“What are your weaknesses?”
As one of South Florida’s leading staffing services firms, Future Force knows that it’s probably one of the most asked interview questions out there. It’s probably also the one question that most candidates lie in response to.
After all, how many candidates have you heard respond with “I’m not really a team player,” “I have a problem getting places – including work – on time,” “I steal office supplies,” or “I’m addicted to Facebook and online shopping.”
Most candidates will say something along the lines of the following:
- I work too hard.
- I’m a perfectionist.
- I get too involved with projects sometimes.
- I care too much.
- I bring work home with me too often.
But considering that the goal of asking an interview question is to filter out the bad candidates and hone in on the good ones, asking this question – which everyone answers pretty much the same – becomes pointless.
That said, trying to uncover and evaluate a candidate’s weaknesses is certainly an important effort. You just need to go about it in a different way.
For instance, instead of asking the candidate outright about their weaknesses, ask them to describe a time they didn’t accomplish a goal or complete a project. By doing so, you’ll fulfill a couple of objectives:
- You may learn about a specific weakness that led to an unmet goal or unfinished project, such as a lack of communication or time management.
- You’ll find out how the candidate dealt with adversity in the past, whether they solicited feedback from their boss or co-worker or took responsibility for the situation.
- You’ll also be able to gauge a candidate’s savviness. A smart candidate will position the failure as a learning experience and explain to you what they learned from the mistake.
In addition to asking a candidate to describe a specific example of an unmet goal or unfinished project, you can also ask them “What would your last boss say your biggest weakness is?” This question typically forces candidates to be less scripted and more honest with their answer.
The bottom line is that the interview is your chance to evaluate candidates. But when you rely on boilerplate, standard questions, rather than those that dig deeper, you’re only going to wind up with canned answers…and perhaps a hiring mistake.
Need Expert Help Interviewing?
If you do, let Future Force know. As one of South Florida’s leading staffing services firms, we can handle the interviewing, testing, and evaluating – all so you can make great hiring decisions. Contact Future Force today to learn more.