The “weakness” interview question is so weak (video embedded)

I’ve never asked someone to explain to me their weaknesses on an interview.  Sorry, I just won’t do it.  I was trained to stay away from it, and I’ve been continuously reminded to avoid that useless question when conducting interviews.

Why?

Well, when most people are asked, they try to think of something negative that they can turn into a positive.  A common response is, “Well, I’m too detailed”, or “I care too much about my work”.  When answers like this come up, recruiters know it’s bullshit, but they write it down, and that question becomes completely irrelevant to the interview.  It’s a waste of space…that’s what it is.  It’s like that one chair in your high school auditorium that’s broken.  What’s it doing there?

How do you answer it?

I mean, you can simply go the cowardly path, and answer with one of the bum answers above.  It won’t hurt, but it really doesn’t help.  Or you could be creative and do the following.  Memorize the job description completely and pick something that may be a weakness of yours that’s not anywhere near the description or duties of the job.  Let’s say you know that this job won’t lead anytime soon to a manager, and you really don’t want to be a manager one day (many people have no interest in managing people).  Your answer could be, “Well, I’m not great at delegating.”.  Just keep it simple, short, and get the hell off of that broken auditorium chair.

Watch this video…it’s exactly how I feel…