At some point in your lifetime, you must have been before an interview panel. One question that every panelist looks forward to you answering is what your strengths and weaknesses are. Apart from answering the question the right way and landing the job, it is highly advisable that you have your strengths and weaknesses list for every task that you intend to take. It will turn out helpful for you as it will be easier to plan and gauge your performance.

Identifying Your Strengths and Weaknesses

It is not easy to identify what you are good at as well as your flaws. People tend to shy off from their weaknesses and boasting about what they are good at. They fail to realize that weakness does not symbolize their downfall, rather it is a show of what they should improve on. The first step to fighting this is having a list of your strengths and another one detailing your weaknesses. You could start by listing the desires and for each, check whether you can fulfill it. You could also get in touch with someone you can trust to assess your performance, take some practice tests, or try doing new things. If need be, get professional advice. The steps herein will go a long way in positioning you as a better candidate during an interview. They will place you ahead of the pack as every panelist would be pleased to hire someone who understands their self-worth.

Listing of Strengths and Weaknesses

In almost all interview sessions, the question of listing your strengths and weaknesses will arise. It is, therefore, essential that you can list them and explain yourself in every instance.

Firstly, it is never easy to accept one's weaknesses. However, it would be better to identify your flaws. This way, it will be easier to work on them and improve on what is below par.

List of Weaknesses

You can list your weaknesses based on the following aspects:

• Personality: ask yourself whether you are sometimes too critical of yourself that you rarely appreciate what you do best.
• Do you spend too much time trying to please the wrong people and end up bruising your performance?
• Or do you find yourself unaware of the emerging and current trends?

What strengths can you list to support yourself during an interview? Do you have the requisite skills or are you conversant with some different aspects other than what you are interviewing for? If you have different abilities, for example, creative writing, mathematical prowess, or data management, do you have a way of fitting them into the position you are interviewing for? If you can, focus on the best you can get from those skills to match what you are looking for.

What Are Your Strengths

How do you assess your strengths if that question comes up during the interview? Do you go into the nitty-gritty things that irrelevant? It is good to be more specific when you are listing your strengths. Once you assess your skills, it will be easier to identify the strengths you hold true.

You could make a list of your strongest skills based on these levels:

• Personal traits: personal traits include every unique quality you have. They may include punctuality, being a team player, flexible, friendly, and dependable. Being formal, expressive, and hardworking also fall into this category.
• Knowledge-based skills: these are skills that you acquired from a classroom set up as well as working experience. They include computer skills, technical abilities, degrees earned, and languages spoken.
• Transferable skills: these are skills you can transfer from one job to the other including analytical problem solving, communication and people skills, organizational skills, and planning skills. You might also mention other strengths that are only true to yourself but will come in handy in affecting your performance.

How to Express Weaknesses During a Job Interview

It is paramount that you do not outshine yourself while trying to justify yourself. An interviewer may tap into this especially if they are looking for the tiniest miss to shortlist a big number of candidates. So, be yourself and start by being actual. Be true and make what you think is a negative turn out to be positive, all the while avoiding raising a red flag. Do not overdo it as the panelist may think you are hiding something.

If the weakness is not related to the job you are eyeing, make sure you stick to that. Do not try explaining it in a way that will make the interviewer think it will affect your performance. However, keep it straight and let them know it is something you are working on. Also, for all your weaknesses, make sure to let the interviewer know - most preferably unawares that that is what you want – you are working on them.

Summary

The bottom line is that you must be prepared to answer any question during an interview. In short, it is wise to prepare for anything. With some good preparation, you will be good to go and will make it easier for you if the panelists keep firing questions at you.