What are you strengths?

3-Step Strategy for answering the question1. Think Quality, Not QuantityLets start with what not to do. The worst thing to do is to list a string of positive attributes (outgoing, detail-oriented, hardworking, independent, friendly, easy-going, you name it) and just keep going. To walkthat line between confident and arrogant, definitely dont just list a bunch of nice adjectives to describe yourself. Sure, you want to sell yourself as the right man or woman for the job, but youre going to be much more compelling if you cut the buzzwords and speak genuinely about your strengths.Your strategy? Choose one to three attributes you want to mention (depending on whether the question asks for one strength or multiple) and cap it there. Youll want to think strategically about what skills will position you as qualified for the job and a good fit for the company. Does the position require client interaction? Communication and relationship building makes sense. Or if the environment is fast paced and constantly evolvingyour ability to multitask, adapt, and learn quickly would be good to highlight.2. Define Your Personal StrengthsWhen you try to find your own strength, think about what comes naturally easy for you. And dont choose attributes that you would like to have or that you admire. This is a typical trap. Especially avoid those which seem hard to do for you. Instead choose those that are describing your core.What is so obvious that you almost doesnt notice it in you anymore, since it is like your very nature?Make a list of your skills, dividing them into three categories: Knowledge-Based Skills: Acquired from education and past experience Marketing knowledge Communications skills Vendor management Press and industry relations Web channel marketing Product development Computer skills Transferable Skills: Your portable skills that you take from job to job (e.g., communication and people skills, analytical problem solving and planning skills). Some transferable skills are: Customer focus Communications Writing skills Very organized Good at coordinating Team leader Problem solving Project management Excellent follow-through Good with budgets and numbers Time management Personal Traits: Your unique qualities. The traits that make you who you are. Here are some examples of typical peoples personal traits that can be strength areas:Action-OrientedAdventurousAnalyticalArtistic

AthleticAuthenticCaringClever

CompassionateCharmingCommunicativeConfident

CourageousCreativeCuriousDetermined

DisciplinedEducatedEmpatheticEmotional Intelligent

EnergeticEntertainingFastFlexible

FocussedGood-LookingHelpingInspiring

IntelligentLeadershipLearningMotivated

OptimisticOpen-MindedOrganizedOutgoing

PatientPreciseResponsibleSelf-Controlled

SpeakingSpontaneousSocial / People SkillsStrategic Thinking

Team-OrientedThoughtfulTrustworthyVisionary

WarmWillpowerWisdom

Choose those that fit yourstrengthsand then compare them against each other to bring them into an order. 1 is your biggest strength and 5 (or do 10 if you like) is at the 5th place. When you compare them ask yourself: What can I do better?

3. Back Strengths Up With StoriesThat said, whats more important than the strengths you choose is being able to back up your claimsdont just expect the interviewer to believe you without some evidence.

Start off by answering the question directly, and thenweave into a storythat shows off your skills. For example, I think some of my greatest strengths are my communication skills and willingness to take initiative. During my last internship, when I was helping to manage several social media accounts, I made sure that everyone on the team was on the same page and knew what our messaging strategy was by taking the initiative to send out a weekly email to keep the team up to date and to seek feedback. This ended up being so helpful that the weekly social media update was incorporated into a full-time staff members responsibilities.

