via How to of the Day on 4/23/12
Although being able to cite your strengths and weaknesses for a job interview may help (or hurt) you land a new job, it's not just about having your interview technique finely honed. Indeed, knowing where you come in strong or need assistance can help you with numerous aspects of your personal life and ongoing professional interactions. Knowing where you're strong and what you might need to improve on will help you not only grow as an individual but can also nurture and cultivate both personal and work relationships. 
Edit Steps
- See beyond "strengths and weaknesses" as a mere interview technique. Each of us possess certain strengths and weaknesses and these often shape and may even dictate how we attack and approach life. And for many of us, knowing what we're best at and worst at doesn't necessarily come easily amid living up to what others expect of us in life, socially, professionally and peer-wise. In doing what others expect of us, we can sometimes overlook this important self-knowledge and not make the most of our talents. Job interviewers ask this question as a test of how well you will fit into their organization; you need to ask it of yourself to know how well you know yourself and whether you're living up to your full potential.
- Strengths are considered to be the talents, innate abilities and desires that "click" for you. In other words, these are the things that you'd be tempted to say "It wasn't effort, I've always had the ability to ...". Strengths should not be confused with skills, which can be learned or improved (for example, confidence and assertiveness are skills).
- Weaknesses are considered to be something about yourself that you have the power to improve and knowing about them is considered an obvious indicator of self-awareness. It might be professional or social skills or interaction approaches. Whatever it is, it will require active effort to cultivate or improve. Often this aspect is about "learning lessons from life" and not repeating mistakes; other times, it's about making the effort to overcome a lack of skills. For example, poor presentation skills can be improved by going to public speaking courses, etc.
- Consider how you respond in certain situations that require action, thought and insight. Before doing anything more concrete and "analytical", you need to monitor your spontaneous, initial thought reactions to experiences you've had in life already. The reason for doing this is that the spontaneous reactions tell you a lot about yourself already, revealing how you react in both ordinary and intense situations. Ask yourself the following series of questions on how you would respond––and use your gut. Make this into a list (call it List 1) but don’t spend a lot of time thinking about your responses:
- Think of a challenging situation in which something bad happened, such as a plane plummeting in turbulence or a child suddenly dashing out in front of your car but you stopped just in time: How did you react when confronted with the spontaneous situation? Did you clam up and retreat or did you meet the challenge head on and assemble resources and tools to address the situation? Perhaps you took control and responded as a leader, calmly observed and stayed focused on precision or possible action or maybe your sense of humor kicked in to cope and helped others feel more at ease––those are the types of situations where you can be viewed as strongest. If you reacted by crying uncontrollably, feeling totally helpless about what to do or hitting out at others, then, staying in self-control during a challenging situation is something you need to work on more.
- Think of less challenging situations that are still hard but not so "life and death": For example, how do you react when you enter a crowded room? Do you want to engage everyone you meet there or do you want to find a quiet corner away from the noise and hopefully connect with just one person? Both of these behaviors can have ramifications for your networking success, your ability to feel comfortable and your likelihood of presenting yourself positively to others. In each case, it could be said from the strengths point of view that the person connecting with others is strong in winning over other people, while the quieter person is excellent at one-to-one relating. And both these strengths can be used to the person's natural advantage. While weaknesses may be apparent in such a situation, in the case of personal relations, be very careful about calling relational styles "weaknesses"––a quieter relational style can still be most effective and shouldn't be viewed as a weakness. As for lack of confidence or shyness in these situations, these are skills that can be learned.
- Think of a time when you've been put on the spot and had to react immediately: How quickly do you learn and adapt to new situations? Are you a fast thinker and have a great comeback when a co-worker makes a snide remark in your direction? Or do you tend to absorb, think and then react in certain situations? Also, do you learn from your mistakes or does it take you several attempts to gain knowledge? Some people learn faster in some areas than others. Think of a time when you were a quick learner, because that will help to clearly identify one of your strong areas in its relevant context.
- Think of a time when you had to make a decision but you lacked all of the facts. If you went ahead and made the decision regardless, your strength might be in taking practical action as a means to clarify a situation, while the weakness might be failing to account for all the issues. On the other hand, if you waited until you got more facts before taking the decision, your strength may be in analysis and certainty, while your weakness may be over-cautiousness. Decision making ability is a good test of strengths and weaknesses and if you find a weakness in this area (and most people will, whether it's too quick to jump to conclusions or not able to take a decision at all), there are many ways to improve decision making skills, so don't despair!
