How to Answer “What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?”

How to choose a strength the job needs and prove it, pick an honest weakness and show what you are doing about it, what to avoid, and examples to adapt.

“What are your strengths and weaknesses?” is one of the questions candidates dread most, usually because of the second half. MIT’s career advising office lists it among the common personal assessment questions, and it can come as one question or two, in several different forms.

This guide explains what the interviewer wants to learn, how to choose a strength and prove it, how to choose an honest weakness and talk about it, what to avoid, and example answers you can adapt. The candidates in the examples are hypothetical; your own answer must use only your own facts.

What the interviewer is listening for

The question has a purpose. Tulane University’s career services put it plainly: employers are not looking for perfection, they are looking for self-awareness, honesty and a willingness to grow. The University of Alabama’s career center says interviewers want to know whether you are honest and self-aware, and the University of Reading reminds candidates that everyone has weaknesses, so what matters is your self-awareness and how you react to a weakness.

So the two halves ask two different things. The strengths half asks: can you do this job, and can you prove it? The weaknesses half asks: do you know yourself, and do you act on what you know?

Choosing your strengths

Start from the job, not from a list of flattering adjectives.

• Match the advert. Prospects, the UK graduate careers service, suggests picking three or four attributes the employer asks for in the person specification, such as teamwork, leadership and initiative. San José State University’s career center advises choosing a strength that connects to the job description, and MIT suggests highlighting strengths or themes from your experience that are directly related to the role.
• Be specific. “Good communicator” is a claim; “I explain technical problems to customers who are not technical” is a strength an interviewer can picture. San José State’s advice is to be specific and use an example.
• Prove each one. Prospects is direct about it: whichever strengths you pick, you must be able to evidence them with examples.

How many? Advice varies. Prospects suggests three or four attributes, the UK’s National Careers Service suggests planning your answers around two or three examples that are relevant to the job, and the career guide of Zayed University in the UAE one or two. A practical middle: prepare three, and lead with the one the advert stresses most.

Proving a strength with a short STAR example

The National Careers Service recommends the STAR method to structure your answers: the situation, the task, the action you took and the result. A strength answer then has three moves: name the strength, prove it with one short example, and connect it to the job.

If you do not have much work history, the National Careers Service says you can use examples from outside work, including volunteering. The American University in Cairo’s career center asks the same of every strength: be ready to show how you developed it and how you have used it. For more on building STAR examples, see common interview questions and how to answer them.

Choosing a weakness

This is where most of the preparation goes. Careers services agree on three tests.

1. It is real. San José State says to choose a real weakness, and Alabama to be honest and think of something you are challenged by that would not be a red flag to the interviewer.
2. It is not central to the job. MIT advises against discussing a weakness that is important to the role you are applying for, San José State against one that is a core skill for it, and jobs.ac.uk suggests something that is not too serious or too integral to the role. A data analyst who names attention to detail has chosen badly; one who names presenting to large audiences may not have.
3. You are already working on it. The University of Sharjah’s careers office suggests something you struggle with but are already working to improve, and Prospects suggests characteristics you have taken steps to improve.

Talking about the weakness: name it, show the work, show progress

An honest weakness answer has the same shape almost everywhere: name the weakness briefly, explain what you are doing about it, and show some progress. The National Careers Service asks you to be honest and say how you are working to improve, and its own model answer has exactly that shape: a candidate who struggles with time management on projects, and now creates a timetable of steps at the start of each project. The American University in Cairo adds that you have to know what you are doing to improve, and San José State lists the kinds of steps that count: practising, seeking feedback, taking a class or using a new strategy.

Keep it short and do not dwell on it. jobs.ac.uk advises not emphasising the weakness, and describes an answer in three parts: a weakness you struggled with a little, how you overcame the problem, and a success story that proves your progress. San José State says to keep the answer brief and focused on the steps you are taking to grow. Done this way, jobs.ac.uk notes, naming your biggest weakness can help show an employer that you are self-aware.

What to avoid

• “I have no weaknesses.” Prospects warns against it, along with “I’m a perfectionist” and “I work too hard”: clichéd responses that, it says, portray you as arrogant, dishonest or lacking in self-awareness.
• A strength in disguise. jobs.ac.uk notes that an example which is obviously a positive in the workplace is easy to see through and may even put an interviewer off. Interviewers are ready for it: guidance for interviewers in SHRM’s HR Magazine, from the US professional body for human resources, notes that some candidates present a personal weakness as a professional strength, and suggests asking for detailed examples of how they work with colleagues. The same guidance says savvier candidates talk about the steps they are taking to improve.
• Hiding it. Prospects lists hiding or downplaying weaknesses as a mistake in strength-based interviews: naming a real one is fine, as long as you back it up with a strength that compensates for it.