Let us reviewWEAK ANSWERS I am outgoing, detail-oriented, hardworking, independent, friendly, easy-going, and humble My strength is that I'm a hard worker. My weakness is that I get stressed when I miss a deadline because someone else dropped the ball. My strength is probably my ability to deal with people. I am pretty easygoing. I usually don't get upset easily.SAMPLE ANSWERS"My strength is my flexibility to handle change. As customer service manager at my last job, I was able to turn around a negative working environment and develop a very supportive team. As far as weaknesses, I feel that my management skills could be stronger, and I am constantly working to improve them."Youre in the hot seat and things are going well. You talk about your attributes, skills and strengths with ease. Just when you think its pretty much in the bag, the hiring manager asks that dreaded question: Whats your biggest weakness?This is one of the questions people have the hardest time answering, says Amanda Abella, a career coach, writer, speaker. [Your response] tells the interviewer a lot about your character, so it definitely holds a lot of weight.Andrew G. Rosen, founder and editor of the popular career advice blog Jobacle.com, agrees. This is a go-to question for interviewers, he says. Its a seemingly innocent question that has the potential to quickly expose a major flaw. Its the Hail Mary of the interview; a final last-ditch attempt to trip you up and send you in the other direction. But with a little planning, most interviewees can easilyneutralizethis question; even use it to their advantage.Its not a trick question and theres no right answerbut interviewers are looking for something specific in your response to this challenging query.Interviews are designed to filter out bad candidates just as much as they are about finding the right one, Rosen says. Whats your biggest weakness? is sort of a silly question and the interviewer is hoping they will catch you off guard, when you dont have a scripted answer to fall back on. They think you will reveal something you didnt want or expect to.To ensure this doesnt happen to you, here are some tips for talking about your biggest weakness in a job interview:Know your weakness(es). Penelope Trunk, a career coach and author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, wrote in a blog post on the topic: If you dont know your weakness, takea personality type quizand the results will show you. Everyone has specific strengths and everyone has specific weaknesses. Its pretty certain that if you are not clear on your weaknesses then you are not clear on your strengths, and your value at the office will be questionable.Be honest, but dont mention essential skills. Do not give a bullshit answer, Trunk writes. Saying something like, I pay too much attention to detail is actually a terrible answer for someone who is getting hired to do detail work. It means you have a deficit in the exact area youre trying to get hired for. The best answer to the question is when you tell a truthful answer, because its very unlikely you will be hired for the thing you are most weak at doing.For example,someone who is a production artist could say his weakness is finance, she says. So what if he doesnt like finance? He is not getting hired to do it.To avoid mentioning a weakness that can crush your chances of landing the job, review the job description to see what exactly the employer is looking for.Talk about how youve conquered the weakness. Be prepared to share an example of a previous failure or weakness that youve successfully turned into a strength, Schweitzer says. Do not discuss areas of opportunity that you are still working on and have not yet fixed.For example, if you say that you used to come in late to work and usually come in on time now, you can expect to not get a job offer.The example of coming into work late needs to have a story behind it of how a manager, mentor or family member talked to you about how timeliness impacts your personal brand and ever since then you arrive early to all meetings. In fact,an example of a manager recently complimenting you on being the first one to arrive at meetings or events would be the support needed to show you fixed this issue.Dont prepare an exact response. Of course you want to be prepared for every common interview questionespecially tricky ones like this. Think about your weaknesses ahead of time, but dont rehearse a response. Your answer might change slightly according to the rest of the conversation with the hiring manager, and you dont want it to come across as unauthentic or staged.Only discuss work-related weaknesses. Always make sure that they are business appropriate, Abella says. Personal weaknesses are okay sometimes, but what these guys are really looking for are your weaknesses in the work place and how youve overcome them.You also want to avoid personal drama, she says. Sure, everyone has got some, but companies want to ensure this wont affect your job if you get hired. Besides, its considered completely inappropriate to bring personal drama into the business world.Dont say youre a perfectionist or you work too hard. Schweitzer says common responses that are immediately dismissed are: I am a perfectionist, and I work so hard that I dont allow myself to relax.Interviewers hear these examples all the time and often will ask for another example or just move on knowing you prepared for that question.Use the weakness question as an opportunity to share how youve overcome a professional challenge and how you now are better because of it.Trunk agrees that you should avoid the perfectionist response. If you are not being interviewed for detail work its not a believable weakness. And if you are being hired for detail work being a perfectionist will make you slow and annoying.Find Your Personal WeaknessesEqually important as knowing your personal strengths is knowing your personal weaknesses. Those areattributesthat you will have a hard time when doing it, its difficult for you. Thats why you should try to let people who are better than you do this.Everybody has weaknesses. Its a natural thing, humans are not perfect. So dont beembarrassedto look at your weaknesses. It will help you to improve yourself to know them.And here are some examples of typical peoples weaknesses:AggressiveArrogantBossyChaotic

Close-mindedComplainingContemptuousControlling

CynicalFearfulGreedyHesitant

IgnorantImpatientImpulsiveIndifferent

InsensitiveIntolerantIrresponsibleLazy

LethargicLoose-tonguedMistrustfulMoody

NaiveNegativeObstructivePassive

PrejudicedRecklessRudeSelfish

ShallowShort-sightedShySloppy

StubbornSlowStrictUndisciplined

VagueWasteful

Answer for reference:Q. What are your strengths and weaknesses?Ans. Talking about my strengths, I think some of the key skills that I have sharpened during my PGDM course is marketing oriented, customer focused and patience. During my last job/CIP I have been given the responsibility of selling time slots and in my internship I was assigned with the job of selling Fleet Cards to transporters. My main focus was to sell according to the need of customer and customizing product or services according to their requirements. I have to pursue follow up regularly for appointment. Rather taking stress I managed myself and had patience to turn up positive results. There I learned how to handle different people.Talking about my weakness, I consider unawareness related to actual corporate work as one of my weaknesses. I know I am quick at adapting and learning things, still the expectations of the company from a post- graduate is highly quantified and hence I consider this is as my area of development.