People sometimes worry about this interview question where you’re asked what your weaknesses are. If you read the interview advice books, half of them will tell you to make something up that’s untrue but can be turned into a strength, like “I’m a perfectionist, which makes it hard for me to finish things, but I’m also a workaholic so I’ll be here 90 hours a week to make sure I do”. I think that’s a load of rubbish. (The other half of the interview advice books are even less useful.)
I think this is a BS question, but I don’t want to give a complete BS answer, so I try to answer the question straight up.
This is a question where people usually come up with faux weaknesses that they can turn into strengths for you, like I could say that I’m an obsessive, perfectionist, workaholic with a habit of arriving at work too early.
Well, actually I’m not a perfectionist or workaholic. Not sure about obsessive.
One weakness I do have is that I tend to be bluntly honest and sometimes that offends people. On the other hand, oftentimes people really appreciate the honest approach and lack of bull.
That’s my answer - your mileage may vary. Let me know if you think it’s dumb or brilliant, or somewhere in between, via the comments box below.
