Mystery Woman

Tell us more for better jobs, advice
and connections

YOUR GROUPS

Discover and join groups with like-minded women who share your interests, profession, and lifestyle.

COMPANIES YOU FOLLOW

Get alerted when there are new employee reviews.

YOUR JOB ALERTS

Get notified when new jobs are posted.

Your post is published!

Beatrice T.

136

09/22/20 at 4:25PM UTC

Career

The deal-breaking interview mistake that cost me the job

I'm sharing my recent interview failure as a lesson for my fellow job-searchers! When the hiring manager asked me what my weaknesses are, I was eager to answer the question as honestly as possible — and ended up saying 3 weaknesses! I was too much in "interview mode" and convinced myself I needed to answer the question very thoroughly. By doing so, I spent far too much of the interview focusing on my weaknesses rather than my strengths. I'm upset I messed up, but I'm glad I've learned this lesson for my next interview! What interview mistakes have you made and learned from?

Join the conversation...

Nikki Reyes

Seasoned when it comes to people : )

09/29/20 at 8:43AM UTC

I can relate to what you have been through. I gave the interviewer too much information. In fact i even told the interviewer my feelings, i got carried away. It was only after the interview that i recalled seeing the expression of my interviewer, she had a bothered look while i was expressing myself and my weaknesses. From then on, i learned my lesson Not to overshare and to turn weaknesses into strengths. Or to tell the interviewer how i overcame the weakness and solved the problem/situation. I do, however admire the honest job applicants who respond very sincerely.

Minela Bajrovic

09/26/20 at 1:33AM UTC

Omg, I can totally relate when I was in college I got the opportunity to interview for an internship with Lockheed Martin, needless to say I was ecstatic. Since I was working on my senior project they asked me about how it was going, being that I was so nervous, I just went on and on about how terrible my team mates were. It was like I wasn't in control of my mouth and before I realized what was happening it was too late. I seemed like a very mean, egocentric, control freak who wasn't 'as smart as I thought'. I didn't get the job, shocking I know. ;) I can't say that I'm happy it happened, even now, but I will say that I never get nervous for interviews anymore.

Janna McNeil

Senior Director Sales Operations in MA

09/25/20 at 2:55PM UTC

I think that we should change how strengths and weaknesses are defined. Marcus Buckingham defines, "a strength is an activity that strengthens you. It draws you in, it makes time fly by while you’re doing it, and it makes you feel strong." A weakness is something that drains you. It doesn't mean that you are not good at something. It just means that the activity doesn't lift you up.

Janice Ferguson

111

09/25/20 at 12:32PM UTC

I was interviewing for a department manager position at a retail store. The store was going through a remodel at the time. I made the comment that I hated going through remodels. Of course I never heard back from them.

Linda M S Thomas

Chemistry and Systems Engineering intersection

09/25/20 at 4:24AM UTC

I am sorry this happened to you -- as other has mentioned, when this question comes up, find a way to discuss with an example how you persevered to overcome this weakness, and turn it into a strength. For a generic example, let' s say time management in a group project is a weakness. You could say how you motivated the group members to complete projects using project management skills you learned in a class, and you were able to manage a project to completion earlier than scheduled. Wishing you a successful next interview!

Bosslady520080

09/24/20 at 7:24PM UTC

I've had that question on interviews, the advice I was given is to turn it into a strength. For example, I'm very good in math and a sometimes lousy speller. I was asked what was a weakness I had? I answered spelling; that's why I always use the spell checker checker. Another time, if you think it is appropriate is to use humor, I answered "chocolate", and everyone laughed.

Carmen Honacker

407

Fraud/Risk, Content Moderation, Trust & Safety

09/24/20 at 6:39PM UTC

I think I have a different take on this situation. I don't think you've messed up at all. We are all human, and if your true personality and strengths didn't shine through, I'd argue it wasn't your fault. The thing is that I actually despise stupid questions like that. I don't think they tell me anything about a person, since most people rehearse the answers to them and do not answer authentically. When I interview people I want to find out who they are. I don't want to know where they see themselves in 5 years or what weaknesses they may want to share. I encourage you to look at it from a different point of view. Any company who still uses canned questions like that may not be the right fit for you. When I interview for a job, I look for hiring managers, companies and HR people/recruiters that are authentic and show me their humanity. I don't want to work for a sterile, unimaginative places that still believe that these types of questions actively recruit the right talent.

Emily Phelan

159

09/24/20 at 5:28PM UTC

I similarly flubbed the weaknesses question in an interview years back. I said "I don't like being interrupted. I just want to do my job and get my work done." Luckily, I can look back now and laugh. BUT, after that, I made the decision that my "biggest weakness" was going to be something beneficial. My go-to became "I hate leaving something unfinished. When 5:00 hits, I just can't leave if I am in the middle of something I can finish." To an employer, it shows I take pride in doing my job well. And gosh darn it, I just about always finish what I need to before 5:00. ;) However, there are days that I put that extra hour in because I know I will be set up for a more productive day the next day.

Adina Zinn

Helping you find work you love.

09/24/20 at 6:48PM UTC

Nice job Emily. As someone who does a lot of interview coaching, that is exactly how I tell folks to answer that question. Talk about your weakness as something you are working on improving and something that shows you are a hard worker.

S Hollingworth

09/24/20 at 5:14PM UTC

I've always approached questions like this in an interview first with pausing to think about how I want to answer. I would never flat out list 3 bad weaknesses. Honestly, our bad weaknesses are something we try to shelter from our current employers as we continue to work on them and improve them (hopefully). I've listed my weaknesses as a story of a situation and how I've worked to improve it. I've also listed something that I honestly think can be perceived as a weakness, but how I feel it is a personal strength to me, and why I think that and how it benefits my work. Always keep your end goal in mind--you are selling yourself to this new prospective company, and you want to present yourself in a way that you will get the job. I'm an extremely honest person, but information during an interview is shared with the goal of landing the job.