No one likes talking about their flaws or areas they lack in, especially in an interview where you are meant to showcase your best qualities. It is, however, inevitable to escape this question in an interview as it helps employers better understand who they are hiring and where they may fit into the workplace.

Instead of viewing this question negatively, try to flip the narrative and turn it into a positive response to show employers that you are self-aware and always looking to improve yourself. In fact, you may even show how your weakness is actually a strength and a quality that makes you stand out from others!
 

1. Recognise and accept your weaknesses
   
   
   
   

The first step towards accepting your weaknesses is to be able to recognise what they are.

This is a step that people often miss out on as they are too focused on finding their strengths that they try to ignore their weaknesses. In taking the time to identify your weaknesses, you are giving yourself an opportunity to find out what they are and in the process also learning to accept them.

Once you have learnt to accept and embrace your flaws, you can begin to work on improving them or turning them into your strengths.

2. Show how you prepare for mistakes
   
   
   
   

Do you find that you are very forgetful? If you know that are going to forget certain important information, what are some measures that you take to prevent this from happening?

Perhaps you have everything written down in your calender or you use apps like Notion to keep yourself accountable and on track with tasks. Show your interviewer how you take measures to combat your weaknesses and that you are prepared in making sure that mistakes are avoided despite them.

This act of preparation shows a high level of self-awareness and willingness to improve.

3. Ask for advices
   
   
   
   

Don’t be afraid to ask for advise. You may even suggest to your employer working with an employee that complements your traits.

For example, you may be good at looking at the bigger picture of things and piecing things together whereas the other person may be better at analysing finer details.

Working together would help to complement and play on each other’s strengths and weaknesses, ensuring higher productivity and results!

4. Practice makes perfect
   
   
   
   

Nobody gets it immediately on the first try. Certain things can be masked as weaknesses when it has not been worked on enough.

Perhaps you may not be very good at writing and assume that it is something that you are inherently bad at but after taking a course on copywriting, you learned that it is a skill you can improve on.

Before deciding that something is a weakness, see if it is something that can be cultivated with practice and learning. Showing employers that you are currently working on your weakness demonstrates a good attitude towards learning!

5. Use your strength to overcome your weakness
   
   
   
   

Knowing your strengths can also be beneficial in helping you to overcome your weaknesses.

For example, you may not be the most detail-oriented person, but you are extremely resourceful. To avoid making grammar mistakes in your writing, you find softwares like grammarly to spot your errors or knowing how to use excel formulas to ensure that you make no mistakes in your calculations.

Know how to play to your strengths and use them to outshine your weaknesses!

6. Analyse previous experiences
   
   
   
   

Consider the many projects you have worked on in the past, and make a list of the duties you performed that helped the project succeed. Examine and make a list of the areas you believe need improvement in the next stage.

Cross out each item on your list where you have learned anything from it. These are no longer your weaknesses; instead, they are excellent working instances of your experience that you may use in an interview to show that you are able to grow, achieve, and learn from it.

We hope that with these steps, you are able to demonstrate that you are a team player who is eager to pick up new abilities. Use them as concrete instances of how you are a self-starter who is eager to learn new things and develop your abilities. Its time to let your superpower shine!

For more job tips, head over to www.snatchjobs.sg to read more under 'Career Resources' ‼️