If one of your personal strengths is EI, it means that you can stay calm under pressure, effectively resolve conflicts, be empathetic to co-workers, and lead by example. You need to appear humble and willing to learn without scaring off the hiring manager with a monumental weakness that you can’t overcome. I typically love to work outside of my job description and do whatever is asked of me. Follows up on progress of actions. Here are some useful tips on shortlisting them: When planning your answers, it's a good idea to categorise the various strengths that you wish to present and prepare a few examples from each category: Hard skills are learnt; they may be skills acquired during your education or within the workplace. You finish the work you are assigned and never let people down. Don’t be caught out – if they’re giving you an open opportunity to talk about your strengths, then it’s this question. If it’s a required skill, then it’s probably best not to focus on it too closely, as every candidate will have that skill. The answers you use in the interview should feel natural and unscripted, so that you can adapt to the wording of the question and use your own experiences. The question may seem harder than it really is. ", "What makes you the ideal candidate for this job? I was so stressed leading up to the event, and I narrowly pulled it off. I called the developer, and they fixed it right away. Of course, you don’t want to answer all of these questions in the same way and come across as robotic. ", "What do you feel sets you apart from the competition? At my internship over the summer, I was working the support line and received a call from a disgruntled customer who had been dropped from our service. After my team didn’t meet expectations on two consecutive projects, I decided to start making changes to get more familiar with sharing my ideas for the benefit of my team. Different Ways of Asking the Strengths Question, How to Assess and Select Your Best Strengths, 2. After all, you’ll seem arrogant if you say that you don't have any flaws, but if you respond with too many negative attributes, you may jeopardize your chances of securing a position. Any project, no matter how well-designed, is useless if isn't followed through. Being able to identify areas of improvement demonstrates that you are a well-rounded candidate. Your aim is not to convince the interviewer that you are the world’s best employee. Throughout the interview, try to look out for opportunities to communicate the strengths that are most relevant to the role. I’ve spent my time recently focused on generating a positive user experience and have always been willing to learn new things. Resume, CV and Cover Letter Writing Expert. Knowing how to answer, “what are your weaknesses” will set you up for success in your job search. #6) When I’m given a task, I am very goal-oriented and work hard to complete that task. This is a fantastic way to make sure that each of your answers is structured effectively. It's still a work in progress, but it's something that I've improved dramatically over the past year. Prepare well, however, and this question can be used to your advantage. You get real questions, winning answers and expert advice – all specific to your target job. Examples of Strengths You Can Use. These are less easy to quantify but could include interpersonal and transferable skills. In fact, when I started at my last company, their sales were declining, and under my leadership, I was able to increase revenue in consecutive years, by 7% and 5%, respectively. I am just as comfortable speaking to senior executives as I am junior team members. Practice, practice, practice. An overview of creative thinking with examples. Be prepared for follow-up questions to be asked. This caused me to compromise sometimes on the quality of my work or what I needed to complete a project just to keep the peace. Having to jump between tasks, so many times throughout the day hinders my productivity and prevents me from delivering my best work. However, when new projects come across my plate, I sometimes jump right into those projects and halt work on the projects I had in progress. My editor didn’t realize this until two hours before the deadline. It seems simple enough, but these four words present something of a minefield for candidates. One specific example that comes to mind is when I was asked to complete a project that a fellow colleague forgot about. Cookies help us deliver our site. Too few implies a lack of confidence or – worse still – a lack of skills. As you already know, throughout the interview process, you will be asked to answer some tough questions. All rights reserved. #3) I tend to want to take on complete projects all on my own without any outside help. Too much humility, and you’ll undersell your achievements and skills, leading the employer to think you’re less competent than you are. “I am highly adaptable to change. You may also be interested in these topics: How to Answer 'What Is Your Greatest Weakness?'. By now you should have a solid answer to that “What are your strengths?”, but what do you say when you are asked to describe your greatest weaknesses?