Interviews: what is your greatest strength and weakness. #phd #postdoc #interview #jobinterview
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into the common interview question of identifying one's greatest strength and weakness. It advises against generic answers and encourages self-reflection to stand out. The speaker suggests considering a lack of specific skills as a weakness, aligning strengths with the job, and backing up claims with evidence. The goal is to impress interviewers with honesty and ambition, while avoiding revealing genuine flaws.
Takeaways
- π£οΈ Interviewers commonly ask about candidates' greatest strengths and weaknesses.
- π Candidates often have memorized answers or are completely surprised by the question.
- π¨ Being creative and self-reflective in your answer can help you stand out from the crowd.
- π€ It's important to think about these questions ahead of time to avoid being caught off-guard.
- π‘ Honest and self-critical answers can leave a strong impression and influence hiring decisions.
- π Acknowledging a lack of certain skills or techniques can show a willingness to grow and improve.
- π Avoid stating weaknesses that directly conflict with the job requirements.
- π Sharing professional achievements can demonstrate ambition and a clear career direction.
- π Personal traits like shyness can be framed as a strength when they contribute positively to a team.
- π Align your strengths with the job position to ensure relevance and effectiveness.
- π Back up your strengths with concrete examples or achievements to avoid empty claims.
- πΌ Prepare to discuss both strengths and weaknesses thoughtfully to excel in job interviews.
Q & A
What is the common question in interviews that the speaker discusses?
-The common interview question discussed is 'What is your greatest strength and what is your greatest weakness?'
What are the two categories of answers that people typically give to the interview question about strengths and weaknesses?
-The two categories are those who have memorized a boilerplate answer and those who are completely stumped and surprised by the question.
Why might a boilerplate answer be acceptable according to the speaker?
-A boilerplate answer is acceptable because it is fine to have a prepared response, but the speaker suggests being more creative to stand out.
What does the speaker suggest as an alternative to a boilerplate answer?
-The speaker suggests being more self-reflective and honest in the answer, which can leave a good impression and potentially influence the hiring decision.
What is the importance of thinking about the question of strengths and weaknesses before an interview?
-It's important to avoid being completely exposed or caught off guard during the interview, and to be prepared with a thoughtful and impressive answer.
What kind of weakness should one avoid mentioning in an interview?
-One should avoid mentioning a weakness that is a critical requirement for the position they are applying for.
Why is it beneficial to mention a lack of a specific skill or technique as a weakness?
-It shows that the candidate is critically evaluating their abilities and skills, and is willing to grow and become a more valuable addition to the team.
What is a potential way to discuss one's professional ambition in relation to their weaknesses?
-Discussing a professional achievement or goal can demonstrate ambition and show that the candidate is working towards a specific objective.
How should a personality trait be approached as a weakness in an interview?
-It should be presented in a way that shows self-awareness and how it can be managed or turned into a positive contribution once integrated into a team.
Why is it crucial to align the strengths mentioned with the job position during an interview?
-Aligning strengths with the job position ensures that the strengths are relevant and can contribute to the role, rather than being counterproductive.
What should one do to back up a claim of strength during an interview?
-One should provide evidence or examples, such as specific projects, publications, or contributions that demonstrate the strength in action.
How can mentioning being a good team player be substantiated in an interview?
-By providing examples of team contributions, such as organizing workshops or improving team dynamics, which show tangible evidence of being a good team player.
Outlines
π€ Navigating Interview Questions on Strengths and Weaknesses
This paragraph discusses the common interview question about one's greatest strength and weakness. It categorizes responses into two types: those who have a memorized answer and those who are genuinely surprised by the question. The speaker encourages interviewees to be self-reflective and honest, as this can leave a strong impression. It also suggests that having a thoughtful response to this question can play a significant role in the hiring decision. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of preparation and the value of self-awareness in crafting one's answer.
π Aligning Strengths with Job Requirements in Interviews
The second paragraph focuses on how to effectively communicate one's strengths during an interview, especially in alignment with the job position. It warns against stating strengths that are irrelevant to the job, as this could be counterproductive. The speaker advises interviewees to be prepared to back up their claims of strength with evidence or examples, such as specific skills used in previous work or contributions made to a team. The paragraph concludes with general advice on how to answer the question about strengths and weaknesses, highlighting the importance of preparation and the potential impact of a well-crafted answer on interview success.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Strength
π‘Weakness
π‘Interview
π‘Self-reflection
π‘Boilerplate Answer
π‘Professional Achievement
π‘Personality
π‘Team Player
π‘Statistical Skills
π‘Preparation
π‘Impression
Highlights
The common interview question about strengths and weaknesses often elicits either memorized or stunned responses.
Memorized boilerplate answers are acceptable, but creativity can help candidates stand out.
Reflective and honest answers about weaknesses can leave a strong impression on interviewers.
Preparation for the weakness question is advised to avoid overexposure and to make a good impression.
Self-reflective answers can contribute to a candidate's hiring decision.
Suggested weakness answers include a lack of a specific analytical skill or technique.
A weakness should not be the main requirement for the position applied for.
Discussing a professional achievement can signal ambition and goal orientation.
Personality traits as weaknesses should be approached with caution and self-awareness.
Strengths should be aligned with the job position to avoid counterproductive claims.
