Answering That Old Odious, Interview Question: What Are Your Weaknesses?

The next time you prepare for a job interview, be sure to craft an answer to that reviled but standard "what are your weaknesses?" question. It may be trite and overused, but the weakness question is still frequently asked in federal interviews for all types of jobs, from internships to executive positions.

Purpose of the Weakness Question
Many interviewers who ask the weakness question recognize its limitations. After all, it is doubtful that interviewers realistically expect the weakness question to solicit brutally honest answers like, "I'm below-average intelligence and difficult to work with."
So then, why do interviewers keep asking a question that rarely elicits full disclosure? Because interviewers say even skewed answers can help reveal whether applicants possess key qualities such as self-awareness, humility, sincerity, zest and skill in managing shortcomings and mistakes. By reflecting on such qualities in your response, you can distinguish yourself and stand out from the pack.

Bad Answers
"The worst answers are 'I don't know' or 'I have no weaknesses,' which I hear frequently," says one hiring manager. (Sorry, Superman, the credibility meter just hit zero.) "When I get unbelievable or evasive answers, I suspect that the applicant isn't the straight shooter I want to hire," says another hiring manager.
What is a strong answer to the weakness question? Conventional wisdom has recommended responses such as "I'm a perfectionist" or "I'm a workaholic, so my boss has to practically peel my fingers back, one by one, from my computer every night to make me go home." However, hiring managers now say most interviewers recognize those canned clichés as such.

Successful Answers
To remain credible, many interviewers now recommend designing answers to the weakness question that counterbalance a true but noncritical gap in your knowledge against your penchant for self-improvement and for staying current in your field. Some proven techniques that may help you do so:

• Describe how you have improved your understanding of a technical issue or soft skill by taking classes and/or requesting additional job assignments that addressed the issue. For example, one of my clients successfully answered the question by stating he had worked to conquer his fear of public speaking by joining Toastmaster's International and now, as a result, actually enjoys public speaking.
• Acknowledge you understand that, if hired, you would be new to your target organization and therefore would have a lot to learn. So you would doggedly devote yourself to learning as much about the organization as quickly as possible. This technique helped one of my clients land a White House job.
• Say something like, "In my last job, I underestimated the importance of X. So in the future, I'll focus more energy on that."
• Or, "I try to continually update my skills. This year, I'd like to take training in the latest techniques in X, so that I will do Y faster and more efficiently."
• If you are a project manager and/or supervisor, you may say something like, "Every time my team finishes a project, I review ‘lessons learned' with them, so we won't repeat the same snags in the future." If you use this approach, be prepared to describe a few of those non-incriminating lessons learned.

Questions About Skills You Lack
In addition to being asked open-ended questions about your weaknesses in interviews, you may be asked about skills you may lack. If you do have any relevant knowledge or experience in the skill at hand, even if it is only peripheral, informal or self-taught, say so.
But, advises a hiring manager, if you are asked about a skill that you really know absolutely nothing about, "Don't just say, 'No, I can't do that.' Instead, give me reasons to believe in you: Explain how your knowledge, willingness to do extra and ability to learn quickly will help you improve. Describe how you'd swiftly catch up and have done so previously."

Lily Whiteman is an acclaimed federal career coach and popular contributor to the "Jobs" section of The Washington Post, the career columnist for Federal Times and an award winning writer at the U.S. National Science Foundation. In addition, Whiteman has presented seminars and workshops on career advancement skills for many organizations, including federal agencies, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and professional organizations for feds. She is the author of the critically acclaimed book How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job.