Let's talk about the best answer to the job interview question: What are your weaknesses?

Get ready because they're going to ask you this in every single job interview.

Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to walk into an ambush.

"So thank you for coming in today. Tell me, what are your weaknesses?"

[What they are thinking....]

Look, I've got eight people to interview for this job.

That means I've got to eliminate seven.

Let's make this easy.

Just tell me why I should eliminate you, right here and now.

[What they advise...]

You should be honest and say your biggest weakness. We just want to know you're self-aware and working to improve yourself.

Ladies and gentlemen, at this point in the process, your resume looks fantastic.

And based on that, they've called you in for an interview.

Now, however, they're trying to get the dirt on you, and this question is the biggest weapon in their arsenal to do that.

So what we're going to do is give them a professional answer to this question that doesn't eliminate us and makes us come out on top.

Let's get a couple of things out of the way first.

Here are some very bad answers.

"I have no weaknesses."

"I'd have to say I care too much."

"You know, I really think I work too hard."

"My weakness? Chocolate."

"Well, mine is kryptonite."

Snap.

"My greatest weakness has always been frankly how bored I get doing this kind of office job.

The work is just so un-inspirational to me that my performance just slows to a crawl."

And then I get in trouble.

The best answer to the weakness question is to give a legitimate, understandable side-effect of something you do that's good.

Then, say how you address that weakness, so it's never a problem.

Just think good, side-effect, fix.

For example, "Well, I have very high standards but occasionally I've had coworkers that don't share those high standards which can lead to conflict.

But I found that with little communication, I can usually smooth that over and it never really becomes a problem."

"Well, I care a great deal about precision and I tend to double and triple check all the work I do.

But sometimes this means that I'm not the fastest employee in a group to finish their tasks.

However, what I found is that over time, I tend to find efficiencies that help me speed up my work. So this never really becomes a problem."

So we answered the question fully and legitimately and dodged the bullet.

But if you notice, we also used it as a platform to talk about our strengths.

Now, when they ask, "What are your weaknesses?" Plural.

Never give more than one.

After giving one if they prompt you for more, it's okay to say, "Well, that's the only one that comes to mind at this moment."

Just remember, good, side-effect, fix.

You're highly employable and you're awesome.

Don't forget to subscribe and check out my get hired course to go deeper.