
weakness with a fabulous strength.
Then give an example of what you've been doing to overcome
that weakness.
Give exact examples if you can and try and use the past tense
as much as possible.
Because again, we want to make the interviewer feel like
we're dealing with this, we've got this under control.
And then you finish with that really happy story.
So give an example, tell a story of something really
positive where you overcame that weakness.
And you can say you're still working on it if you want to,
that's cool.
So if you were going to pick the public speaking weakness,
you could say, in the past I've struggled slightly with
speaking to large groups of people.
However, I'm really strong at speaking to
smaller groups of people.
I'm really good at building rapport with
people one on one.
What I've done to overcome that is, you might say that
you spent time with colleagues that were really good at it,
you practiced it, you took some coaching, you took a
course, and then give an example, a happy story.
Recently, in fact I did a presentation to a team that
worked in another office of ours, to a
large group of people.
The messages were clear.
I felt confident, feedback from management was that they
were really, really pleased.
So yes, I've come a long way.
I'm still working on it, but I've come a long way.
So that's how you answer that.
In the past I've struggled slightly with, however I'm
really good at, this is what I'm doing to overcome it, and
here's my happy story.
Alright?
Now honesty will get you so far in an interview.
We don't want to say anything, obviously, too horrendous.
We've covered that, but yes, honesty will
get you a long way.
So if you want to catch up with me, you want to see
anymore of my videos, this is my website.
I've got a careers blog.
If you want to catch up with the amazing team at Firebrand
Talent Search, this is their website.
And until next time, take care and good luck with those
interviews.