If you were asked "What is your biggest flaw?" at a job interview what would be your answer?

“I do not respond well to stupid questions.”

Doubt you’d be getting hired then lol.

More likely that kind of question will be phrased more like “Tell me what you think are some of your strengths and weaknesses.” At least that’s how I always asked it when I was hiring. It’s a fair question that you can certainly prepare for by doing a bit of honest self-analysis.

My dad told me that a safe way to answer this question is to say “I don’t delegate as often as I should”. It shows that you work hard and don’t expect others to do your dirty work. Personally, I’m never sure how to answer this. My flaws (in the work place) are that I don’t cope well under pressure and don’t stand up for myself enough. Both of these things make me appear weak.

@ Pachy things have changed somewhat there are many different types of questions the interviewer will ask like scenario questions it’s not the old straight forward Strengths and Weaknesses anymore.

“Well @safie, since you’re so up to date on what will be asked, you should surely be able to prepare yourself accordingly. Good luck.

@ OpryLeigh your dad’s a smart man and your answer is a good one for sure i usually smile take a drink of water gives me time to think as fast as i can to come up with something.

@ Pachy thanks but when one is in the actual situation the mind can suddenly go blank :)

Accepting that in order to meet deadlines, sometimes good enough has to be sufficient. I like to do the best job I can, but time and circumstances mean ‘good enough’ is what is required.

I would say I don’t know. I don’t wonder about such things. I just focus on work.

I usually come up with something I tend to do, like sometimes overthink things, and then give a couple of ways I work around this. “I tend to overthink things at times, but I compensate by setting a schedule and sticking to it. Or I’ll set short term goals to get my project done. So it shows I look at how I work, but I also shows how I deal with it.

I would be honest but then follow up with a positive of how I deal with my weakness, for example I can take too many things on and become flustered and forgetful but I overcome this by writing lots of to do lists and prioritise tasks.

@ Pachy thanks but when one is in the actual situation the mind can suddenly go blank :)

Yes, I understand, but there’s less chance of that if you do a lot of prep. Why not ask a friend to “interview” you for a job, and have him or her make it a tough one?

^ I think that’s a very good idea @Pachy. Also, while the questions may not be phrased in exactly the same way, the themes are often the same. So prepare for questions that focus on certain ideas rather than specific questions. What will you bring to this position to enhance how we do business? How might you deal with a confrontational client? and the like.

Modesty.

@Shrubbery a very good idea indeed!

I like being given a task and working alone. In reality, if I’m at a job where I have get things done, I like to do them and leave, but if I have leeway I like to BS. It hust depends on the job.

@SecondHandStok like how you think.

Never say a cop out answer like “I work too hard” even if it’s true. You’ll sound like a liar. State a real flaw but then give an example of how you temper that flaw in a productive way.

@Mariah well said!

I am too honest.

According to some, at some times I can appear quite bloodless and dispassionate – uninvolved, even apathetic. So I would point to these lines from Yeats’ The Second Coming:

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

I certainly lack the “passionate intensity” that Yeats attributed to “the worst”. I do have convictions, and strong ones, but I also have doubts, so I’m not much of a cheerleader or blind follower, either. I’m no Myrmidon. But those aren’t defects; the defect: I’m not the best, but I tend toward a belief sometimes that I’m the best one in the room, and that comes across, often and strongly, as arrogance. I’m working on that.

If I fart from nerves, i’ll laugh like a 7yr old girl & get hiccups.

My greatest flaw is my greatest strength, I care too much.
(I don’t know if this meets the prevailing proscribed and advisable admissions, but there it is. This causes all kinds of trouble and reprisals in my everyday life. I often think how much easier life would be if I could only arrive at the point where I don’t “give a shit”. )

The response below comes with a nice image
It’s the one on the right; suitable for old men like me, anyway. Of course, the image on the left is nice, too, but not germane to this response.

Job Interview:

Human Resources Manager: “What is your greatest weakness?”

Old Man : “Honesty.”

Human Resources Manager: “I don’t think honesty is a weakness.”

Old Man : “I don’t really give a shit what you think.”

@CWOTUS LMAO GA. I’d hire him in a flash. I hate brown nosers.

Brownnosing:

Like so much else it’s effectiveness is in it’s subtlety.

Trying to find a balance between work and home life, because traditionally you get so committed and involved at work that other goals you have suffer like exercising and eating as well as you would like to.

Would you hire me, @Adirondackwannabe? I don’t give a shit what you hate.