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Answering "What is your greatest weakness?" »

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We talk to a lot of job seekers. No other interview question seems to strike fear into the hearts of man more than "What is your greatest weakness?" There is no need to worry, it is an easily tackled question. You just have to know what the interviewer is looking for and how to appropriately phrase your answer.

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alexrudloff

My name is Alex and once upon a time I was the lead developer on the rewrite of Netscape.com (now propeller.com).

I'm ...

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Comments: 18

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Randall
June 11, 2007, 9:53 a.m.
Interesting idea... sounds a bit too much like presidential politics for me.
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BrianAlvey
June 11, 2007, 11:07 a.m.
I'd probably answer, "My total lack of respect for people who ask stupid interview questions. Are we done here?"
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Mowens1984
June 11, 2007, 12:23 p.m.
I do as many lists of answers will tell you to do. Try to make it a positive.
I tell them that I'm a perfectionist and that sometimes bothers some people. Which is true, and they always seem to like that answer.
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SlapALib
June 11, 2007, 3:47 p.m.
If anything, I care too much. Oh yeah, and people tell me my flaming racism is a weakness, but I think that just goes back to the caring issue.
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alexrudloff
June 11, 2007, 8:38 p.m.
When it comes to answering "none", it probably all depends on how you do it. No one wants to hire arrogance, but if its an honest assessment and you just can't think of anything...
As Brian pointed out earlier, it's a kinda dumb question to begin with, designed to see how someone reacts and judge honesty/humbleness/etc.
"kryptonite" is still my favorite response though ;)
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oneironaut420
June 11, 2007, 9:29 p.m.
I wish I'd read this when I had a job interview about 3 weeks ago. The question caught me completely off-guard. I stammered for probably a full 30 seconds, before finally answering that sometimes, when under extreme pressure, I become flustered.
It must have worked, because I got the job, and I really love it. 8)
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lightwarrior85
June 11, 2007, 11 p.m.
It is like in a movie "office space": -" I am good with people, I have good people skills, don't you see; what is wrong with you people" )
Too personal question.(but not answer like that)
I would say, that you just have to show HR person that manageable without them knowing personal side of your life. If your title going to be higher than HR, than you need to show them that(if you hired) you would not ask them personal questions as well)))))))
http://job-interviews-questions.blogspot.com/
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puffin
June 12, 2007, 3:31 a.m.
I always say the same thing when asked this question: I am very hard on myself when I make mistakes.
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sotiris-k
June 12, 2007, 4:56 a.m.
Greatest weakness? Admiting that I cant break higher ethical principles in order to benefit my company-organization or even self when it becomes materially vital for that system you are part of . To declare that you will always hold higher ethical principles above the self centered utility of the company you are part of although you are flexible enough to realize that on occasion it may be proper to compromise a weak ethical standard to achieve a higher final one (end justifies means only if the ethics you sacrifice during the process is recovered eventually at a larger scale). If it becomes a choice of preservation of maximal company utility (ie profits) at the expense of a significant ethical principle you will have a hard time compromising and likely will not. So you shouldnt be part of a mechanism that requires corrupt action design. Strong second a never ending desire for analytical thinking that can show you as opinionated and show excessive focus on the complexity of things.