Job interview question about weaknesses
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Ask Mr. Religion
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For me the answer to the OP will always be that my greatest weakness is a lack of being able to suffer fools gladly.
In all my past job interviews I have offered up my basic team management principles:
- Become a recognized leader in my chosen profession. I will do so while maintaining my values and ethics.
- Generate substantial wealth for my employer.
- To be able to contribute my talents to their fullest extent, I will sleep no more than 16.67% of the annual work day hours available to me.
- Continue to teach-I will teach at least one class on some relevant subject in my company or elsewhere each year.
- Remember that my personal commitment and integrity is an overriding responsibility.
- Allow my staff to fail--but fail quickly. Give my team RAME (Reasonable, Allowable, Margin for Error).
- Make sure that the career growth of my team members comes before my own career growth.
- Always remember that there will be no non-concurrence by silence.
- Take risks to better myself and others. Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb; that is where the fruit is. (But it is also where the nuts are, so learn to recognize the difference!)
- I will give people around me a reputation to live up to.
- Recognize that there are “No passengers on Planet Earth, only crew.” (Src: Donatello, Teen-Age, Mutant Ninja Turtle) Be a good steward of the earth.
- Manage in the sunshine– share what I know with my staff so they can act without me.
- In my work, I will hold on to the sand that becomes the pearl. Everything else is a make vs. buy decision.
- Embrace diversity within the organization and leverage its potential.
- Always empower others, run interference, get out of the way, and keep them accountable.
- Make it happen or help it happen. I will never watch it happen or let it happen.
- Question every policy or organizational practice that prevents successful decreases in Time-to-Money (TTM).
If the door is opened in the job interview about my core values, I also offer up:
- Live by Christian principles. In all things I will try to make Christ's ethics and morals my own. (Rom 2:7-8)
- Be open to the direction of the Holy Spirit wherever that may lead. (John 14:26)
- Not seek my own glory, I will seek to honor God and have praise be given to those around me. (Rom 15:5-6)
- Be careful with words and actions. (James 1:26)
- Be open, honest, and generous. (2 Cor 9:11)
- Give my best effort in every task. (1 Thes 4:14)
- Work hard in all that I do. (Col 3:23)
- Enthusiastically approach new challenges and all else I do. (2 Cor 9:2)
- Seek the counsel of others frequently and thoughtfully. (Prov 15:22)
- Seek to improve and grow those around and beneath me in work and all other areas. (1 Thes 5:14)
- Never be satisfied with the status quo. I will be an agent of change. (Rom 15:20)
- Never take things too seriously but have a great time in everything, continually enjoying God's blessings. (James 4:13-15)
Lastly, should my personal walk of faith become the topic of discussion, I offer:
- Remain open to situations where my being the means by which the redemptive plan of God brings people into the Kingdom of God has presented itself.
- Continually be close to the Word of God. I will be read the Bible on a daily basis. I will read the Bible through at least once each year.
- Make my marriage an example of that laid out in the Scriptures. I will be a one-woman man seeking the growth of my wife.
- Give an increasing portion of all I earn to charity.
- Memorize Scripture. I will add to my repertoire at least ten new verses each year.
- Continue to read serious materials, taking every word captive for the glory of God- I will read at least three significant books each year.
- Play an active role in my church while also leading my family into Christian maturity through my personal example to them.
- Provide financially for my family.
- Live for the here and now with an eye towards eternal glory with the Lord. Living the past is a dull and lonely business; looking back strains the neck muscles, causing you to bump into people not going your way.
- Spend significant personal time alone in reflection about the weighty matters of my faith (e.g., retreats, think weeks, etc.)
The above served me well at places such as Intel Corp., Deutsche Bank, Motorola, Alacatel, GTE, United Electronics Institute, General Dynamics, Augusta Technical College, So. Illinois Univ., Depaul Univ., US Army, and at a high-tech company I founded and later sold. Feel free to appropriate them into your own lives.
AMR
In all my past job interviews I have offered up my basic team management principles:
- Become a recognized leader in my chosen profession. I will do so while maintaining my values and ethics.
- Generate substantial wealth for my employer.
- To be able to contribute my talents to their fullest extent, I will sleep no more than 16.67% of the annual work day hours available to me.
- Continue to teach-I will teach at least one class on some relevant subject in my company or elsewhere each year.
- Remember that my personal commitment and integrity is an overriding responsibility.
- Allow my staff to fail--but fail quickly. Give my team RAME (Reasonable, Allowable, Margin for Error).
- Make sure that the career growth of my team members comes before my own career growth.
- Always remember that there will be no non-concurrence by silence.
- Take risks to better myself and others. Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb; that is where the fruit is. (But it is also where the nuts are, so learn to recognize the difference!)
- I will give people around me a reputation to live up to.
- Recognize that there are “No passengers on Planet Earth, only crew.” (Src: Donatello, Teen-Age, Mutant Ninja Turtle) Be a good steward of the earth.
- Manage in the sunshine– share what I know with my staff so they can act without me.
- In my work, I will hold on to the sand that becomes the pearl. Everything else is a make vs. buy decision.
