What are your strengths?
It's a high-stakes question.
If you can make the interviewer see your strengths
and understand why they're uniquely suited to the role,
it can significantly advance you toward landing the job.
But we're always worried about talking
about the wrong strength, or talking
about the right strength in a way that feels over-the-top.
That's why I went to the Indeed career coaches
to get some information on what interviewers want to hear
when they ask this question.
How do I identify the best strengths
to share in an interview?
And a really cool strategy for talking about your gifts
in a way that's professional and confident.
Oh, be sure to stick around to the end for a list of strengths
you definitely should not share in an interview.
By knowing what not to say, you can rise above the competition.
All right, so let's get started by figuring out
why interviewers ask this question in the first place,
and what they want to hear you say.
When a hiring manager asks about your strengths,
they want to hear three key things.
First, is that you have the self-awareness
to reflect on your performance in the workplace.
So basically, you know what your strengths are.
Point blank.
Second, is that you have proof to back up those claims.
You can explain why your strengths really
are your strengths.
And then third, is why these qualities innately prepare you
for success in the role.
So, you know your strengths, you can prove that you have them,
but why do they matter when we're talking about them
in the context of this job interview?
Now even if you aren't directly asked about your strengths,
look for opportunities to showcase them.
In every interview, your goal is, of course,
to demonstrate your skills and experiences that
are most relevant and compelling for the role.
Sometimes, people think that the smartest approach
to answering this question is simply
to repeat the ideal qualities that a candidate would have as
listed in the job description.
Well, there's a part of that is really on track.
You do want to consider not just what strengths you have,
but which strengths are most relevant for the role.
It can actually come across as inauthentic.
And if an employer asks you, "Oh, well tell me about a time
when you demonstrated that strength,"
you might not have anything substantive to say.
So, I have a strategy from the Indeed career coaches that
can help you approach this in a way that's
both strategic and sincere.
Rather than running to the job description,
step one of this strategy is to reflect inward and identify
your true strengths.
So the goal here is to brainstorm.
Make a long list that we can whittle down later.
So just go ahead and figure out your superpowers.
Ask yourself the question of, what am I really good at?
What do I have to offer?
When you're figuring out your strengths,
sometimes it can be helpful to go through categories.
So I have a few categories of strengths here.
First is experience.
Basically, do you have a lot of time
working in a certain industry, a lot of experience
working in a certain task or with a certain skill?
Do you have a particular niche of customers or technology
that you've worked with in the past?
Second is soft skills.
So these are skills that basically
impact how we do our work.
Are you great at managing people?
Are you great at leadership skills?
Are you a strong negotiator?
Are you really organized?
A great time manager?
Then there's hard skills.
These are more task-oriented.
So, do you have a language fluency?
Are you a great computer programmer?
Are you a copywriter?
Anything that actually enables you to do a particular task,
that's a hard skill.
And then finally is education and training.
Do you have an educational background
or degrees that really prepare you
for success or expertise in this field?
This can be everything, like I said,
from college degrees to special certifications,
or even relevant internships from back
when you were in school.
If you're feeling stuck, try expanding
beyond your own perspective.
Check out old performance reviews,
or feedback from your peers praising your work.
If there's any repeating themes there,
consider that as a possible strength.
Alternatively, if you haven't been in a work environment yet,
think about what your professors or peers have said
in regards to your former work.
Or think about past internships.
By starting from this reflective, authentic place,
you're demonstrating sincerity and self-awareness,
which is already a cut above other candidates
who haven't done this exercise.
Now, I'm going to explain how to narrow down that list
and identify the best strengths to mention in the interview.
But before I do, if you watched this far, please
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advice.
All right, let's move on to the next step.
Step two is to prioritize the strengths you mentioned based
on the relevancy to the role.
Now that we have this long list of brainstorm strengths
from step one, we're trying to figure out,
how do I prioritize what I mentioned to an employer?
What's going to be most compelling to them?
And, obviously, now this is when we return back
to the job description.
We see the list of strengths and the qualities
they're looking for from a candidate
and then we compare that to our list,
and then we see about the overlap there.
If there's overlap, great.
You can already and more authentically and persuasively
speak about those strengths because they came from you,
and you have stories and things to back them up.
However, if you don't have a ton of overlap,
or if you think there's this quality that I have
that they don't explicitly say they're looking for,
but I think it's really important to the role, great.
I really recommend that you mention that.
And I do so because most candidates will just simply
go to that original list and regurgitate what
are the qualities of the job description.
So, if you can think creatively about the unique value
that you can offer, and sometimes even say, hey
possible employer, I know you didn't
mention that this is something that you needed, but I actually
think you really need it, and I have it.
That's pretty persuasive and is a much more authentic
and sometimes distinguishing offering,
than candidates who just focus on the overlap.
So, I highly recommend you to think creatively
about what's really necessary for success in this role.
So with this in mind, hone that long list
of brainstorm strengths down to the three that you feel
are most impactful and relevant to the role,
with the understanding that you'll likely only be
asked to talk about one.
Step three is to specify.
So now that you have the relevant strengths
that you know you're going to talk about, really
consider strategically the language
that you are going to use to describe them.
