Strengths and weaknesses in a job interview: how to answer honestly

Why employers ask about strengths and weaknesses

When you are asked about your strengths, the employer wants to know whether what you are good at fits what the job requires. When you are asked about weaknesses, it is mostly about self-awareness. Can you see yourself from the outside? Do you take responsibility for getting better? And are you honest, or are you trying to sell yourself with an answer that just sounds nice?

Interviewers in Norway tend to appreciate a sober, honest answer. If you come from a culture where you are expected to sell yourself hard, tone it down a little, but do not undersell what you can actually do. A concrete example earns more trust than big words. Remember too that your references are usually contacted towards the end of the process. What you say about yourself should match what a former manager would say.

How to choose strengths you can prove

Start with the job ad. Write down the requirements and personal qualities they ask for, and find two or three you are genuinely good at. It is better to talk properly about two strengths than to list five.

For each strength you need proof, meaning a situation where that strength made a difference. Ask yourself what you get praised for, what colleagues ask you for help with and which tasks you finish before others do. The answers are often your real strengths. This is how to build the answer:

• Name the strength in plain words, for example “I am good at explaining things simply”.
• Give a concrete example from work, studies or volunteering.
• Say what it led to, ideally with a number if you have an accurate one.
• Connect the strength to the job you are applying for.

Example answers about strengths

Customer service: “One of my strengths is that I stay calm when customers are angry. At the customer centre, the most difficult calls were often passed on to me, because I listen until they have finished before I try to solve anything. I think that matters here, since your ad says you handle a lot of complaints.”

Finance: “I am accurate, and I like finding out why numbers do not add up. In my last job I found an error in our invoicing which meant we had undercharged a large customer for several months. We corrected it and were paid what the customer owed.”

Projects and teamwork: “I am good at getting people from different backgrounds to work towards the same goal. As a student I led a project with five others from three different degree programmes, and we delivered a solution the client went on to use. I think that will be useful here, since the role works closely with both sales and development.”

Notice that none of the answers contain words like “skilled” or “passionate”. The example does the work, and the interviewer draws the conclusion.

How to talk about a real weakness

A good weakness is real, not central to the job you are applying for, and something you are working on. Choose something you have actually had feedback on, or something you have noticed makes your work harder. That makes the answer believable.

Spend most of your time on what you are doing about it. The employer knows nobody is perfect. What they want to see is that you have noticed it and have a plan. A good answer has four parts:

• The weakness: What is it, in plain words?
• How it shows: A short example.
• What you do: A concrete step, not just “I am working on it”.
• Where you are now: What has improved?

Weaknesses in a job interview: examples of good answers

Taking on too much: “I have tended to say yes to everything, and at times that has hurt my deadlines. Now I write down everything I have on the go, and when I get a new task, I ask my manager what can wait. As a result I deliver on time more often.”

Presenting to large groups: “I get nervous speaking in front of many people. So I volunteered to run the monthly review for my department, and I always practise out loud the evening before. It goes much better now, but it is still something I am working on.”

Delegating: “As a new team leader I tended to do things myself because it was quicker. My manager pointed out that it made the team less independent. Now I hand over whole tasks, not just parts of them, and we have regular check-ins instead of me following everything all the time.”

Language: “My Norwegian is still at an intermediate level. I take an evening course twice a week, I use Norwegian in meetings when I can, and I write emails in Norwegian, with a colleague checking the important ones.” Only use this if the job does not require fluent Norwegian.

Answers to avoid

Some answers interviewers have heard so many times that they weaken the impression you make, even if they are well meant. This applies especially to weaknesses that are really strengths in disguise.

• “I am too much of a perfectionist.” It sounds rehearsed, and many interviewers read it as avoiding the question.
• “I work too hard.” Same problem. If it really is a weakness, you need to explain how it affects your work and what you do about it.
• “I do not have any weaknesses.” It suggests little self-awareness.
• A weakness at the core of the job, such as an accountant saying she dislikes details.
• Joke answers like “chocolate”. It can work very occasionally, but you still have to give a real answer afterwards.
• Personal matters that do not belong in an interview, such as health or problems at home.
• Strengths without examples, such as “I am a team player with a strong work ethic”.

When the question comes in a different form

The question is not always asked directly. You may get variations like “What would your manager say you could improve?”, “What feedback have you had in appraisals?” or “What do you find difficult in your job?”. Your answer can be the same, you just open it differently: “In my last appraisal I was told that...”.

Some employers in Norway also use personality tests before or after the interview. The interviewers may then ask you to comment on the result, for example if the test suggests you are not very focused on detail. Stay calm and answer in the same way: say whether you recognise yourself, and what you do in practice. Read more about tests and references in the guide on preparing for a job interview.

Practise your answers before the interview

Write down two strengths with examples and one weakness with what you are doing about it, then say the answers out loud. Each answer should take less than a minute. Practise linking them to the job as well, because that is what separates a good answer from a generic one.

Selja's free tool Interview questions includes the questions about strengths and weaknesses, along with other common questions and tips on how to answer, filtered by profession. See also the guide on common interview questions to prepare for the rest of the interview.