1. The
Toughest
Interview
Question
Of
All
…And How
To
Answer
IT!

2. For me, one of the the toughest interview
questions of all is:
What is your
greatest
weakness?

3. It is not an original or particularly good
question, but one that can trip people up
So here are some
strategies

4. Strategy 1:
Avoid the answer
completely
Instead,
focus on the skills required

5. Strategy 1 Example:
“This is a difficult question to answer. Of
course, we all have certain strengths and
weaknesses. When I applied for this job I
assessed the key skills I would need to
perform well. For me, this job requires the
key skills of X, Y, and Z and I feel that I have
all of those. With my new role will come
new responsibilities such as X, and in my
previous job I have had limited
opportunities to fully develop these.
However, I am a fast learner and will focus
on developing these areas.”

6. Strategy 2:
Talk about minor
and irrelevant and
weaknesses

7. Strategy 2 Example:
For example, if you are
applying for a job as a
gardener, you might say
that you are struggling
with public speaking.

8. Strategy 3:
Avoid general
statements

9. Strategy 3 Example:
Instead of making general
statements such as ‘I am
bossy’ you might want to
qualify this to specific
situations along the lines
of ‘When there is a lot of
pressure on a project I can
come across as bossy’.

10. Strategy 4:
Talk about past
development
success

11. Strategy 4 Example:
“No body is perfect. I am always
interested in keeping my skills up-
to-date and seek out constructive
feedback. In my last job I noticed
that my social media skills were
not as good as they could have
been, which made me book on a
training course. Now my social
media skills are so good that I help
to coach others in that area in my
company .”

12. Read my latest LinkedIn
LinkedIn Influencer post
on the topic

13. This overview was put together by
Bernard Marr,
Founder and CEO of the Advanced Performance Institute.
Bernard Mar is a bestselling business author, keynote
speaker, strategic performance consultant, and analytics, KPI &
Big Data guru.
Read Bernard’s blogs:
• LinkedIn Influencer Blog
• Big Data Guru Blog
Connect with Bernard on:
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Google+
• YouTube
• Advanced Performance Institute
For more articles, white
papers, case studies and
much more visit the
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