Admitting weaknesses in job interview – our tips

Why do people respond with ‘no weaknesses’?

What causes this ego to have no weaknesses?

So, how on earth do you answer the question – What is your biggest weakness?

I can pretty much guarantee that every person reading this has been asked at least once in an interview ‘what are your weaknesses?’.

It’s a tricky one, as you are torn between ‘selling’ yourself to your prospective employer yet still coming across as authentic to the individual on the other side of the desk. You don’t want to focus on the negative, however you don’t want the interviewer to see through your answers if you aren’t being genuine.

Everyone has a weakness, so why are candidates often so terrified of admitting it?

As I have progressed through my career, I’ve found it so fascinating and polarising how different responses can be to this question from a wide variety of candidates, both in terms of seniority and their chosen profession.

In my experience, and I am generalizing here, it is the most senior and high calibre candidates who are most comfortable sharing their ‘weaknesses’ with me.

How can that be so, you ask? Well, let’s delve a little further.

First off, Graduates… What are your weaknesses?

As a fresh graduate with the world at your feet and an abundance of enthusiasm, you are aware of your shortcomings, as it is expected – you are green and eager to learn.

You are a very attractive proposition to an employer as they will be able to play a significant role in shaping and growing the endearing graduate who presents before them. You can rattle off your strengths, weaknesses and plans for the future, without hesitation, and to your credit.

I reiterate, I’m generalizing here as I have most definitely come across some overconfident, entitled and out of touch graduates who believe that having a hefty ego and aloof persona is appealing to a prospective employer. 

Let me tell you, it is not. This is a big interview ‘do not’.

Then we have your mid-level cohort – What is your biggest weakness?

This is most definitely where it can a little more interesting. They may be 5-10 years down the road in their chosen career path and have achieved a moderate degree of success as a result. They may be at a mid to senior level within their organization, be managing a small team, and have ‘mastered’ their craft (at least in their mind). They may have been working towards a promotion or a step up in a new organisation.

‘What are your weaknesses?’ asks the interviewer.

They pause for a moment and respond, self-assured and confident;

• ‘I didn’t receive any negative feedback in my most recent performance review’,
• ‘I’m a perfectionist’,
• ‘My team say I am the best manager they have ever had!’,
• ‘I am not aware of any major weaknesses’.

These overwhelmingly common responses I have heard hundreds of times from this exact demographic. So, why is this? 

Surely not all mid-level professionals have achieved perfection at this point in their career?

No, they haven’t. However, is it their fault?

Why do people respond with ‘no weaknesses’?

Putting a positive spin on this, many factors play into this response.

• Honesty: Have their managers been honest with them in their performance appraisals?
• Their past experience: Do they work in a ‘backwards’ organization who views weakness as a career ending admittance?
• Performance: Does their current employer have adequate performance appraisal systems in place?
• Employment: Is their current employer supporting their development? i.e., if they are not being developed and challenged, perhaps they have fallen into a false sense of security.
• Culture: Do they work in a culture of self-improvement? How are they viewed within their organization?

I am not going to attempt to answer these questions now, however these points are food for thought and undoubtedly, there are definitely areas which the employer can take some responsibility for and work with the individual to support and grow.

For candidates who fall into this category, I can only hope that the individual realises this seemingly ‘right’ response to the question is actually doing them such a disservice.

Ultimately it may end up costing them the very promotion they have been working so hard to attain. 

And what about the rest of this group? Why respond with ‘I have no weaknesses?’

On the flip side of this, often these ignorant responses are a direct result of the individuals’ inherent values, background, personality, and lack of self-awareness.

In my experience, accompanying a candidate of mid-level seniority can often come quite a considerable ego.

What causes this ego to have no weaknesses?

• They may be managing a small team, be on an accelerated development plan but with a few ‘gaps’ needing filling before moving to the next level.
• They are confident, enjoying the power they have become accustomed to and can’t see past this and put themselves in the shoes of the interviewer.
• They are not green enough to go into an interview refreshingly honest, yet not quite mature enough to realize that nobody is perfect and not listing your weaknesses is actually doing far more damage.
• It shows a significant lack of self-awareness and says a lot about their character. 

In my opinion, learning and self-improvement is never complete, and this is such an attractive quality to prospective employees.

