Is Your Weakness Reasonable?

I have done many interviews over the years and have found that my earlier responses to the "What are your weaknesses?" question were far too bland and probably the same answers every other candidate gave.

When an employer asks you what your weaknesses are, many of us are guilty of saying "I'm a perfectionist" or "I just work so much, I think I may be a workaholic!" - While these answers seem like the perfect response, they are extremely overused and employers have absolutely nothing to go by with these responses. Recruiters and hiring managers who ask these questions and get the same answers every time, are probably shaking their heads in disappointment when they hear these responses for the 15th time that day.

When it comes to the weakness question, I believe it is important to be logical and think clearly about your actual weaknesses before spurting out some highly overused statement like the ones above. I have found that doing your research and knowing how to go about the "weakness" question is ideal and important to consider BEFORE an interview. No one likes being thrown off their game or confused about how to answer the questions an interviewer is asking.

With that said, here is my personal response to the weakness question and how I went about figuring it out: I am interested in management and leading others, however, I have never been a great public speaker, nor have I always been the most social person in the world and sometimes tend to isolate myself. As a manager or leader, this weakness directly relates to the work I would be doing, BUT, the point of bringing up an actual, realistic weakness, is to show how you have gone about overcoming this weakness and what steps you have taken to overcome it. My isolation tendency and fear of public speaking have been improved IMMENSELY over the past few years due to my college courses which required teamwork and my transition into a manager position a couple of years ago. Leading teams and managing an office have made public speaking and isolation less of a weakness for me and I have actually grown to really enjoy leading others and becoming more socially involved with groups.

So the next time an employer is asking you what your weakness is, what will you say?