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PAE

It can be hard to answer the question, ‘What are your weaknesses?’–especially
when you expected to be discussing the capabilities, skills and talents that
make you the best candidate for the job. Framing your weaknesses positively

can be challenging, but when you combine self-awareness with an action plan,
you can quickly stand apart from other job candidates.

Why do employers ask ‘What are your making lots of last-minute changes to make
weaknesses?’ sure everything is perfect. The problem with
Employers ask candidates about their this weakness is that it can impact deadlines.
weaknesses to assess their self-awareness, If this is your weakness, share how you’re
honesty and ability to improve. They also likely trying to get better at letting projects go by
want to see what you have already done to giving yourself a deadline for all revisions.
improve upon your weaknesses and what you
plan to do to keep getting better. Here are EXAMPLE: ‘My greatest weakness is that
a few examples of the best weaknesses to I sometimes have a hard time letting go
mention in an interview. of a project. I’m the biggest critic of my
work, and I can always find something that
needs to be improved or changed. To help
 I focus too much on the details myself improve in this area, I give myself
Being ‘detail-oriented’ is typically a positive deadlines for revisions and try to avoid
skill, but if you tend to spend too much time making too many last-minute changes.’
on the specifics of a project, it could also be
considered a weakness. By mentioning that  I have trouble saying no
you focus too much on details, you’re showing
to the hiring manager that you’re capable From an employer’s perspective, someone
of helping the company avoid even minor who is always willing to help is an asset.
mistakes. However, this asset can become a weakness
when you end up submitting your work late
EXAMPLE: ‘One of my greatest because you’ve spent so much time helping
weaknesses is that I sometimes focus too others. Share how you’re working to better
much on the details of a project. I have self-manage by organising your tasks and
been striving to improve in this area by setting boundaries in how much time you can
better monitoring how long I spend on a spare to help others.
task and allowing myself to re-focus on
the project at large. That way, I can still EXAMPLE: ‘My greatest weakness is
ensure high quality while maintaining my that I sometimes have trouble saying no
productivity and helping my team to meet to requests and end up taking on more
deadlines.’ than I can handle. I now use a project
management app so I can see how much
work I have at any moment and understand
 I have a hard time letting go of a project when I have time to help others.’
Some people are natural perfectionists,


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