What's your weakness.. psychology behind this question..?

[cojak]

You answer it by saying 'Im sorry I understood this was a contract role and that is a question I'd expect to be asked of someone being interviewed for a permanent position. My skills, which you have recognised by requesting my attendance at this interview illustrates your company's desire to utilise these skills to deliver the project goals on time and to budget.'

That's all you need say. If they ask you to humour them, just say you prefer to talk about your skills. Any other response is a sign of weakness.

Yep - I like that one.

I simply said that they've interviewed me for a 6 months contract on my strengths, my weakness is to speak as I find. (I didn't bother hiding the raised eye-brow and the smile...)

The question shows the interviewers as inexperienced when it comes to recruiting contractors.

(PS - got the gig, if they dropped me for that I wasn't interested in it anyway since @rses and elbows would be in short supply there...)

[Zippy]

There are some really stupid questions out there ....

Going for a 3 month contract, I was asked "And where do you see yourself in 5 years?"....

I had that one, laughed loudly and didn't get the contract (government bodies have no sense of humour)

If I were being cynical I would guess that the question is not asked to elicit a 'correct' answer, but to give them a reason not to hire you if they don't like you personally.

[HairyArsedBloke]

I've just remembered the other cliché question: What has been your greatest failure?

[Evil Hangover]

I was recently asked "'What are three words that describe you".

My response of "Young, Free and Single" was not that well received.

[zcapr17]

Please provide specific example that gives us information of interviewers psychology...

As an interviewer, the key thing that I would be looking for here is for the candidate to demonstrate the ability to proactively analyse his or her's performance and identify opportunities for improvement. Self review and continuous improvement are essential from the perspective of the whole organisation right down to each individual. After all, someone who analyses their weaknesses and mistakes is much more likely to overcome them in the future.

Someone who answers "I'm not sure, judge for yourself once you've hired me" or "I am not in a position to judge" will be marked down for lack of self-review and laziness.

Answers like "I have no weaknesses that are relevant" or "I have no weaknesses at all" will be marked down for dishonesty, arrogance and poor judgement. You're just kidding yourself if you think you're perfect. These are the kind of people who never admit or learn from their mistakes and will very quickly become known as the "office twat".

"I have a weakness of x" - good, but what are you doing about it?

"Thinking about <past situation> I did so-and-so so this is an opportunity for me to improve by ..." - Excellent.

Humorous answers like "Kryptonite", "Chocolate", "Blondes" etc. - Plus points if you have developed a good rapport and can pull off a bit of humour. Minus points if you don't follow it up with a serious answer too.

I've not had anyone have the balls to say "That's a stupid question" or "That question is only relevant for a permie position". Needless to say, these would receive serious minus points for arrogance, and poor judgement. On that point I would actually argue the opposite; In permie-land most people are typically forced into self-review though mandatory PDPs or PADRs. Contractors however are not and therefore regular self-review off your own back is essential.

On the subject of stupid questions, interviewers will often deliberately play dumb and ask stupid or irrelevant questions, because let's face it, in IT we get asked stupid questions all day every day whether you're a helpdesk analyst or a project manager. Knowing how to respond with aplomb and without insulting the questioner is another invaluable skill.

From an interviewee's perspective, I would:
- Be honest.
- Admit a real weakness, one that can be fixed.
- Show your working (i.e. analysis of past situations).
- Don't admit a really big weakness (e.g "I'm always late", or "I tend to punch users who ask stupid questions").
- Slip in a little humour if you've built up a good rapport.

Oh, I agree the "perfectionist" or "workaholic" answers are far to clichéd, any good interviewer would ask you to indentify a real weakness once they'd stopped laughing.

HTH

Z.

[HeadOfTesting]

Interesting thread.

I've done shed loads of recruitment (both contract and perm) and apart from graduate programme interviews where it was part of a mandatory question sheet I don't recall asking this question of experienced hires because it's the kind of nonsense that I hate.