If your answer is yes when you ask yourself,
"could most people say this thing about themselves?",
then it's time to pick another strength.
So, for example, instead of people skills,
go with something more descriptive
or unique, like client management,
relationship-building, or conflict resolution.
By honing in on what the exact thing is that you're great at,
you're going to have a more unique and clear
professional offering to distinguish yourself
from other candidates, and your employer
is going to have a more concrete idea of how you'll exactly
use the skill to succeed in the role.
All right, step four is to prepare to demonstrate.
So now we know what our strengths are, and we
know the specific language we're going to use to describe them,
but that's not enough.
If you're going to lay claim to a strength,
you had better be able to back it up.
And rather than just telling why you
think you have that strength, it's
really great if you can show that you
have that strength by telling a really compelling story
to the employer.
So, when it comes to storytelling in an interview,
there's a whole bunch of techniques that people use,
but the one that we recommend is called the S-T-A-R technique,
or STAR technique.
That just means you describe the situation you are in,
the task you had or what you felt you had to do,
the action you took, and the result you achieved.
Kind of a lot, I know, but basically,
what was the situation, what did you do about it, and so what,
or what was the impact?
If you want more information on structuring your answers
in an interview, I highly recommend
you check out this video right here
on behavioral interviewing.
Step 5 is to emphasize impact.
Impact is actually the most important component
of your response because, when an employer asks
to hear about your strengths, they're not just
wanting to know, OK, what are your strengths,
and give me an example to prove that you really have them.
They're wanting to know, how will this person's strengths
help my company succeed.
In order to know whether or not you are demonstrating
convincing impact, try asking yourself the question, so what?
OK?
So you may have been successful as a result of your strength
in your past job.
So what for the new employer?
You need to make sure that you make
the connection between this strength
and how it's going to benefit the company.
So get specific about team goals, about company OKRs,
about any details that you can concretely
tie to how this is going to really benefit the employer.
I have an example impact statement written down here.
So a great impact statement could
be, "my history of high-quality project management
will fully set me up for entering the startup
environment where new programs seek rapid growth
but don't have any structure in place.
These big ambitions require thoughtful organization,
which is something I have proven experience in developing."
Pro tip, rambling here can actually
make you seem more nervous than you really are.
It's recommended that your answer
is one to two minutes when you're talking
about your greatest strengths.
For more tips on how to seem really confident and composed
in an interview, I recommend checking out this video right
here.
Now, as promised in the beginning, let's
talk about what you should avoid when
talking about your strengths, and even specific strengths
that you shouldn't mention.
There are three common mistakes that people
make when discussing their strengths in an interview.
Mistake one is lacking self-awareness.
It takes a lot of insight and thoughtfulness
to understand the strengths that you have.
It actually shows that you're reflective and deliberate
about the way you approach your work.
If you're searching for answers or don't
have anything sincere or unique to say,
it can actually make you seem unsure of yourself.
Mistake number two is selling yourself short.
Many candidates aren't comfortable talking
about their greatness.
It can feel sort of cheesy to try and sell yourself,
or maybe you're introverted and this kind of discussion
is really uncomfortable.
First off, now is the time to brag.
You're in an interview.
So do your best to feel comfortable
discussing what you're really good at.
However, I know that's a lot easier said than done.
So I do have a quick tip here which
is, if you're uncomfortable in this situation,
try to show rather than tell.
Really lean into those examples.
Rather than feeling like, oh, I'm
being pretentious or weird by laying claim to this strength
and saying that I have it, just state it simply and then spend
most of your time talking about the past actions
that you took to back that up and letting
your behavior speak for itself.
Mistake number three is choosing ordinary strength.
Remember, don't pick a strength that most people
could lay claim to.
In this case, rarity and scarcity
creates value and sort of a unique professional offering.
If they want someone who has that, they need to come to you.
For example, a strength to avoid saying is being a hard worker.
Well that might be true, and it's certainly admirable.
There's nothing uniquely desirable about it.
Instead, you can say that you are relentless
in pursuit of a deadline.
That you are volunteering constantly
to take on new projects.
Or that you are eager to pursue solutions
and are a great problem-solver in order
to rise to any occasion.
All of those things are much more specific
than just being a hard worker.
All right, let's quickly recap how
to answer what are your strengths.
Step one is to identify your authentic and sincere
strengths.
Taking a look at performance feedback
can be a great place to start.
Two is to narrow that list down to the three strengths that
are most relevant to the role.
And don't be afraid to go beyond the job description
by thinking critically about what can you
offer this job or company that would be really valuable.
Three is describe those strengths
using specific language.
Remember that scarcity is valuable.
Four is to demonstrate your strengths
through stories of success.
Lean into that S-T-A-R response method.
Five is to emphasize impact.
How was this strength useful to your former employer,
and how will it be an asset to your future one?
And six, demonstrate self-awareness.
Sell yourself and really hone in on your unique professional
offering.
If you found this video helpful, please
let us know by hitting the like button down below,
subscribe to our channel right here.
For more interviewing advice, check out
this playlist up here.
There's a ton of videos there to help you out.
And if you'd like another video on how
to answer particularly tricky interview question,
"tell me about yourself," check out this video right here.
All right, I hope you found this helpful,
and I will see you next time.