The purpose of this article is to be an educational resource for anyone on the annoying job hunt - especially for business ESL students. The guidelines presented in the text may be used by teachers to build lesson plans on. It is not a complete lesson in and of itself. Any feedback, suggestions, or comments may be emailed to mariedutainment@gmail.com
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These are some of the trickiest interview questions. However, they can actually become one of the easiest parts of your interview once you know how to answer correctly!
So much of the nerves that people feel before, during, and after interviews are because humans fear being judged.
We can naturally feel that saying the wrong thing, making the wrong expression, or answering incorrectly during an interview, will lead to failure.
Remember that your interviewer is human, too! Your interviewer has been the interviewee in the past, as well. They will understand how you naturally feel.
So, when we speak about what we are "strong at" (strength) vs. "weak at" (weakness) in the workplace, we can follow a simple formula to remember how to answer in English.
I would also encourage you to write a small answer down on a piece of paper that you can keep near your computer. The interviewer won't notice if you glance down from the camera for a brief moment.
Let’s begin with how to speak about your strengths! This is a sample answer that you can use. Please feel free to use this answer in your interview. Or, use it as an outline to craft your own answer.
Interviewer: "Could you please tell me what you believe your strengths are?"
Interviewee: "Great question! I believe that my strength in the workplace is (my) adaptability. This is because I can switch tasks quickly. I am able to work in different environments. And, I thrive in a multicultural work setting.”
This is a full and complete answer that works for a 30 minute interview.
Interviewer: "Could you please tell me what you believe your strengths are?"
Interviewee: "Great question! I believe that my strength in the workplace is (one or two words here)"
Here is a list that you can look at for some more examples.
https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/positive-adjectives
Keep your “why” you are (strength) to about two to three concise sentences. It is better to have a clear answer than a long answer.
For example:
“I believe that my strength in the workplace is adaptability because…
With the correct “answer formula”, talking about things that you are (weak) at in an interview can actually become your strongest answer.
Remember that the interviewer is not just listening to your answer, but checking how you answer.
When you speak about your (weakness), do you become shy? Does the volume of your voice lower? This can indicate to an interviewer how you might handle a mistake or a conflict in the workplace. Remember that these questions are “multi-faceted”.
Multi-faceted means that interview questions are designed to ask one thing on the “surface”, but they can be used to check for deeper meanings.
When we speak about things that we might be “bad at” or “weak at”, it is human instinct to make ourselves “smaller”.
Everyone has things that they are “weak” at. However, weaknesses can also be our ultimate strength if we prove that we can navigate and manage our weaknesses in the workplace. This is your moment to prove to the interviewer that you can handle challenges!
Condense your answer into three to four simple sentences.
“My weakness in the workplace is probably stubbornness. However, I have learned how to manage it in the workplace while I was working abroad. Even though stubbornness can be my weakness, it can also aid me in the workplace by ensuring that I meet strict deadlines.”
This is an example. Between sentences two and three there is an opportunity to explain more. If you feel confident in your English ability in the moment, please expand by adding in some real work examples. This can include how you used your “weakness” to overcome a problem in a project or with a coworker.
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