But I defend the right of the hiring manager to ask the question of either perm or contract candidates - all candidates are human resource at the end of the day and the argument that you wouldn't ask this question of a staff member fronting a service provider like, say, Vodfaone will hold no water with 99.9% of hiring managers.

If I did ask it a response like some of those listed on here would be a big negative but not necessarily a deal-breaker (even though I hate the question myself) if the role was a nightmare to fill.

All the job hunting materials that I've ever read are clear that the "I'm a perfectionist" answer is to be avoided. Standard advice seems to be to pick something credible but minor and non-core to the role in question and follow-up (unprompted) by some positive actions that have been taken to mitigate it over time. That's what I prepare for when I go to interview as a candidate (be it for a perm or contract role).

But even that can get sticky. I know a hiring manager who when given this template answer says "that's not a real weakness then is it. Give me 5 more and make them proper ones this time". I suspect many on here would terminate the interview but nevertheless it's an uncomfortable position to be put in and this guy I know says the vast majority of candidates when confronted with this aggressive stance then go on to spill their guts about all sorts of stuff.

That said I think 99.9% of hiring managers will accept the template answer so long as it's not the old "I'm a perfectionist" chestnut.

I would also say be on standby to use your record to refute any suggestion that you quoted weakness critically affects your effectiveness in your line of work. In my case for example, I've been renewed at least once everywhere, been "promoted" everywhere etc. So if challenged hard I would point out that I prefer to let the market decide. Again I suspect that would be the end of my involvement in the process

Next time I get asked this and the prospect is a write-off anyway I may try a more exotic answer of some sort.

ps - I agree that most times this is asked it's to 'hang' a candidate that they've decided they took a quick disliking to.

[HairyArsedBloke]

But even that can get sticky. I know a hiring manager who when given this template answer says "that's not a real weakness then is it. Give me 5 more and make them proper ones this time". I suspect many on here would terminate the interview ....

Too fraking right I would.

I would never stand for being talked to like that. The c.. would be lucky not to get a slap.

I suppose that is why I'm not 'employed' anymore.

[Sysman]

There are some really stupid questions out there ....

Going for a 3 month contract, I was asked "And where do you see yourself in 5 years?"....

That wasn't a BT subsidiary was it? I got the impression that the guy (who had obviously been there since pre-privatisation days) had been on a course on "How to interview people".

[cojak]

But even that can get sticky. I know a hiring manager who when given this template answer says "that's not a real weakness then is it. Give me 5 more and make them proper ones this time". I suspect many on here would terminate the interview but nevertheless it's an uncomfortable position to be put in and this guy I know says the vast majority of candidates when confronted with this aggressive stance then go on to spill their guts about all sorts of stuff.

"My biggest weakness is that I don't play games."

"Thank you for your time, gentlemen."

<smile, stand up, close door behind me>

[cojak]

As an interviewer, the key thing that I would be looking for here is for the candidate to demonstrate the ability to proactively analyse his or her's performance and identify opportunities for improvement. Self review and continuous improvement are essential from the perspective of the whole organisation right down to each individual. After all, someone who analyses their weaknesses and mistakes is much more likely to overcome them in the future.

......

In permie-land most people are typically forced into self-review though mandatory PDPs or PADRs. Contractors however are not and therefore regular self-review off your own back is essential.

......

From an interviewee's perspective, I would:
- Be honest.
- Admit a real weakness, one that can be fixed.
- Show your working (i.e. analysis of past situations).
- Don't admit a really big weakness (e.g "I'm always late", or "I tend to punch users who ask stupid questions").
- Slip in a little humour if you've built up a good rapport.


Z.

I quite understand the requirement for self-review and Continual Professional Development - I have even presented to various professional institutes on the need for CPD and owning responsibility for your own career/business.

But experienced recruiters can obtain this information from the CV and their interviewing skills. If they did ask I would throw in a non-core (and current work-in-progress, because if it was fixable why haven't I fixed it already??) weakness but I would also suspect that they'd be potentially lining me up for a permie role....