It shows flexibility, humility, self-awareness and drive to be the best version of yourself. This leads me to the final candidate demographic, who in my experience, are stand out leaders in the answering of the question.

Those with weaknesses – They are senior for a reason

I have found, over many years, it is those at the top of their game who are seemingly most aware of their weaknesses.

I have interviewed quite a number of executive level candidates, many of whom held C-suite positions in some of Australia’s largest organisations or were highly successful entrepreneurs who have subsequently challenged the status quo in their field and have become unbelievably successful.

Not one of these candidates ever confessed ‘I have no weaknesses’.

Lack of Self Awareness = Lack of weaknesses?

Actually, I lie, I do remember one candidate, a senior sales and marketing executive who did speak of having zero weaknesses (shortcomings I believe was the word which was used). My gaze dropped and my recruiter heart sank as until that point the candidate had been flawless.

Outstanding performer, relevant industry experience and a strong leader. Interestingly, upon receiving the psychometric testing results back some days later, the testing did indicate an ultimate lack of self-awareness, and this cost the candidate the role.

A role the individual had been working towards for the past 3 years. We hired a comparable level candidate from a different industry with a clearly high level of self-awareness.

Accompanying this high level of self-awareness was a robust development plan to address a number of weaknesses which we were more than happy to support.

So, how on earth do you answer the question?

Firstly, I don’t particularly like the term weaknesses, I find it somewhat outdated.

The definition of weakness is ‘the state or condition of being weak’. This is absolutely true however in the context of an interview, I much prefer the term ‘developmental areas’. It has a positive undertone as it implies an individual is firstly aware they have areas they need to improve on and it also carries the connotation that these so called ‘weaknesses’ are able to be improved and potentially eradicated with hard work and time.

It is also must easier to respond to the question with a definitive action, outcome and a positive outlook. For example,

‘I have a couple of developmental areas I’m working on. I have poor time management skills. To improve on this, over the past couple of months I have started using an online project management system which has been keeping me on track. I am still working on it, but I have improved considerably’.

Or

‘I’m terrified of speaking to large crowds. I have engaged an executive coach who is working with me on a weekly basis to overcome this fear. I have already spoken at a large business breakfast with far less anxiety much more confidence’.   

So, my advice?

Do not for one second think that an admittance of a weakness or an area you can develop further in implies that you are inferior to the next candidate to walk into the interview room.

Nobody is perfect!

Success = Flaws

I can guarantee you that some of the most successful and powerful individuals in the world have areas they are working on. Does Richard Branson have a weakness? Of course. Is Jacinta Arden the very best version of herself with no room to improve? Unlikely. Is Roger Federer without flaws? Nope (although he’s pretty darn close!). Not knowing any of these heavy hitters personally (obviously!), I bet they are highly self-aware, and could list of multiple development areas should they need to. 

How to answer the question – ‘What is your biggest weakness?’

The key I believe to answering the question is to end on a positive note.

• What are you doing to improve?
• Have you a plan in place?
• How is it going so far?
• What needs to be tweaked to accelerate your development?

This tells the interviewer so much more about your character than the actual response a candidate gives. Having awareness of areas to improve on is far from a weakness.

It shows courage, self-awareness, proactivity, maturity and self-motivation to better oneself. Those traits in a prospective employee sound pretty good to me. 

I’ve seen it happen time and time again. All things being equal, a candidate who is self-aware, authentic and proactive in their development will get the job hands down.

Every single time. 

Written by Emma Moore. Based in Bayside in Melbourne, Emma has spent 15 years in Corporate Talent Acquisition roles in global organizations across Consulting, Professional Services and Telecommunications.  Emma has tertiary qualifications in Psychology, Business (Human Resource Management) and Careers Development and Education. Emma has read and provided feedback on thousands of resumes, interviewed hundreds of candidates and made those all important hiring decisions with her stakeholders. Emma is in a unique position to enable you to represent yourself in the best possible way. She knows exactly what prospective employers like to see and hear throughout the application and interview process as a result of being ‘on the other side of the fence’ for so many years.

Want to work with Emma? Contact her today to set up a CV, Resume, LinkedIn or Interview Coaching session. Emma works in person or remotely.