How to Answer the Worst Interview Question
How to Answer the Worst Interview Question
“What’s your greatest weakness?” the interviewer asked me. I resisted the urge not to roll my eyes in exasperation. That has got to be the worst interview question – ever. Problem is, many employers are still stuck in the 80’s behavioral interview mode with the following typical questions:
“What’s your greatest strength?”
“What’s your biggest achievement?”
“Why are you looking for a job … want to work here?”
“Tell me about a time when …. “
“Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?”
The Demoralizing Question
The all-time worst interview question is still: “What’s your greatest weakness?” I don’t recommend that you answer with: “Chocolate Ice Cream” unless you know they have a sense of humor. If you are stuck with Stoic Stan and Serious Sally for interviewers then you might want to play the game. Regardless, questions like this are borderline insulting.
The obnoxious question “What’s your greatest weakness?” should have been retired from the corporate and institutional recruiting playbook at least twenty years ago.
– Liz Ryan, CEO of The Human Workplace
Flip the Question Around
You may want to escape the room and run madly towards the exit. Relax, you can handle this! If you are on the phone – feel free to roll your eyes and proceed to knock their silly over-used question out of the park!
The best way to answer the worst interview question ever is to flip it around to be a positive! For example: one of my clients, Sarah, is very detail-oriented. So much in fact, that she saved her former employer hundreds of thousands of dollars by finding mistakes in client contracts.
When she got asked, “What’s your greatest weakness?” this is what Sarah said:
“Well, I’ve heard that being detail-oriented can be considered a weakness, but in my case, it saved my former employer over $860,000 in potential legal fees because I was able to find mistakes left in multiple contracts during my tenure.”
Not a Weakness?
If your interviewer doesn’t think you answered the question – that’s their problem. In almost every case you can flip the negative into an opening to talk about one of your accomplishments. If you MUST talk about a weakness – can also address it something like this:
“I used to be weak in excel, but I focused on solving the issue and took courses to become proficient in the software. Now I have no problem utilizing the tool to handle multiple priorities at my job and have even tutored others in excel.”
It’s a weakness ‘story’ and explains that you are aware that you had an issue and how you proactively closed the gap! Everyone has opportunities to improve and no one is perfect, but it’s insulting to be questioned about them during an interview.
Tell Stories with Impact
It’s important to tell stories with impact during an interview! Understand 
your accomplishments. This is the most undervalued and overlooked part of a professional’s career. If you want to hook a hiring manager’s attention in your resume or put the ‘wow’ factor in your interviews: you MUST be able to communicate your accomplishments.
An accomplishment is not just an award you got at work. Accomplishments are anything that positively impacted the organizations you worked for.
An accomplishment is anything you’ve done to move the needle in an organization, even if it was part of your job!
– Rick Gillis
TIP: create an Accomplishments Inventory. This process starts with your most recent job first. Think of anything you’ve achieved, impacted, or done to help the business. Most people get stuck because they think, “I was just doing my job”. Think about it like this: what would happen if you weren’t there doing your job?
Remember, You’re Interviewing Them Too!
Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your own. A job is a relationship and an interview goes both ways. Interviewers are NOT more important than you! Prepare some questions specific to the job, expectations of performance, metrics and structure. Also ask some culture-specific questions. Most people stay at organizations because they like the people they work with!
“How do you like working here?”
“What is the work culture like?”
“Is the environment innovative … collaborative … energetic?”
“How do people interact and connect with others?”
“Do you have a mentorship program?”
… And so on. The typical adult spends over 60% of their working lives at work. There’s no reason to enter into a working relationship with an organization blind. Be prepared and flip those negative questions on their head!
Want to learn more about how to clearly communicate your value to Hiring Managers?
Erin Urban LSSBB, CPDC is a certified professional development coach and culture change expert with over 8 years in mentoring and coaching successful professional transformations. With an extensive background in leading individual, cultural and organizational change initiatives: her mission is to lift others up to defy their limits and exceed their goals.
