Your biggest weakness

[gricole]

Hi guys,

Do you think that identifying self-doubt as something that you struggled in the past would provide a credible answer to this interview question? I've explained why I developed it at my junior university years and all the steps that I have taken to overcome it (e.g. taking various positions of responsibility) and that I am aware of having to manage it?

 

[Jaysen]

Hi guys,

Do you think that identifying self-doubt as something that you struggled in the past would provide a credible answer to this interview question? I've explained why I developed it at my junior university years and all the steps that I have taken to overcome it (e.g. taking various positions of responsibility) and that I am aware of having to manage it?

What do you mean by self-doubt? Confidence in yourself?

 

[gricole]

What do you mean by self-doubt? Confidence in yourself?

Yes, I had a very rough first year at uni which resulted in me being in the very unusual situation of losing confidence. Since I've been conscious of this problem and I've done many things to regain my confidence in my capabilities back.

 

[Jaysen]

Yes, I had a very rough first year at uni which resulted in me being in the very unusual situation of losing confidence. Since I've been conscious of this problem and I've done many things to regain my confidence in my capabilities back.

Go for it. The best way to answer this question is to be genuine (provided your issue isn't too devastating -- and yours isn't). The problem is when students give weaknesses like "I work too hard" which looks bad because its artificial, or weaknesses like "I have trouble delegating" which is too cliché.

 

[Helena]

Yes, I had a very rough first year at uni which resulted in me being in the very unusual situation of losing confidence. Since I've been conscious of this problem and I've done many things to regain my confidence in my capabilities back.

I think it's great that you are overcoming this and that you have taken on positions of responsibility, but I am wary of you bringing that up as a weakness in an application. The important thing about a weakness is to flip it immediately into a positive so you could say that while in the past you sometimes lacked confidence, you trained yourself to see the valuable opportunities in challenges ahead and took on leadership roles and the strong relationships you established after doing so. If however the firm you are applying to specifically targets confidence as a skill they are looking for, I wouldn't mention your lack of it.

 

[gricole]

Thank you. Yes, I think I will emphasise the self-doubt point rather than explicitly mentioning confidence. And I will quickly turn to what I did to overcome it - i.e. becoming a president of a student society etc.

 

[AJ]

I agree with Jaysen. Tempting though it maybe, don't mention something artificial. Be genuine. Sometimes the interviewer just wants to gage personality rather than a competency.
... In an interview I had this as a question once. Before I could back up my answer and spin it into a positive, the interviewer said it was their weakness as well and the interview moved on. Never got to mention what I was doing about it. It didn’t seem to matter as I ended up getting the role.

 

[Leke]

I agree with Jaysen. Tempting though it maybe, don't mention something artificial. Be genuine. Sometimes the interviewer just wants to gage personality rather than a competency.
... In an interview I had this as a question once. Before I could back up my answer and spin it into a positive, the interviewer said it was their weakness as well and the interview moved on. Never got to mention what I was doing about it. It didn’t seem to matter as I ended up getting the role.

I agree with all that has been said so far. I once went to an interview and mentioned a certain bland weakness as a weakness and I got told by the Partners that my weakness was not geniune in a low-key way. Someway they could see that I was just making it up. Key point = Fake weaknesses are hard to fake and harder to talk about how you overcomed or struggled with them.

 

[Naomi]

I agree with Jaysen. Tempting though it maybe, don't mention something artificial. Be genuine. Sometimes the interviewer just wants to gage personality rather than a competency.
... In an interview I had this as a question once. Before I could back up my answer and spin it into a positive, the interviewer said it was their weakness as well and the interview moved on. Never got to mention what I was doing about it. It didn’t seem to matter as I ended up getting the role.

Out of interest, although you don't have to say obviously, but what did you say?

 

[AJ]

Out of interest, although you don't have to say obviously, but what did you say?

Time management and more specifically it impacting the ability to manage the volume of email traffic flow

 

[Deleted member 613]

This sounds extremely ridiculous, but I am really struggling to think of a weakness - obviously I definitely have one, but it isn't coming to mind. Does anyone have any prompts? For example, I know many people struggle with public speaking (I personally do not) or some people "say yes too much" but I'm not sure if the latter is too superficial?

 

[Hazal]

This sounds extremely ridiculous, but I am really struggling to think of a weakness - obviously I definitely have one, but it isn't coming to mind. Does anyone have any prompts? For example, I know many people struggle with public speaking (I personally do not) or some people "say yes too much" but I'm not sure if the latter is too superficial?

I would say...think of instances where you've felt uncomfortable in a scenario. For me, I'd look back to when I was working in retail and a customer was being difficult/rude and how I reacted to it. It requires some soul-seeking and being really critical with yourself. You're bound to be bad at some activities over others? In the instance of saying yes too much, I think there's a way to spin that to make it a credible weakness. Don't use those words ("yes too much"), I think it's better to describe it as taking too much on, responsibility-wise, and not delivering to a good standard/missing deadlines?

 

[Deleted member 613]

I would say...think of instances where you've felt uncomfortable in a scenario. For me, I'd look back to when I was working in retail and a customer was being difficult/rude and how I reacted to it. It requires some soul-seeking and being really critical with yourself. You're bound to be bad at some activities over others? In the instance of saying yes too much, I think there's a way to spin that to make it a credible weakness. Don't use those words ("yes too much"), I think it's better to describe it as taking too much on, responsibility-wise, and not delivering to a good standard/missing deadlines?

Thank you, that makes sense, my only worry is that by saying I take too much on/don't deliver to a good standard, it can be interpreted by firms negatively?

 

[Hazal]

Thank you, that makes sense, my only worry is that by saying I take too much on/don't deliver to a good standard, it can be interpreted by firms negatively?

No problem . So at this point you would say what you've done to combat your weakness. Give examples etc. I think they're just looking for self-awareness, not the weakness itself, so knowing how to make yourself better is a good trait/sign.

 

[Felicia]

A key thing that has been told to me is like what others have mentioned is to make your weakness sound reliable and also if the question allows give ways in which you have actively tried to improve on that weakness e.g. if public speaking is your weakness you could perhaps mention how you've taken on more speaking opportunities and/or joined a debate club etc