My weakness? Ummm....
I dread the question even before I hear it uttered in a job interview. The standard, "what's your greatest strength?" is normally followed by, "what would you say is your weakness?" Any Career Services agent will tell you that the key to coming out of this question on top is to answer with a weakness that's actually a positive. Like, "I'm a perfectionist. Being a perfectionist means I'm never quite satisfied with any one task and often want to make sure I give 110% to each thing. Darn that perfectionist in me." Sounds like a really tragic weakness eh? Another might be "I'm a go-getter. I tend to take on multiple projects and sometimes I step up to the plate so much that my plate gets overwhelmed." Sure, it's a weakness. But really? You're telling someone how much of a team player and initiative-taker you are.
I never have a good answer for these questions and hate when an employer asks you this standard-stock-overused-boring-contrived interview question. No one ever tells you something honest and genuine. They just tell you what they think you want to hear. The magic strength for your open position. The least worrisome weakness that you overlook it as simply, not an issue or irrelevant for your open position.
But it dawned on me recently that I have finally discovered my weakness and now have an answer to the question. And it's genuine and truthful and accurate. I want to be liked. I crave it. I thrive off of it. I want my students to like me, my colleagues to like me, my supervisor and so on. And when I have to make a decision or do something that could jeopardize someone's ability to like me, I get all fidgety and get a knot in my stomach. Does it prevent me from doing what needs to be done? Absolutely not. Do I take the easy road, ignore the problem, and decide it's best to pretend there's not an issue than address it? No. But do I try to sugar coat everything, reframe things positively, and give folks the benefit of the doubt? Abso-freakin-lutely. Even when sometimes I need to just be more black and white, direct, and to the point? Yep.
So that's my weakness I get to work on as I move through my current position. The challenge of wanting my students to not only respect me but also like me and my need to do what's best not only for the residents and the buildings but also for them as well. I may not always be liked and I'm just gonna have to be OK with that. So here's to working on my weakness!
Cheers.
I never have a good answer for these questions and hate when an employer asks you this standard-stock-overused-boring-contrived interview question. No one ever tells you something honest and genuine. They just tell you what they think you want to hear. The magic strength for your open position. The least worrisome weakness that you overlook it as simply, not an issue or irrelevant for your open position.
But it dawned on me recently that I have finally discovered my weakness and now have an answer to the question. And it's genuine and truthful and accurate. I want to be liked. I crave it. I thrive off of it. I want my students to like me, my colleagues to like me, my supervisor and so on. And when I have to make a decision or do something that could jeopardize someone's ability to like me, I get all fidgety and get a knot in my stomach. Does it prevent me from doing what needs to be done? Absolutely not. Do I take the easy road, ignore the problem, and decide it's best to pretend there's not an issue than address it? No. But do I try to sugar coat everything, reframe things positively, and give folks the benefit of the doubt? Abso-freakin-lutely. Even when sometimes I need to just be more black and white, direct, and to the point? Yep.
So that's my weakness I get to work on as I move through my current position. The challenge of wanting my students to not only respect me but also like me and my need to do what's best not only for the residents and the buildings but also for them as well. I may not always be liked and I'm just gonna have to be OK with that. So here's to working on my weakness!
Cheers.
Comments