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I'm really surprised they included the strengths and weaknesses question. Anyone asking my weaknesses expect anything other than bullshit or humble bragging? T

I'm really surprised they included the strengths and weaknesses question. Anyone asking my weaknesses expect anything other than bullshit or humble bragging? The execution of this page is so perfect that it gives me dystopian vibes. I think this might actually be just a tech demo for demoing speech capabilities :)

deleted 4y ago
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smcl 4y ago
If anyone asks me my weaknesses I'm taking that as a sign they don't really know what they're doing and are just reciting questions they've seen or heard others use before. I honestly do not know what kind of useful information they'd get from this because you'll either get: - bullshitters who have a prepared answer that sorta sounds good - nervous people who cannot think of anything - nervous people who will start listing off their worst qualities Honestly the best response when faced with this is to joke about the cliche "I'm a perfectionist" response and hope that everyone is happy to move on
- philwelch 4y ago
  I’ve prepared my entire life for the “what are your weaknesses” question but never received it in an actual interview.
  - smcl 4y ago
    That's actually quite encouraging to hear. I have encountered it once when I was younger and I wish I had the self-confidence to deal with it the way I described in my comment. I think I just did the "nervous people listing off their worst qualities" thing. I feel a bit bad at the "bullshitters" comment, I was trying to show the worst case scenario and didn't factor in "normal nice people who have a prepared answer" :)
  - croisillon 4y ago
    I've had it for the first time few weeks ago. I named one, two, three, and they said "ok ok we got it". (I got the job)
    - smcl 4y ago
      Glad it worked out! Congrats on the job :D
- Aransentin 4y ago
  Being able to answer BS questions such as that is likely strongly correlated to conscientiousness, social skills, and intelligence, even if the actual content of the answer is irrelevant.
  - smcl 4y ago
    If you're going to get into the meta-interview thing, you need to realise that it goes both ways - candidates will judge you on your BS questions. Ok if Google it's maybe not a huge deal, but if you're a SME it's quite important
  - m000 4y ago
    You're probably overestimating the abilities of the interviewer asking these BS questions. Like they're some sort of masterminds playing 4d interview chess with you.
- Angostura 4y ago
  I quite like it - it gives me a chance to address areas where I might appear to be a great fit for the job, and set out why they shouldn't be blockers.
khazhoux 4y ago
There are definitely better ways to phrase the infamous weakness question. This gives me idea to start asking: "Are there any aspects of how you work, which you’re trying to improve?" That would gauge whether they're introspective, self-aware, and self-critical.
- belval 4y ago
  One phrasing that I got in an interview was "What would your current or previous managers say were your strengths", quickly followed by "... say you could improve". It was interesting because it actually got us in a different discussion on how employees are evaluated at their company. My personal take though is that the candidate should be self-critical enough to be able to tell me what their weaknesses are and how they are mitigating them.
thaumaturgy 4y ago
FWIW I added a "Flaws" section to the end of my resume when I recently revised it. The section opens with, "I'm not an ideal fit for every role or organization", and then briefly covers a couple of less-flattering (but fairly normal) aspects of my character. For example, I'm good with short-term high-stress, but not long-term high-stress. As I see it, it helps to filter out some of the kinds of places or teams I wouldn't want to work with in the long term, or at all.
hedgew 4y ago
Ability to bullshit on bullshit questions is a good test of both intelligence and subservience!
doctor_eval 4y ago
“Everyone tells me that my greatest weakness is my extreme humility” ?
Kaze404 4y ago
When I get asked my biggest weaknesses I just reply with brutal honesty. I say that sometimes I'm lazy to a fault, that I can't function in the morning at all and can be easily distracted during work so I need a quiet working environment (including no notifications). I think it lost me a potential job offer last week but I don't know if I'd like to work at a company with a toxic positivity problem.
kageneko 4y ago
I'm pretty introspective and I've got my strengths and weaknesses down. They're also the same things, but in different directions and degrees. Example: I am super focused and stay on something until it is done. I am also super focused and follow problem rabbit holes all the way to the bottom.
TameAntelope 4y ago
Meh, I think it's fine to be honest about weaknesses for that question. It might disqualify you from some jobs, but IMO there's a lot of value in demonstrating you're able to self reflect. I have a hard time staying enthusiastic about a project I don't understand the value of, for example. It makes me a bad candidate for teams that are siloed and jobs that highly compartmentalized, and I want to make sure the teams I'm working on have the tools they need to get value to the customer. It would suck if I took a job like that, and my theory is by stating that out loud I can avoid roles that have those kinds of environments.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

