So I've an interview later today for a new role in a new company.

I'm ready in so far I have my questions to ask them, and have knowledge of the company, etc.

Then it comes to the old favoured, can you list good points of your career / job / working style - yes of course I can, I am fan'bloody'tastic, work all the hours under the sun to get the job done, can motivate anyone to do anything, my skills are second to none, etc, etc

...and then the dreaded, can you list your weaknesses, ooo bugger, I freeze up every time, what do I say, my weaknesses are pretty blonde haired secretaries, kryptonite, my love of marmite (you do either love it or hate it), my binge drinking at the weekend leading to whole day and night black outs, my inability to work past 3pm or start prior to 9am, my love of speeding (got caught again this week, but was left off ).

Or do I say something more related to the job in hand, such as I normally find that my bosses are dicks and i am better than them, this has been factually correct throughout my whole career.

or do I really come up with something that makes them say, yes he recognises his weaknesses but can over come them...

Please help y'all

Interviewer: "So, what are your weaknesses?"
Jim: "I'm very honest"
Interviewer: "I don't think that's a weakness"
Jim: "I don't give a f*** what you think"

Embezzlement.

This one is good as well:



Personally I'd say don't be too well rehearsed for the 'weakness' question. I've seen people answer it like they were reading a prepared statement and it comes across as being very false.

I don't usually ask the question, but when my boss interviews with me (fortunately a rare event these days) he generally uses it and I'm always mentally willing the candidate to say, "I'm lazy, slap-dash and I phone in sick every Friday".

The difficulty with the weakness question is that by answering it, you are showing an acceptance and knowledge of a weakness, yet if it is still present then you have done nothing about it.

My advice would be to turn it round slightly to 'My weakness used to be xxxxxxxxx but I have done yyyyyyyyy to ensure I improve myself'.

Weakness questions are irrelevant if the interviewer does not know what to do with the response!

Nothing worse than having a 'textbook' interview. Remember - an interview is for the benefit of both parties. They want an employee just as much as you want an employer.

Michael

I disagree; everybody is better at some things than others and anybody who tried to tell me that wasn't the case would make me think that either (a) they were completely lacking in self-awareness or (b) mediocre at everything.

I'd rather honestly know what somebody's weaknesses were so I could plan how they'd fit into my team than have to take them on blind and find out over the course of weeks what they were rubbish at.

I never ask it. I ask what aspects of their current job do they find frustating, which bits of the job do they enjoy, which bits would they rather not do if they had a choice.

How about "puddings" as an answer Jim?

Expecting too much of my team, I have to consider that not everyone is as capable as me... I use this one and it works every time, amend to your particular area and type of work. For instance if you are a mechanic, you only need to be shown once how to fix something...not everybody takes in information in one hit and it can take a few attempts with the daft

You also might get asked about a mistake you have recently made, what happened and how did you fix it. Also remember to show how the mistake will never happen again, changes the work instructions, updated a process..lessons learnt.

Someone once told me that their weakness was timekeeping.

I admired the honesty but they didn't get the job.

The whole thing is a game, though, isn't it? You're not going to give an open and frank account of how you have never fulfilled your potential because you don't find it easy to be a team player or whatever. The interviewer wants to see that the candidate has some self-awareness (as Andrew says) and can recognise areas for improvement. They want an answer (as they do to most questions) that demonstrates a thinking, intelligent human that can successfully do the job they are being interviewed for.

It's like CV's. Unless every job you do is a carbon copy of the last one, you'd be nuts not to tweak your CV to reflect the best side of you relative to each position you're applying for. As a prospective employer I'd expect it - it saves you time, for a start, not having to trawl through the irrelevant stuff (however interesting).

I should point out that I haven't interviewed anyone for a job since 1988 and that I've only applied for a couple myself in that time, so what do I know?

I've carried out 10 interviews this year at Visa and i'm starting to get better at it. You would be surprised at how educated a person can be whilst being as thick as two planks and unable to hold a conversation...

Your CV has played its part by getting you through the door, be ready to elaborate on the stages where you think they will focus.

The question that all of us could improve upon is...tell us a bit about yourself? I'm crap at this and generally under sell myself.

Say that you are still reduced to seeking advice from a bunch of cranky 15+ year-old car owners?

This isn't quite true. I have already been offered the job, as my boss will be an ex colleague, if I go through with it all. But the company wants to do the correct thing and get an independent person to interview me..

And my potential boss told me my interviewee is a bit of a pain and to expect some detailed questions and grilling...

So tonight should be the interview and the money talk

Thanks, most of you, for your help..

I wish you the best of luck.
Just point out that any salary will directly help UK manufacturing & employment by going straight to Fiat Coupe specialists & suppliers. You're doing your bit to help the country.

Michael

I hope your old bosses would not be able to answer this - it would be a little contradictory

Hope it goes well!

And the cranky owners of 15+ year-old cars...

Say you're rubbish at PowerPoint, if you get the job it is immediately 200% better.

How did it go Jim?

For my current job I responded that I tend to leave things to the last minute as this means I can always work to the last requirement and find it easier to focus on the task.

2 years later he said "When you told me you leave things to the last minute, I didn't realise you meant the very last fing minute"

"mental age of 15" ....Took me a while to get that one

Very well thanks RK. They never even asked about my weaknesses which was a shame, as from the advice above I was going to offer him an apple pie then tell him to f*** off as I had been playing with 15 year old boys in cars and was then going to embezzle his company, after turning up late, or something like that...

It was an odd interview, as it started with the statement of "you know the role you came here for, well we want you for this one!"

The new role is much better suited for me, I said yes, they need to work out the new structure and all being well I should get a phone call midweek and a return meeting to discuss the £££

Great, well done. Always nice to know you're wanted

Hope the job goes as well! Good luck.

Congrats. Good luck!

PMSL

New post for you..

Crucial posts from us

Congrats

I got the job, the offer came out yesterday, we haggled on salary and I got the victory, so I have just sent my formal acceptance

Will be handing my notice in on Friday and start the long arduous process of a 3 months notice period

Well, congratulations!