Do I need to talk about my weaknesses at an interview?

Often candidates are afraid to talk about their weaknesses or past mistakes. They believe that you should tell only positive things about themselves at the interview. Therefore, to the HR manager's question "What are your weaknesses?" applicants often cannot find an answer, get lost or start coming up with "far-fetched" facts and situations. Naturally, this does not form the best impression. Therefore, today we will consider how to prepare for a conversation about weaknesses and how to make sure that such questions do not take you by surprise.

Why is this being asked?

We are all human beings and each of us will have negative sides, mistakes, or just something that we don't like doing at all. There's nothing wrong with that. The HR manager wants to understand who came to the interview, what kind of person they are, what positive and negative traits they have, and whether they will be able to adapt to the working conditions and the team. Talking about weaknesses helps to evaluate:

• Are you capable of healthy self-criticism, do you rationally assess your advantages and disadvantages?
• Do you have any qualities that will interfere with working in a particular position?
• How ready you are to develop and work on mistakes.

How to talk about your weaknesses?

1. If you are asked about them, you should still answer. Do not say "I don't have weaknesses", because it looks insincere and a little self-confident.
2. Don't make it up, because it is obvious.
3. Admit that there are still weaknesses, remember a few "fails" that have arisen at work. Analyse them. What was not enough for you to resolve these situations positively (both soft-skills and hard-skills)?
4. Don't focus solely on the bad. Tell us about 1-2 situations and what you did to prevent this from happening in the future.

We understand that there are no ideal candidates and appreciate your frankness and courage. Therefore, do not hesitate to talk about your weaknesses.

Anna Lashуna, HR manager of Scientific Alliance

​Mentioning weaknesses should be appropriate; you shouldn't base your whole story on it. 

​When talking about previous experiences, be honest both with the interlocutor and with yourself. Show the positive sides and successful cases, their solutions, remember both team and personal experience. Do not belittle your role in this.

​Answering the question about mistakes at your last job, complete the story with how you managed to solve them. This will show you as a responsible, "flexible" person and a valuable employee.

​You can use your weaknesses as priority areas/points of growth. For example, if you are often late for work, tell us how you minimise the impact of this factor on your professional life.

"Fails" happen and you should not be shy about it! We treat each candidate with understanding.

Therefore, send us your CV.

We will be glad to see you at the interview!