- Consider your desires next. Your desires or longings say a lot about you and can indicate where your real talents are, even if you've been spending a lot of time denying them. Stories abound of people pursuing a particular career course because it's what their family expected, and becoming a doctor or lawyer when they'd rather have been a ballet dancer or an outdoor trekking leader. Suppressing your desires can sometimes be a way of suppressing your real strengths, as you work to your weaknesses and feel constantly behind (or even "a fake") as a result. As before, make a list (List 2) of your desires or life's longings:
- What are your desires in life? Whether you're applying for your first job or have just settled into retirement, you should always have goals and yearnings in life. Determine what drives you and what makes you happy.
- Consider why you want to complete those activities or goals and what it will take to reach them. Chances are, these are your passions and dreams in life––areas of great strength.
- What types of activities do you find satisfying or appealing? For some, sitting by the fire with their Labrador Retriever by their side is extremely satisfying and fulfilling. For others, sitting fireside with a dog sounds like a snoozefest––they’d rather be rock climbing or road tripping. Make a list of the activities or things you do that make you happy and provide you with pleasure––most likely, those are some strong areas for you.
- When do you feel energized and motivated? Consider times in your life when you feel ready to take the world on by storm or inspired to go to the next level. The areas that inspire and motivate you are typically where you are strongest.
- Note that many people feel desires very early on in life, indicating the childlike self-knowledge that many come to lose when family, peer and social expectations or financial pressures push the initial desires down deep. Think of Grandma Moses, the lady who didn't paint until she was 78 because of life's pressures but when she finally let her real talent come through, she spent 23 years painting up a storm. (It is not recommended that you wait that long to free your talents!)
- Write down areas of your work and life that you believe or think are your strong and weak areas. This time you're being asked to consciously focus on making choices about how you currently see your own strengths and weaknesses. This is to be based on what you're doing in your life right now, both personal and professional, rather than looking to the past or to your desires. And remember, no one is grading this “test” or judging you based on your responses, so be honest! It might help to draw up two columns, with the headings "Strengths" and "Weaknesses" and to write them down as they come to you, and remember that this is List 3. Then:
- Compare this list to Lists 1 and 2. Did they match up and did you find any surprises? For example, did you think you were strong in one area but in your gut response list (List 1) it doesn’t appear to be the case? This type of mismatch occurs when you're telling yourself you're one way, but a challenging situation displays your real character instead. How about mismatches between List 2 and List 3? This latter mismatch can happen where you've tried to do things with your life based on other's expectations or on your own ideas about what ought to be done or perfectionism, while your desires and actual reactions have been considerably divergent.
- Consider any surprises or mismatches across the lists you've made in the preceding steps. Reflect on why you think that some of the qualities and weaknesses you've spotted have turned out to be different. To recap, the first list is based on your "gut", the second list is based on your "desires", and the third list is based on what you "think". Is it possible that you think you enjoy certain things or that you're motivated by certain things but in actuality, you aren’t?
- Focus on those areas that differ and try to identify situations that address the area. For example, did you write on the second list that you aspire to become a singer, but on the third list you said that you wanted to be a doctor? While a singing doctor might be a cool novelty, the two professions differ considerably––figure out which area really motivates you in the long-term.
- Have a close friend or family member provide you with feedback. Although self examination can lead you to a few answers, getting an outside opinion will help you either solidify your observations or can shatter a few illusions too.
- Choose someone who will give you the truth and not sugarcoat or gloss over your weaknesses. If mom always tells you that you are the best in everything you do (when you know full well that you are not) kindly decline mom’s offer to be your feedback person. However, if your sister picks on everything you do, she’s not a good candidate either. Find an external, neutral person, preferably a peer or a mentor, to give you honest feedback.
- Ask for feedback on your lists. Have your outside person review and comment on your lists. Helpful comments and questions may include, “What makes you think that you don’t act quickly in emergency situations?” The outside observer may recall an instance where you were the hero of the day during an emergency, whereas perhaps you had forgotten.
