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LogoutThis popular interview topic might catch applicants off guard, especially if they haven’t encountered it previously in a job interview - you’ll be judged on your self-awareness, skillset, calm, and communication skills, among other things.
Why do employers ask "what are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?"
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To test your level of self-awareness
Companies want to employ excellent grads, but they don’t want to hire someone who is blind to their own flaws.
Instead, they want to hire and work with someone who is not just aware of their flaws, but also actively works to transform them into assets. The easiest method to respond to this popular interview question is to start by identifying a genuine flaw that you have been actively working on and that has yielded positive outcomes. Support your claim with an example of how you’ve been working to improve this issue, including the outcomes you’ve gotten thus far.
Similarly, the employer is interested in not only how you view your own abilities, but also how confident and eloquent you are when speaking about yourself. Support your selected strength with an example of how you exhibited it in the job or at university, emphasizing areas you’re pleased with. Although this is an excellent time to market yourself, the ideal approach to show yourself to the employer is to strike a balance between being excessively humble and overly confident. -
To test your skillset
Finally, the employer wants to know that your flaws will not affect your success in your graduation employment. If there are talents or personality qualities stated in job descriptions that you believe you lack, check out these free online courses to assist you upskill while applying for graduate employment.
Choose your flaws carefully, and keep the graduate job role fresh in your memory by decrypting the job description ahead of time to ensure you don’t allude to something critical to the role.
Employers want to recruit high-achieving graduates whose skills fit what the firm is looking for in an ideal individual, so here is your chance to show how you differ from the competition. The key to success is to choose a strength that is one of the role’s core competencies. After you’ve expanded on your example, demonstrating how this relates to the graduate job is a great method to show the company how well-suited you are for the position. -
To test your composure and communication skills
Employers will also be evaluating how effectively you manage this difficult question under the strain of a graduate job interview, as well as your ability to remain calm under pressure.
During an interview, anxiety might run high, causing you to ramble, so take a minute to collect your thoughts, calm down, and recover your composure. More information on how to relax before a job interview may be found in our latest blog. Employers will not penalize you if you request a minute or two to mentally prepare and calm yourself, and the way you explain your answers will set you apart from the competitors.