How to Answer: “What is Your Biggest Weakness?” Interview Question
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Struggling with the dreaded “What is your biggest weakness?” interview question? The key is honesty with a strategic twist. In this guide, we’ll break down how to craft a strong response — plus 11 sample answers to help you impress hiring managers.
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Why Do Employers Ask the Biggest Weakness Interview Question?
Employers ask, “What is your biggest weakness?” to assess your self-awareness, honesty, and willingness to improve. They want to see if you can recognize areas for growth without undermining your ability to succeed in the role.
A thoughtful response shows that you handle challenges constructively and take steps to improve. This question also helps employers gauge your problem-solving skills, adaptability, and fit within the company’s culture.
You can share valuable soft skills and how you used and developed them to address your professional weaknesses. For example, if you struggle to maintain your email inbox, you can share how you adapted your task management and organizational skills to help you manage email requests. Helpful skills you can feature in your interview answers include:
- Analytical skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Interpersonal social skills
How to Answer: “What is Your Biggest Weakness?”
As you begin to think about how you’ll answer “What are your weaknesses?” consider the following tips:
1Choose a real weakness with growth potential:
Be honest with yourself and potential employers! Suppose you previously struggled with organizing and prioritizing tasks. In that case, you can highlight this weakness and share how you improved by finding a task management system like the Pomodoro technique to improve your workflow!
2Be self-aware:
Use positive words to describe yourself when you answer the biggest weakness interview question. Your professional weaknesses can be overcome, but self-criticism can sabotage your job search before you get a job offer. Employers seek confident and competent candidates.
3Share your self-improvement:
Not only should you celebrate your professional growth, but sharing where and how you improved highlights your self-motivation and commitment to your job. These are valuable personal traits that employers value in their workers.
4Stay focused:
A good interview will have multiple opportunities to describe your strengths and accomplishments. Keep your answer to this question short and concentrate to move on to other topics and impress your interviewer.
11 Sample Answers
We covered how to prepare for the interview and how to rethink your biggest weaknesses, but how do you phrase answers? Here’s some sample answers to reframe common workplace weaknesses like fear of public speaking or task management!
Public speaking
Learning to develop your communication and presentation skills can help you come across as confident and authoritative in meetings and team settings.
“I used to struggle with public speaking, which made me hesitant to share ideas in meetings. To improve, I took a public speaking course and started volunteering for presentations, which has helped me become more confident.”
Task delegation
Learning how to monitor and delegate tasks can demonstrate that you’re on a managerial or leadership track.
“I sometimes find it hard to delegate because I want to ensure everything is done perfectly. However, I’ve been working on trusting my team more by assigning tasks gradually and providing clear instructions.”
Asking for help
Sharing that you’re willing to ask for help shows that you prioritize the work, time management, and deadlines over your pride, making you a valuable candidate.
“I tend to be independent and sometimes hesitate to ask for help. Lately, I’ve been making a conscious effort to seek guidance when needed, improving my efficiency and teamwork.”
Difficulty with constructive criticism
Share how you learned to take constructive criticism and feedback as a valuable tool for professional growth.
“I used to take constructive criticism personally, but I’ve learned to see it as an opportunity for growth. Now, I actively seek feedback and apply it to improve my performance.”
Time management
Struggling with time management can make you seem disorganized. Still, this answer reframes it as overcommitment while highlighting proactive steps like productivity tools and prioritization techniques to demonstrate improvement and responsibility.
“At times, I take on too many tasks, which affects my time management. I’ve started using productivity tools and prioritization techniques to stay on top of deadlines.”
Perfectionism
Although perfectionism can slow down productivity, this answer reframes it by showing how to set time limits and improve efficiency without sacrificing high standards.
“I tend to spend too much time perfecting details, which can slow me down. I’m learning to balance quality and efficiency by setting time limits for tasks.”
Overly direct
Being overly direct can seem confrontational, but this answer reframes it as clear communication skills while highlighting efforts to improve tone and phrasing for more effective and professional interactions.
“I can be very direct in my communication, which may sometimes come across as blunt. I’ve been working on softening my approach by being mindful of tone and phrasing.”
Work-life balance
Struggling with work-life balance can lead to burnout. Still, this answer reframes it as dedication while showing proactive steps, like setting boundaries and taking breaks, to improve long-term productivity and well-being.
“I sometimes focus too much on work and forget to take breaks, which can lead to burnout. I’ve started setting boundaries and taking short breaks to maintain productivity and well-being.”
Avoid risks
Risk aversion can limit growth, but this answer reframes it as a preference for reliability while highlighting efforts to embrace new strategies, step out of comfort zones, and learn from failures.
“I tend to stick to familiar methods rather than taking risks. However, I’ve been working on stepping out of my comfort zone by exploring new strategies and learning from failures.”
Struggle in the face of uncertainty
Struggling with uncertainty can seem like resistance to change, but this answer reframes it as a preference for structure while highlighting proactive efforts to build adaptability.
“I prefer structured environments, so I sometimes struggle with unexpected changes. To improve, I’ve been practicing adaptability by taking on dynamic projects and staying flexible.”
Developing technical skills
Adapting to new technology can be challenging, but this answer reframes it as a learning curve while showcasing dedication to training, practice, and continuous improvement in mastering new software and tools.
“I’m not always the fastest at learning new software, but I make up for it by dedicating time to training and practice. This approach has helped me become more comfortable with technology over time.”
Answers to Avoid
When answering “What is your biggest weakness?”, avoid these types of responses that could harm your chances of nailing this interview question:
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How to Answer 'What is Your Greatest Weakness'
Last edited by: Gabriela Barcenas, CPRW, Content Writer II - February 13, 2025
Gabriela Barcenas
CPRW, Content Writer IIGabriela is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and career adviser. With 10 years of digital media experience and five years of resume writing expertise, her publication history includes fashion, education, travel, social justice, equitable design, and career advice.