- Ask a professional to help you to determine your strengths and weaknesses. There are entire companies based on psychological profiling, often attached to recruiting agencies. For a price, you can take tests to have on-staff psychologists review your personality and professional profiles. From this, you should find out what they consider to be your strengths and weaknesses, as a result of tests that have been strenuously researched and compiled. A good test should be long, especially in the personality profiling part, in order to draw out the repeated aspects of your personality. After taking a test like this, be sure to talk directly with the psychologist and possibly work out a plan of action together for how you can better work to your strengths and to map out constructive ways to overcome any particular weaknesses that may be sabotaging your effectiveness in work, social or personal situations.
- There are online tests you can take to assess your strengths and weaknesses. Look for tests that are on reputable sites and that have been compiled by reputable psychologists or similarly qualified persons. If there is a cost involved, do some research about the company providing the tests first, to make sure you're getting value for money.
- Reflect and determine how you feel about your identified strengths and weaknesses. Decide if you need or want to work on any of your weaknesses and contemplate what you will need to do to attack or change any weaknesses.
- Enlist in a class or find activities that will address and change weaknesses. For example, if you find that you become a deer in headlights when confronted with spontaneous situation, put yourself in situations where spontaneity abounds. Examples including joining adult community theater, a sports team or even doing karaoke at the bar.
- Consider therapy or ways to talk about fears or concerns. If taking a class or joining a theater group doesn't seem to do the trick and you have deep rooted fears or anxiety that prevents you from moving forward, consider talking with a therapist.
- Take care not to become hung up on weaknesses. Some of them are best accepted rather than worked on––indeed, you can spend too much time trying to over-correct a weakness at the expense of concentrating more on a strength that more than compensates for the weakness. You're much better off in many cases improving a strength than brow-beating yourself over a weakness, particularly where it is an intrinsic part of who you are. You may be told sometimes that it "builds character" but character also involves knowing when to let go and not pursue something that won't enhance your life.
- Finally, but importantly, don't deny "Eureka" moments in your life. These are the times when you do something you've never done before, nor even thought about much before, and it just "clicks" and you're a total natural at it. This might be sport, art, creative pursuits, interacting with animals, standing in for someone who is away and doing their job, etc. The possibilities are endless but if you suddenly discover a fire inside yourself and an ability to do something as if you were born to do it, it's highly likely that you've fallen onto a previously undiscovered strength. Not everyone will experience this amazing moment, but if you do, work with it to enhance your life and reach your true potential.
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Edit Tips
- Changing weaknesses takes time, so give yourself a break if you aren’t able to make immediate resolutions. Also, don't spend all your time trying to turn a weakness into a strength. You can't change a leopard's spots but you can brush the fur so that it looks shinier; look for workarounds first by building your skill set up (this is what you can change), and then look for ways to keep building your strengths, which are what you want to shine the most because they're natural to you.
- The flow state (when you're deeply embedded in doing something you love that you don't even notice time flying) is an indicator of a strength being used. See if you can identify those times in your life when you're in this flow state––it's highly possible that you will find at least one, if not more, strengths involved in getting you to that state.
- Be careful when identifying your desires that you don't add "false desires". These are the desires fueled by a mistaken belief that you're destined for working in foreign affairs because you'll get to live in Paris, London and Rio or that you want to be a movie star so that you can attend glamorous parties and meet a rich spouse. Those are not desires because they miss the substance mark of doing something fulfilling with your life and are simply about fantasizing. Know the difference, or you could make an extreme mistake in building a career around a fantasy rather than around your innate strength and sense of purpose.
Edit Warnings
- When in an interview situation, never boast about strengths or whine about weaknesses. Be straightforward and matter of fact and with weaknesses, always come up with the solutions you've since come up with to work around your alleged weakness. As for strengths, keep them real and be sufficiently humble to avoid tooting your horn too loudly.
- Avoid falling into the trap of thinking that unless you're all strengths and no weaknesses, that you're doomed. Flawed humans are real humans and are much more likable than those attempting to put themselves across as perfect. Imagine yourself as an interviewer (be if for a job, media, social reasons, etc.) and how you'd feel if someone did nothing but boast how flawless they are––you'd be inclined to google their mishaps just to prove they're really human. What matters in relationships, both work and social, is showing how you've overcome your weaknesses and how reliable you are.
Edit Related wikiHows
- How to Communicate Your Weaknesses
- How to Identify Your Strengths
- How to Lead With Your Strengths
- How to Become a Good Presenter
- How to Discover Your Strengths
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