[Job-Discussions] Interview quest: weaknesses

[Sandra Gayer]

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I'm only catching up with this thread. Weakness questions are best 
answered in a positive frame, pointing to a skill the company may want. 
IE, my greatest weakness is my meticulous attention to detail. There was 
a politician here in England who described himself as "Spreadsheet 
Phil,", in short, outlining his focus on spreadsheet accuracy as a 
weakness. What employer wouldn't want that?


Very best wishes,

Sandra.

On 15/06/2024 04:49, Ms. Jamelle Word via Job-Discussions wrote:
>
> Hi Darrell,
>
> Thank you for sharing this with me.
>
> *From:*Job-Discussions <job-discussions-bounces at nfbnet.org> *On Behalf 
> Of *Darrell Hilliker via Job-Discussions
> *Sent:* Friday, June 14, 2024 7:56 PM
> *To:* 'Job Discussions internet Mailing List' <job-discussions at nfbnet.org>
> *Cc:* darrell.hilliker at gmail.com
> *Subject:* Re: [Job-Discussions] Interview quest: weaknesses
>
> Hi Jamelle,
>
> Dovetailing from what David has already stated, I think the direct 
> questions about “weaknesses” are largely going away in interviewing. 
> More and more, it is about how you have handled various work-related 
> scenarios and you are asked to tell short stories that answer the 
> questions.
>
> The other kind of question you’re likely to get will be something 
> specific about a skill required for the role to which you have applied.
>
> I occasionally interview candidates for support positions, and here is 
> a generalized example of some of the questions I have asked:
>
> Please tell me about a situation in which you actively considered 
> someone else’s ideas even when they sharply disagreed with your own.
>
> Our engineers are expected to complete several different kinds of 
> tasks in any given work day. Please describe how you prioritize your 
> work and what tools you have found helpful.
>
> When you are testing a component against WCAG Success Criterion 2.1.1, 
> please describe the meaning of that criterion and outline some 
> techniques you find helpful.
>
> Rather than focusing on how I can reject a candidate, I am actively 
> listening to their answers to get a better understanding of how their 
> experience and their unique, authentic characteristics could benefit 
> our team.
>
> And, as David has already stated, it is a very good idea to really sit 
> down, take some serious effort and time to think about not only those 
> opportunities, vulnerabilities or “weaknesses” you should address, but 
> also to inventory your strengths and really think about how they could 
> be useful tools to set you up for success. I’d even recommend taking 
> notes during this time or, if writing is something you enjoy, draft a 
> stream of consciousness where you just write down anything that comes 
> to mind when you think about employment, experience, knowledge, 
> skills, weaknesses, etc.
>
> Please just keep in mind that, at the end of the day, the potential 
> employer has work they need to get done, and they need to find the 
> best person for the job.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Darrell Hilliker, NU7I, CPWA
>
> Innovation: Technology is not innovative if it is not accessible. In 
> fact, it is unintentionally ableist, or even racist or misogynistic, 
> when technology is designed without inclusion as a first principle. 
> And being ableist is not innovative at all. Being ableist is an 
> outdated way of doing things. Choose not to be outdated. Be 
> intentionally innovative and include people with disabilities 
> throughout your project lifecycle, starting from the beginning in the 
> design and planning stages.
>
> *From:*Job-Discussions <job-discussions-bounces at nfbnet.org> *On Behalf 
> Of *Ms. Jamelle Word via Job-Discussions
> *Sent:* Friday, June 14, 2024 1:48 PM
> *To:* 'Job Discussions internet Mailing List' <job-discussions at nfbnet.org>
> *Cc:* jmail201586 at yahoo.com
> *Subject:* [Job-Discussions] Interview quest: weaknesses
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I wanted to ask about the question weaknesses. If you don’t know what 
> your weaknesses are how do you answer this question?,
>
> Thank you in advance
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Job-Discussions mailing list
> Job-Discussions at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/job-discussions_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Job-Discussions:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/job-discussions_nfbnet.org/sandragayer7%40gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/job-discussions_nfbnet.org/attachments/20240615/719975e5/attachment.htm>