Job interviews
Strengths and weaknesses in a job interview: what to say, with sample answers
The short answer
For “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”, give one strength the job needs, with a short example that proves it. Then give one real weakness the job can live with, and say what you’re doing about it. Keep the whole answer under a minute and say it out loud before the day.
By the Chappie team · Updated
Why do interviewers ask about strengths and weaknesses?
This is the question where you feel you have to boast and then confess, in your second language, while someone writes it down. The interviewer wants neither. They’re checking whether you know what the job needs and whether you can talk about yourself honestly.
So the answer can be small. One strength with proof and one weakness with a plan will do, and the rest of this page shows how to find yours.
How do you choose a strength?
- 1
Read the advert again
Underline what they ask for: “attention to detail”, “good with customers”, “able to work shifts”.
- 2
Pick one you can prove
Choose the one where you can point to something that happened.
- 3
Name it in plain words
“I’m careful with numbers” is easier to say, and easier to believe, than “I possess strong analytical skills”.
- 4
Add the proof
One sentence about a day, a customer, a project or a number.
| Strength | A sentence that proves it |
|---|---|
| StrengthPatient with customers | A sentence that proves it“One customer called four times about the same bill, and I went through it with her line by line each time.” |
| StrengthCareful with numbers | A sentence that proves it“I balanced the cash every evening for two years, and the head office audit found nothing to correct.” |
| StrengthQuick to learn | A sentence that proves it“I learnt our new billing system in a week and then trained two colleagues on it.” |
| StrengthReliable | A sentence that proves it“In three years at the shop I opened on time every morning.” |
| StrengthCalm under pressure | A sentence that proves it“During the December rush I ran two counters for a week when a colleague was ill.” |
| StrengthGood at explaining | A sentence that proves it“New staff are usually sent to sit with me in their first week.” |
| StrengthOrganised | A sentence that proves it“I planned our batch trip for sixty students, and the bus left on time.” |
These are invented examples. Yours will be better, because they happened to you.
How do you answer “What is your greatest weakness?”
Choose a weakness that’s true, that the job can live with, and that you’re already working on. Then say it in three parts: the weakness, what you’re doing about it, and how far you’ve got.
- Asking for help too late: “I now ask after thirty minutes of being stuck.”
- Staying quiet in meetings: “I prepare one point before each meeting and make sure I say it.”
- Getting lost in detail: “I set a time limit for each task and check the clock halfway through.”
- Impatience when things move slowly: “I’ve learnt to ask what’s blocking someone before I chase them.”
- A tool you haven’t used much: “My Excel is basic, so I’m doing a short course in the evenings.”
Can you say your English is your weakness?
Yes, unless the job is mostly speaking English, as it is on a front desk or in a call centre. For most other roles it’s an honest answer that many interviewers will recognise from their own careers. Say what you’re doing about it.
My written English is stronger than my spoken English. I’ve been practising speaking for fifteen minutes a day for the last two months, and last month I started giving our weekly update on the client call.
Which answers backfire?
Sample answers for strengths and weaknesses
My strength is that I’m careful with numbers. For my final-year project I checked the accounts of a small shop in Kurunegala and found two entries that had been recorded twice. My weakness is that I’m quiet in groups. I’m working on it by asking one question in every lecture and every meeting, and it’s getting easier.
I’m good at keeping customers. Of the forty shops on my route, thirty-six have ordered every month this year, because I visit even when there’s nothing to sell. My weakness is paperwork. I used to leave my reports until Friday. Now I fill them in on my phone after each visit, and they’ve gone in on time since March.
My strength is training people. Four of the six people in my team joined with no experience, and all four now handle customers on their own. My weakness is that I find it hard to hand work over. I’ve started giving one task a week to someone else, and checking it only at the end.
Invented examples. Keep the shape and put in your own facts.
What might they ask next?
““Can you give me an example?””
Have one more story ready for your strength. A small one is fine.
““What would your manager say about you?””
The same strength, in their words: “She’d say I’m the one she gives new customers to.”
““How do you know that’s your weakness?””
Say how you found out: feedback, a missed deadline, a project that went badly.
““Let me think about that for a moment.””
Your line, when you need a few seconds. It’s a normal thing to say.
These two questions usually arrive with eight others. The ten most common interview questions has sample answers for the rest, and how to answer “Tell me about yourself” covers the one that opens most interviews.
How do you practise this answer?
- 1
Write one line for each
Your strength and its proof. Your weakness and its plan.
- 2
Say it out loud five times
The third time will feel different from the first. Keep going.
- 3
Time it
Thirty to sixty seconds for both together.
- 4
Have someone ask it cold
In the middle of other questions, so it doesn’t come when you expect it.
Chappie, our app, can be the interviewer. You tell it the role, it asks questions like these out loud, and after you answer it shows you what to fix in your grammar, word choice and pronunciation. It can’t tell you whether your strength is the right one for that employer; a friend in the same field can. Downloading it costs nothing and the trial is free. After the trial you pay a subscription. If this is your first interview, start with how to face your first job interview.
Practise it
Say your strength and your weakness out loud in a practice interview on Chappie.
Questions people ask
What are good strengths to say in a job interview?
The ones the advert asks for that you can prove: patient with customers, careful with numbers, quick to learn, reliable, calm under pressure. Give one, with a sentence about something that happened.
What is a good weakness to say in an interview?
A real one the job can live with, plus what you’re doing about it. For example: “I’m slow to ask for help. I now ask after thirty minutes of being stuck.”
How many strengths and weaknesses should I give?
One of each unless they ask for more. If they ask for three strengths, give three words and prove the first.
Can I say I’m a perfectionist?
Interviewers hear it so often that it sounds rehearsed. Say the real version instead: “I spend too long checking my own work, so I now give each check a time limit.”
What strengths can a fresher talk about?
Anything you can prove from university, an internship, part-time work, a society or a family business. “I planned our batch trip for sixty students” proves you’re organised.