Backing up strength claims with evidence or examples is crucial for credibility.
Being a good team player should be supported by specific instances of teamwork contributions.
The importance of thoughtful preparation for the strength and weakness question in interviews.
The potential impact of well-answered strength and weakness questions on interview outcomes.
Encouragement for viewers to consider their own answers to the strength and weakness question.
Invitation for viewers to share their answers in the comments section.
Transcripts
one of the single most commonly asked
questions in interviews is what is your
greatest strength and what is your
greatest weakness i find that the
answers to that question fall into two
categories people have memorized a
certain
kind of an answer to that like i work
too hard or something like this for the
weakness but i have also observed
the opposite namely that people are just
completely stumped by that question and
utterly surprised like they've never
heard this question before or they
didn't expect that question to come up
and that's been quite interesting so
basically if you have a boilerplate
answer memorized answer that you want to
give this is fine no harm done but maybe
you want to be a bit more creative in
your answer and of course this is an
opportunity to stick out from the crowd
in the past i've had some of the most
amazing
open
self-critical
self-reflective yeah just completely
disarmingly honest
answers to this question of what is your
greatest
weakness especially
and
you know this this is a bit risky
i think it's important to think about
this question ahead of time before you
go to an interview because you don't
want to completely
expose yourself but it can also be
leaving a really good impression
basically if you have this ability to be
very self-reflective and some of these
answers were
so impressive that in the end i think
they played a not so minor role in the
decision to hire that person some of
these decisions have definitely been
some of the best i've ever made i think
it's just interesting to think about
what is your greatest
weakness and strength just in general
terms so
maybe you're not totally stumped in an
interview when that question comes up
and you can really stick out with your
answer rather than giving the
boilerplate answer well my greatest
strength is that i work really hard and
my greatest weakness is i don't know
when to stop working things like that so
but you know this requires some thinking
and preparation though i think and a
very few people will be able to do that
on the spot during the interview well
first of all here are some suggestions
for what to think about in terms of
talking about your greatest
weakness
well the first one is maybe
you are
realizing that you need another method
or another analytical skill or a
technique a lab method or statistical
technique that you don't know yet this
answer can work in your favor because it
shows that you are
critically thinking about what your
portfolio of methods that you already
have is and how it really could be
substantially enhanced right so it shows
that you are critically evaluating
your abilities and your skills and it
shows that you are willing to grow
and to become better
and a more valuable addition to the team
basically now of course make absolutely
sure
that when a position is for example
advertised for somebody to bring
statistical skills to the lab that you
don't say well i wish i knew how to open
r and do anything in r right that's not
going to help you so it can't be for the
the main purpose of that particular
position that you're applying for so you
got to be careful about that but it can
be something more general about your
skill set and i think that would be very
valuable and i think interviewers would
really appreciate it i would it can also
be about a professional achievement
being invited to an important conference
or having a paper in a certain journal
or like what whatever your achievement
is that you think is important for you
and thereby you can basically
let people know that interviewed you
that you are ambitious and that you have
thought about that and it's not just
some vain hope but you are working
towards that particular goal and then it
can also work in your favor it can also
be something a bit more about your
personality but that's tricky right
so i mean it could be something if it's
true obviously if if you are shy you
could say well i think i'm i'm shy so it
takes me a bit to warm up to people but
when i am integrated in a team i'm i'm a
really valuable team member and i
contribute to the success of the team so
then it is also
basically it shows that you have
critically self-reflected on who you are
and how you would fit into a team now
some suggestions about strengths usually
these are much less risky right then the
weaknesses because you don't want the
weaknesses to be unnecessarily revealing
of some real drawbacks on on your cv you
want those weaknesses to be sort of you
know you want to transport some
strengths within the weaknesses
obviously so it's much easier to answer
a question about the strengths now when
you talk about strengths i think it's
important that your strength is aligned
with the position so if the position is
to
let's stick with the example of
statistics to do statistics and data
analysis then your strengths shouldn't
be well i'm a great experimentalist and
i can do fantastic greenhouse
experiments or set up field experiments
right i mean this is
then the strengths can be
counterproductive because
it's not what that position is about so
make sure that when you talk about your
strengths they're aligned with the goals
of the position well the second general
remark about the strength strengths is i
think you should be prepared to back it
up like for example if you say i'm
really good with statistics and r
you could say well i've used these in
these packages and you can see this in
my publications and that in that journal
where i did such and such or developed
the code for this and that
it's very good if you if you don't just
say well i'm really strong with
statistics because you know this is
going to be
useful for this position
but then you need to have the data
basically to back it up otherwise just
an empty claim is not going to help you
at all another example is like if you're
you say you're a good team player well
everybody will say they're a good team
player right because nobody will say
well i'm terrible in teams i just work
on my own
but you know if you say you're a good
team player then it's really
nice and useful and helpful if you can
back that up with some claim like for
example i've in my previous team i've
organized
workshops or co-working sessions or i've
done this and that for the team to make
the team work better that will be
impressive and then it's not just an
empty claim like i'm a good team player
well i think those are my general
suggestions
for how to answer the
ever-present question what is your
greatest strength and your greatest
weakness and i hope that in your next
interview you're prepared for that
question and give an awesome answer and
with that thanks so much for watching
and
see you in the next video don't forget
to leave in the comments what your
answer would be
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