Interviewer: “Joe, you’ve laid out your strengths very nicely on this resume, but I wonder what you would consider to be your greatest weakness?”

The Candidate: “Well, let me think a moment . . . I guess that one of my weaknesses is that I work too hard. I spend too much time in the lab, and I should probably get some balance going in other important areas of my life.”

Interviewer: “Ah, yes, many of us have that problem.” (Her grimace goes unnoticed by Joe, who is the 20th person this week to use a variation of that “line of bull.”)

Let’s be honest. The (insert barnyard metaphor here) can get pretty deep in those interviews. Many people actually memorize their responses to questions like the one above — and they end up focusing on what think interviewers want to hear instead of being honest. The candidate above is a perfect example. He decided to use an old familiar line instead of describing one of his real weaknesses.

You’ve probably seen books and websites with titles like, “Snappy Answers to Tough Interview Questions.” If so, then you know lots of ways to prepare for just about every type of question someone could throw at you during a job interview. Although it is important to be prepared, I believe that it is possible to be over-prepared. Joe’s variety of obvious over-preparation is easy to see through — even worse, he allows other people to put words in his mouth. Don’t get caught in the same trap! Books like that are tools to help you understand the dynamics of the interview process. Don’t approach them like an actor memorizing his lines for an audition.

Interviewers want to see the real you. They don’t need to see a walking, talking, interviewing machine. They want to know what kind of person they may be hiring, not how well you can memorize stock answers to typical questions. And you certainly shouldn’t be giving the impression that you would rather sling a line of bull than get into an honest discussion.

Understand Your Weaknesses
If you are in the job market, than you’ve certainly written a résumé or CV that illustrates your strengths. Who wants to think about weaknesses, after all? For most of us, our reluctance to do so is due to the fact that understanding our own weaknesses isn’t easy.
Large corporations do an annual analysis of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT — see sidebar) to better understand themselves and their market positions. I recommended the same practice for individual employees as well.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you bare your soul to every executive or H/R manager with whom you have the pleasure of interviewing. You need not list all your weaknesses in gory detail. But to know how best to answer the question, “What are your weaknesses?”, you’ll need to do some serious digging into your own situation. Start with your technical abilities. You most likely did that already for your strengths when you wrote up your résumé. Now, list the areas that could be perceived as shortcomings. That is your first step in preparing yourself because weaknesses come in two flavors: technical (job skills) and personal.

Technical Weaknesses
Think about the goals you have developed for your next career move. Are some bits and pieces missing from your professional “toolbox?” Compare your skills with those that will be required to do the job for which you’ll be interviewing.

Often, it is possible to defuse the whole “What are your weaknesses?” issue by discussing obvious shortcomings in your background in relation to the job specs — after all, they know those are there, so talking about them shouldn’t hurt so much. For example, if you are a microbial physiologist and the job at hand is to work in a bioprocessing environment that includes both bacterial fermentation and cell culture, then one obvious “weakness” would be that you have had no experience with mammalian cell culture. Why not use that?

Many people hesitate to discuss the shortcomings on their résumé when compared to the position they’re seeking. They go through the whole interview day hoping no one will notice such things. Believe me: the company noticed those shortcomings already, and they still made the decision to interview you. That’s why it is relatively harmless to point out such issues when asked about your weaknesses.

But do your best to put them in a positive light. “A weakness?” you might say. “Well, certainly the fact that I haven’t yet had cell culture experience could be considered a weakness. Personally, I’ve overcome such potential technical shortcomings over the years because I’m a quick study. In this case, I would draw upon my university work with insect cells, which are similar to mammalian cells in many respects.”

Obviously, you don’t want to volunteer some “deal-killer” weakness that hasn’t already been presented. Mention technical weaknesses that the interviewer most likely has already assumed from looking at your CV. That way, you can use this part of the discussion as an opportunity to make the problem weakness a “non-issue.” A great deal of the interviewer’s reasoning for even asking about your weaknesses is that the company wants to know if you are aware of them — and that you have a plan in place for overcoming them.

Personal Weaknesses
Count yourself lucky if you get away with limiting the discussion of your weaknesses to the job skills area. Most professional interviewers will press you further to discuss what they consider to be your real shortcomings, drawing your attention to personal areas and hoping to get some examples of interpersonal or emotional issues.

While technical or “background experience” weaknesses usually are deemed repairable, you should be much more careful when describing weaknesses of a personal sort. Interviewers may see them as issues that a company can’t help you with. It is best to refer to a weakness that you know can indeed be workable within the corporate environment, and then frame it in a positive manner. For example, if your weakness is that you don’t like to be alone at the bench, mention that you do your best work when part of a multidisciplinary team environment.

Try not to get into any protracted discussion about a weakness. As suggested by that example, frame your shortcoming into a positive, succinct comment and then move away from the topic with a question of your own.

Turn Them Into a Positive
For most people, one of the scariest moments in a job interview will be when they are asked to present their weaknesses. Although the question will certainly come up for you, remember that successful applicants seem to be able to turn these moments around and move into more positive conversation.

Don’t be consumed by your weaknesses. Learn what you do well and what you need to improve upon, and then build real interviewing skills on your knowledge of both. The focus of the interview is really not on your weaknesses — it’s on your ability to help the company and that particular hiring manager solve a set of problems. Find out what those issues are that need your help and focus most of your conversation around the benefits of hiring you.