Pauloz Expert

Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 288 Career Advice: +0/-0 Location: Sydney

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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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lars
The weaknesses question is a negative element.
In practice, the question is looking for a concession, a sort of de facto reason for downgrading.
It's a matter of opinion whether the question is useful to the interviewee.
Most people dislike the question, and come up with an equivocal answer which isn't too negative, but they don't want to seem to be uncooperative in answering.
Some people, like me, find it offensive, intrusive and irrelevant.
At the risk of sounding a bit cynical, this is a discretionary question, where your reply is pretty much up to you.
One possible answer is "Relative to the job, I really can't think of any real weakness. I know my work, I'm confident in my performance, and honestly, I don't think I have a specific weakness."
It's an honest enough answer if you don't feel like thinking of a weakness.
The alternative answer is
"I only feel weak when I'm outside my area of expertise. Otherwise I'm pretty confident."
Which is a sort of gimme. Not much actual information, and what there is, is predictable, and pretty hard to argue with. |
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