The same question in other words

You may not hear the question in this exact form. Prospects lists similar questions: how would a friend describe you, how would you describe your personality, what three positive things would your last boss say about you; and, for weaknesses, how do you respond to criticism, and how would your worst enemy describe you. The University of Cambridge’s careers service includes “describe one of your faults or weaknesses” and “in what ways do you think you can improve as a person?” among its sample questions. The same preparation answers all of them: a strength with its proof, and a weakness with its progress.

Some advice asks for more than one of each. A workshop on passing job interviews, reported by Al Ain University in the UAE, advised telling interviewers about three strengths and two weaknesses. Prepare at least that many, so that a request for more does not catch you out.

How long should the answer be?

We found no careers service that gives a length for this question alone. San José State’s general rule is to keep most answers to about one to two minutes, with enough context to be clear but no unnecessary detail, and Harvard Law School’s public interest advising office asks for answers that are specific, focused and succinct. For a combined question, aim for about a minute on each half.

Example answers

Each example names a strength, proves it, then names a weakness and shows the work on it. The people and their details are hypothetical; replace every one with your own.

A recent graduate applying for a marketing assistant role

My main strength is writing clearly for different audiences. In my final year I ran the social media accounts of my university’s volunteering club, and I rewrote our event announcements as shorter, plainer posts; more students signed up for our next two events than for any other that year. Your advert asks for someone to draft content for several channels, which is the work I enjoyed most.

A weakness I have been working on is presenting to large groups. I used to over-prepare my slides and read from them. This year I joined a public speaking workshop and volunteered to present our club’s annual report, and I now speak from three or four notes instead of a script.

An accountant moving to a larger team

I am good at finding and fixing errors in reconciliations. In my current role I review our bank reconciliations every month and trace each difference to its source, and within six months the unexplained items at month-end had almost disappeared. You mention month-end closing as a key part of this role, and that is where I am most useful.

My weakness has been delegating. As the only accountant in a small company, I got used to doing everything myself. This year I trained a junior colleague to prepare the first draft of the reconciliations, and I now review her work instead of redoing it. I still watch for it, but it has freed time for the analysis my manager asked for.

A teacher moving into corporate training

One of my strengths is turning complex material into steps people can follow. As a science teacher I wrote a set of practical lab guides for new students, and the school now uses them in every first-year class. This role designs training for new staff, which is the same skill applied to adults.

A weakness I am working on is analysing data in spreadsheets. Our school’s system produced every report I needed, so I never built my own. I am taking a short online spreadsheet course, and I now track the feedback on my training sessions in a sheet I built myself.

Answering in English when Arabic is your first language

If the interview is in English and Arabic is your first language, this question is easier when you have prepared the words in advance.

• Prepare key points, not a script. MIT’s career office warns, in its guide to the STAR method, that scripting or memorising stories may limit your ability to adapt in an interview and can seem unnatural to an interviewer. Prepare the strength, the example and the weakness as short notes instead.
• Practise aloud. The British Council advises practising speaking English aloud until you feel comfortable and confident, and the University of Sydney’s careers centre suggests practising with a friend or relative, rehearsing in front of a mirror, or recording your answers and listening back.
• Ask when you are unsure. The University of Cambridge says that briefly asking for clarification shows you have confidence and good communication skills.

For the written side, see writing an English CV when Arabic is your first language, and for the question that usually opens the interview, how to answer “Tell me about yourself”.

How Tabhar can help

Your strengths should already be on your CV, with their evidence. Our guide to skills for your CV shows how to prove each one on the page, so your interview answer and your CV tell the same story.

Interview practice on Tabhar, available on the Pro and Elite plans, builds questions from your CV and the job description you add, so you rehearse for the job you actually applied to. You type your answers, and each one is scored from 0 to 100 on six criteria (relevance, STAR structure, specificity, impact, clarity and role fit), with the evidence behind each score, your strengths, what to improve and a model answer. Your own answer is never changed, and the scores are practice feedback, not a prediction of any hiring decision. Practice on Tabhar is typed, so say your answers out loud as well before the day.

Related reading

• Common interview questions and how to answer them (STAR)
• How to answer “Tell me about yourself” in an interview
• Skills for your CV: what to include and how to prove it

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