Interview How To #947

You’ve got a killer resume that went through the filters straight into the hands of the hiring decision maker.

You’ve got a relevant, conversational, and professional cover letter.

And now, the interview.

Hopefully, the person interviewing you is savvy enough to use a mix of behavioral, theoretical, and informational questions. (More about those later…) But, unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Most times, hiring managers are still using outdated materials to make decisions about who to hire.

One of the most dreaded outdated questions is “What are your weaknesses?” Rather than go the Michael Scott route and answer that question with a not-so-clever response, use the question to your advantage.

When you read the initial job description, were there skills in the description that you don’t really have? For example, HTML might not be your strong suit. And the hiring manager asks you “Tell me some of your weaknesses.” This is your chance to respond with something like “You know, I’m not so great at HTML. I’ve learned a bit, but it’s not really my strong suit. I would love a chance to learn, though, and I’ve been looking into some classes that I could take after work to teach me this new skill. I think I could be fully functioning in that environment within a couple of weeks and because I’d be learning the latest information available, that could really help the company be right on the cutting edge.”

Remember, don’t just say “I’m weak in ____ area” and leave it at that. This is about a beneficial agreement between you and the company to make that weakness a strength. It’s also a good idea to think for a minute like the hiring manager – you’re hiring this position because your company has a need and a pain point. Keep in mind that pain point is keeping that manager up at night. Think about what you would want in an employee you are hiring. Would you want someone who was interviewing for the position and demanding all sorts of accommodations? No, you’re going to pick the person who can meet the need and solve the pain point and give you some much-needed rest at night!

So, list the following key points in your response:

1) You really want to improve in this area

2) You have been doing research (not expecting them to do the research for you) on options to learn more

3) Those options won’t interfere with normal work hours and workload

4) Include a timeline of when you think you could be up and running, so they know it won’t be 5 or 6 months before the pain point is resolved.

5) Also, include a benefit to choosing this option.

A quick word about #5 – hiring managers will always have a ton of applicants to choose from. It’s not just ‘this economy’ that creates that. Applicants abound. Always. Applicants always abound. It’s not just the economy. (I’m repeating it because it bears repeating.) What hiring managers will not always have is qualified, happy, willing applicants. Even in any economy, finding those applicants is a difficult task.

So, when you say in an interview that you want to improve a skill, it shows that you are willing and you can be happy learning a new skill. Then, the benefit is furthered to the company by offering a new qualification that will not only help with the pain point, but be useful in the future on other tasks.

We’ll talk more later about how to offer this information even if the hiring manager doesn’t ask a question like this one. For now, though, take a deep breath and start crafting your interview answers to reflect your unique methods and talents.