At an interview there are too many cliches asked for weaknesses and strengths. What would be a creative answer to questions like that?

I would advise that honesty is the best policy. However, if you mention a weakness counter this with how you are managing to overcome that weakness, how you are trying to improve yourself. For example, "When I am busy I struggle to allocate a certain amount of time to a certain project, I get distracted by emails and calls and sometimes get off track. I now portion my day into different projects and try to flag important emails to reply to after I have successfully finished X. This is working well for me, but it is taking a little time to retain my instinctive behaviour."

For weakness : - represent a negative point into a positive way.

                             - choose fixable weaknesses 

 

example : 

My English language was not strong but now I am taking serious steps to improve it. I had taken a number of English courses , ......., and now my English becomes better 

 

No there is not ! 

You just focus on the goal, who interviewed you has a goal, what is it?

You accepts to attend you have a goal, what is it?

In my humble opinion employer has all the rights to ask whatever he need to know.

How to answer the What Are Your Weaknesses? question in a job interview

 

Your only weakness is you’re too amazing, right? But employers don’t always want to hear that. Here’s how to navigate the hardest job interview question this world has ever known!

What is your greatest weakness? Admitting to flaws of any kind in a job interview might seem scary, but don’t worry, be happy! With a good ‘weakness’ answer you could have that employer thinking you’re 100% amazing, and just being modest about it...

The trick is to pick a weakness carefully and sell it just right. So many cliché ‘weakness’ answers out there make employers yawn (or, worse, think you’re conning them). They’ve heard those “I’m amazing” answers before, so avoid these no-nos if you can:

“My greatest weakness...” clichéd answers to avoid

“Sometimes I work just too hard.”

EMPLOYERS THINK: So why ask how much holiday time you’d get?

“I try to do every task too perfectly.”

EMPLOYERS THINK: You’ve got something on the end of your nose, Pinocchio. And it’s getting longer. Oh wait, that is your nose...

“I get too emotionally involved in my work.”

EMPLOYERS SAY: Sounds a bit like something a bit like a reality TV contestant would say...

Those answers all sound good on paper, but in real life these tired-and-tested answers sound like you looked online for the first ‘perfect’ answer to the ‘weaknesses’ question and left it at that.

So how do you answer the 'weaknesses' question in interviews?

Always answer the question

Everyone needs a moment to think for tricky job interview questions and that’s OK! What’s not OK is to say you can’t answer because you haven’t got any weaknesses. Liar, liar, pants on fire... Employers ask this question to discover who you truly are, so they really need you to answer. Always walk into a job interview with pre-prepared weaknesses!

Turn positives into negatives... the right way

DO turn a negative into a positive. Sure, it’s a cliché, but if you pick a strong answer this old trick still works.

Offer a real-life example of a weakness and explain what you have learned since then. Show employers you are willing to look at your weak spots and learn new things!

Show how you’ve improved

Show how you’re improving on your weakness. This will make employers realise you’re the 3 Ws:

• Willing
• Wise
• Worth hiring.

EXAMPLE APPROACH: “I used to be weak in [this area], but here are examples of how I worked on it. Now I aim to improve even more on that past weakness in my next job.”

EXAMPLE ANSWER: “I feel shy at public speaking. In my last work experience I had to deliver a presentation to ten people so I practiced in advance to make sure I would be confident on the day. I am keen to improve in this area and continuing to find new ways to improve my public speaking skills.”

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

Pick a genuine weakness and tell the truth. You’ll come across as more genuine, and your answer won’t sound rehearsed. Employers will love it... honest!

Be truthful, but discrete

We said ‘tell the truth’ and we meant it... but be careful which weaknesses you choose to talk about. Otherwise, employers could realise what your real weakness is. You’re way too honest!

Don’t talk about having a weakness in any skills or qualities which the employer requires for the job. For example, if you’re interviewing for a customer service role where “a polite and helpful nature” is a must, don’t say your weakness is a flash-fire temper and thinking before you speak! If you’re interviewing for a communications internship, it’s better not to say you’re not even sure what all this ‘twitting’ is about anyway...

Have a plan B

Sometimes employers ask you to name more than one weakness to make you think on the fly. Sometimes they won’t be convinced by your first answer, so they’ll ask you for another area where you’d like to improve. How to deal? Always have more than one weakness up your sleeve...

4 ways in which employers might phrase the 'weaknesses' question in interviews

 “What are your greatest weaknesses?” is a question that can be asked in all kinds of ways, but it’s still the same question. See if you can talk about your pre-prepared weaknesses from any of these angles!

• “Why shouldn’t we hire you?”
• “If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you choose?”
• “What are your strengths and weaknesses” (PS make sure you can talk about your strengths too)
• “What qualities do you want to improve on?”

And there you have it. Turn your weaknesses into strengths in a job interview by being positive and prepared. Go get ‘em, Tiger!