- Embrace diversity within the organization and leverage its potential.
- Always empower others, run interference, get out of the way, and keep them accountable.
- Make it happen or help it happen. I will never watch it happen or let it happen.
- Question every policy or organizational practice that prevents successful decreases in Time-to-Money (TTM).
If the door is opened in the job interview about my core values, I also offer up:
- Live by Christian principles. In all things I will try to make Christ's ethics and morals my own. (Rom 2:7-8)
- Be open to the direction of the Holy Spirit wherever that may lead. (John 14:26)
- Not seek my own glory, I will seek to honor God and have praise be given to those around me. (Rom 15:5-6)
- Be careful with words and actions. (James 1:26)
- Be open, honest, and generous. (2 Cor 9:11)
- Give my best effort in every task. (1 Thes 4:14)
- Work hard in all that I do. (Col 3:23)
- Enthusiastically approach new challenges and all else I do. (2 Cor 9:2)
- Seek the counsel of others frequently and thoughtfully. (Prov 15:22)
- Seek to improve and grow those around and beneath me in work and all other areas. (1 Thes 5:14)
- Never be satisfied with the status quo. I will be an agent of change. (Rom 15:20)
- Never take things too seriously but have a great time in everything, continually enjoying God's blessings. (James 4:13-15)
Lastly, should my personal walk of faith become the topic of discussion, I offer:
- Remain open to situations where my being the means by which the redemptive plan of God brings people into the Kingdom of God has presented itself.
- Continually be close to the Word of God. I will be read the Bible on a daily basis. I will read the Bible through at least once each year.
- Make my marriage an example of that laid out in the Scriptures. I will be a one-woman man seeking the growth of my wife.
- Give an increasing portion of all I earn to charity.
- Memorize Scripture. I will add to my repertoire at least ten new verses each year.
- Continue to read serious materials, taking every word captive for the glory of God- I will read at least three significant books each year.
- Play an active role in my church while also leading my family into Christian maturity through my personal example to them.
- Provide financially for my family.
- Live for the here and now with an eye towards eternal glory with the Lord. Living the past is a dull and lonely business; looking back strains the neck muscles, causing you to bump into people not going your way.
- Spend significant personal time alone in reflection about the weighty matters of my faith (e.g., retreats, think weeks, etc.)
The above served me well at places such as Intel Corp., Deutsche Bank, Motorola, Alacatel, GTE, United Electronics Institute, General Dynamics, Augusta Technical College, So. Illinois Univ., Depaul Univ., US Army, and at a high-tech company I founded and later sold. Feel free to appropriate them into your own lives.
AMR
You should consider not working there if they think those questions are useful.
By making your weakness a positive.
"I am normally the first employee to clock in and the last to clock out".
OCTOBER23
New member
I TURN IT AROUND AND SAY,
My Greatest Weakness......
I am a Workaholic and Efficiency Expert when it comes to doing a Good job for my Employer .
- THAT Usually Shocks them and makes them Smile
and then I say , When do you want me to START - MONDAY AT 8 am or 9 am.
THE JOB IS MINE
My Greatest Weakness......
I am a Workaholic and Efficiency Expert when it comes to doing a Good job for my Employer .
- THAT Usually Shocks them and makes them Smile
and then I say , When do you want me to START - MONDAY AT 8 am or 9 am.
THE JOB IS MINE
Buzzword
New member
That example seems trite and cheesy to me, and a glaring "MY GREATEST WEAKNESS IS MY LACK OF ORIGINAL THOUGHT" to boot.
I answered the question during my most recent job interview thusly:
"I do not enjoy working under micromanaging general supervisors. There is a chain of command for a reason, and if I'm going to have to deal with micromanaging I'd rather deal with it from my direct supervisor. Also I don't enjoy working under micromanaging direct supervisors, but they tend to live closer to the real world than upper management."
The interviewing supervisor (who turned out to be the general supervisor) laughed, thanked me for my honesty, and asked if I could start orientation the next day.
You lucked out. Some supervisors would have taken such a response as "resists supervision".
Buzzword
New member
Which would have been a correct interpretation. :angel:
I am unemployable and I'm grateful for the ability to be self employed.
This Charming Manc
Well-known member
I say pretty women and chocolate
Did you tell them God created them to send them to hell and then they told you to go pound sand?
Doesn't that get you a fist bump :devil: in our culture? 2 Peter 2:7-8
which was kinda the point of my answer - those questions are designed to get you talking, to see if you get flustered, to get a sense of your personality
if they don't have a sense of humor, i don't wanna work there :carryon:
Mocking You
New member
Definitely don't answer, "I'm a perfectionist" or "I'm a workaholic" or "I am normally the first employee to clock in and the last to clock out" (sorry Rusha) or some other trite answer.
You can't go wrong with "I don't like to fire people", unless you are applying to be the hatchet man.
If your interview is going great and you feel a good rapport with the interviewer (and feel you can pull it off) you could say, "I'm not good at interviewing for jobs".
Another safe answer is, "I don't like people who don't do what they say they are going to do."