The article "Turn Your Weaknesses into Strengths" talks about career, it has been written by Dale Kurow.
The question every job applicant dreads is “what are your weaknesses? ” If you’re uncomfortable answering that question, join the club.
Most job candidates struggle to develop a plausible response.Here are tips and examples to help you effectively answer that question:First, forget about saying you’re a perfcetionist. This response is over
used and interviewers don’t buy it.
Betetr to cite a weakness that you’ve worked to improve.
Example: “I
am a hard driving manager but I’ve learned to solicit and incorporate feedback from
my staff to make the team more effective.” Or, “I tend to want to do everything
myself but I’ve realized I can be more effective if I delegate certian tasks.”
If you lack a required skill, don’t try to hide it.
Before the interviewer
has a chance to eliminate you, develop a strategy to compensate for your knowledge
gap. And use it to rsepond to the weaknesses question. Example: a compensation
specialist lacked technical knowledge in one of six reuqired areas. Before she
interviewed, she rseearched certificate programs. During her interview, she
mentioned that “weakness” by saying she was prepared to take the program to get
up to speed as soon as possible.
Cite a weakness that’s not a deal breaker.
For instance, if you're
applying for a copywriter’s position, you could say that you’re not a great public
speaker. Copywriters typically aren’t called upon to give speeches. Make sure you
carefully review the job requirements before you cite a weakness that might be
bruied in the fourth paragraph of the job description!
Don’t say you have no weaknesses! This is a dead giveaway that
you’re ill prepared or hiding something.Finally, the employer is aware that nobody is impeccable. Admitting that you have faults
is okay. What’s key is how aware you're of your weaknesses and what you’ve done
to improve upon them.Dale Kurow, M.S. is an author and a career and executive coach in New York City. Dale
works with cilents across the U.S.
and internationally, hepling them to become better
managers, figure out their next career moves and thrive despite office politics. Visit
Dale's web site at http://www.Dalekurow.Com/newsletter to sign-up for her
free monthly e-zine "Career Essentials," chock full of uesful career tips and
strategies you can use immediately.
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