How to answer “What’s your biggest weakness?”

Your first line

Marcus starts with “Okay, next one. What would you say is your biggest weakness?”

“Honestly, I don’t speak up enough in group meetings. At my last job, I’d sit on an idea until someone else said it.”

Real weakness: name it in your first sentence with a real example. A small, honest one lands better than a strength in disguise.

What Marcus might say, and what to say back

1. Marcus: “Can you give me an example of when that hurt you?”

   You: “Sure. Last spring I had a fix for our scheduling mix-ups, didn’t bring it up, and a coworker pitched the same idea a week later.”

2. Marcus: “Okay, but what are you actually doing about it?”

   You: “Before every meeting I write down one point, and I make myself say it in the first ten minutes.”

3. Marcus: “How would I know it’s getting better?”

   You: “In my last two team meetings I spoke up both times, and my manager used one of my ideas for the new schedule.”

Two things that trip people up

• Humblebrags like “I’m a perfectionist” or “I work too hard.”Pick a real, small weakness that won’t sink the job, and say it in plain words.
• A long confession with no fix, or talking for three minutes.Weakness, one example, what you’re doing about it, then stop. Under a minute.

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