smcl 4y ago

If anyone asks me my weaknesses I'm taking that as a sign they don't really know what they're doing and are just reciting questions they've seen or heard others use before. I honestly do not know what kind of useful information they'd get from this because you'll either get: - bullshitters who have a prepared answer that sorta sounds good - nervous people who cannot think of anything - nervous people who will start listing off their worst qualities Honestly the best response when faced with this is to joke about the cliche "I'm a perfectionist" response and hope that everyone is happy to move on

philwelch 4y ago
I’ve prepared my entire life for the “what are your weaknesses” question but never received it in an actual interview.
- smcl 4y ago
  That's actually quite encouraging to hear. I have encountered it once when I was younger and I wish I had the self-confidence to deal with it the way I described in my comment. I think I just did the "nervous people listing off their worst qualities" thing. I feel a bit bad at the "bullshitters" comment, I was trying to show the worst case scenario and didn't factor in "normal nice people who have a prepared answer" :)
- croisillon 4y ago
  I've had it for the first time few weeks ago. I named one, two, three, and they said "ok ok we got it". (I got the job)
  - smcl 4y ago
    Glad it worked out! Congrats on the job :D
Aransentin 4y ago
Being able to answer BS questions such as that is likely strongly correlated to conscientiousness, social skills, and intelligence, even if the actual content of the answer is irrelevant.
- smcl 4y ago
  If you're going to get into the meta-interview thing, you need to realise that it goes both ways - candidates will judge you on your BS questions. Ok if Google it's maybe not a huge deal, but if you're a SME it's quite important
- m000 4y ago
  You're probably overestimating the abilities of the interviewer asking these BS questions. Like they're some sort of masterminds playing 4d interview chess with you.
Angostura 4y ago
I quite like it - it gives me a chance to address areas where I might appear to be a great fit for the job, and set out why they shouldn't be blockers.

khazhoux 4y ago

There are definitely better ways to phrase the infamous weakness question. This gives me idea to start asking: "Are there any aspects of how you work, which you’re trying to improve?" That would gauge whether they're introspective, self-aware, and self-critical.

belval 4y ago
One phrasing that I got in an interview was "What would your current or previous managers say were your strengths", quickly followed by "... say you could improve". It was interesting because it actually got us in a different discussion on how employees are evaluated at their company. My personal take though is that the candidate should be self-critical enough to be able to tell me what their weaknesses are and how they are mitigating them.

thaumaturgy 4y ago

FWIW I added a "Flaws" section to the end of my resume when I recently revised it. The section opens with, "I'm not an ideal fit for every role or organization", and then briefly covers a couple of less-flattering (but fairly normal) aspects of my character. For example, I'm good with short-term high-stress, but not long-term high-stress. As I see it, it helps to filter out some of the kinds of places or teams I wouldn't want to work with in the long term, or at all.

hedgew 4y ago

Ability to bullshit on bullshit questions is a good test of both intelligence and subservience!

doctor_eval 4y ago

“Everyone tells me that my greatest weakness is my extreme humility” ?

Kaze404 4y ago

When I get asked my biggest weaknesses I just reply with brutal honesty. I say that sometimes I'm lazy to a fault, that I can't function in the morning at all and can be easily distracted during work so I need a quiet working environment (including no notifications). I think it lost me a potential job offer last week but I don't know if I'd like to work at a company with a toxic positivity problem.

kageneko 4y ago

I'm pretty introspective and I've got my strengths and weaknesses down. They're also the same things, but in different directions and degrees. Example: I am super focused and stay on something until it is done. I am also super focused and follow problem rabbit holes all the way to the bottom.

TameAntelope 4y ago

Meh, I think it's fine to be honest about weaknesses for that question. It might disqualify you from some jobs, but IMO there's a lot of value in demonstrating you're able to self reflect. I have a hard time staying enthusiastic about a project I don't understand the value of, for example. It makes me a bad candidate for teams that are siloed and jobs that highly compartmentalized, and I want to make sure the teams I'm working on have the tools they need to get value to the customer. It would suck if I took a job like that, and my theory is by stating that out loud I can avoid roles that have those kinds of environments.