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Thread: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

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    Almost in control. autopilot's Avatar
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    Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    Got an interview soon and im dreading being asked what my worst points are. Its for quite a high stress job dealing with a lot of conflict between people.

    Its not that i think i dont have any, or that i have loads, its just quite a hard question to answer without looking bad and you cant say nothing without lookin arrogant. What are good things to say?

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    Senior Member Virtual Monkey's Avatar
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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    Be honest - like you said everyone has bad points. The trick is to say how you're tackling them and trying to improve

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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?



    take this approach
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
    Do not be drunk with wine, which will ruin you, but be filled with the Spirit
    Vodka

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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    Firstly, nowadays most interviewers don't ask that tired old cliché because most people have trained answers for it. So don't focus on it so much.

    You should probably just answer that question for us, and people can give you concrete advice on how to express it properly.

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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    Quote Originally Posted by transylvanic View Post
    Firstly, nowadays most interviewers don't ask that tired old cliché because most people have trained answers for it. So don't focus on it so much.
    Very True, most interviews take the Competency Based approach these days, finally catching up to where the USA was about 5 years ago

    But best answer i've heard on the dreaded question was:
    What Are Your Weaknesses?
    This is the most dreaded question of all. Handle it by minimizing your weakness and emphasizing your strengths. Stay away from personal qualities and concentrate on professional traits: "I am always working on improving my communication skills to be a more effective presenter. I recently joined Toastmasters, which I find very helpful."
    So don't talk about personal traits, only professional ones, and don't say you're bad at them, say you're working to improve them. Communication is a good one as nobody can be criticised for saying they are working to improve it, and equally nobody can say they couldn't benefit from improving it.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Mock Turtle
    “Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of arithmetic -- Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision."
    System:Atari 2600 CPU:8-bit 6507 (1.19MHz) RAM:128 bytes Colours: 16 (4 on screen) Resolution: 192x160

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    jim
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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    From what I've gathered the worst possible answer to give is that you're a perfectionist. So don't do that

    Seriously though, if you do get asked it, I reckon as long as it's something reasonably genuine and your answer focusses on how you are trying to improve it rather than how it holds you back, you can't go far wrong.

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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    I once told an interviewer that my worst fault was that I would rather be a millionaire and not need to work.

    Still got the job.

    (Thanks Evilmunky)
    Eagles may soar, but weasels never get sucked into jet intakes.

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    Senior Member manwithnoname's Avatar
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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    I normal talk about how I possibly spend too much time trying to evaluate all possible out comes and account of them automatically. There is a point of diminishing returns where the probability of a particular issue occuring, the time/complexity of automating a resolution is not worth it. I tend focus of problem solving because I enjoy it, rather than take a step back and producing a list of resolution steps to be carried out manually...

    ... I didn't get the last job I applied

  9. #9
    Mike Fishcake
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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    I've not heard of that question being asked in any interviews in the last few years, but if they do, make up some nonsense about how you can't stop telling bad jokes or something (and keep a couple in the repertoire )

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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    ''well sometimes I can be a selfish lover''

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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    Quote Originally Posted by 5cupa View Post
    ''well sometimes I can be a selfish lover''
    There is no such thing as an unselfish lover. Anyone who claims to be so is a damn liar.. or lacks genitals.

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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    As someone who has conducted quite a few interviews, Its not a question I'd ask. It has virtually zero value - the answer will tell you very little.

    Honesty is really key I think. I've taken on people before who've said "I don't know" to a question over those who've given what they think is the correct answer. You need to be able to trust people, and that starts with honest answers.

    I think showing that you're motivated is very important - demonstrate that if you don't know the answer, you would know how to find out.

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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    "I have terrible fashion sense when it comes to hats"

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    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    Don't mention you like Japanese cartoons.
    throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)

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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    If its not a tech job, don't say you like gaming ;-)

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    mush-mushroom b0redom's Avatar
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    Re: Interview help - what to say/avoid when they ask what your worst points are?

    Had this just before Christmas. It was a panel interview with a techie, a manager and a HR bod. HR asked the question, and I replied... "Hmm tricky one.... Maybe that I'm just a bit too awesome...."

    Everyone else laughed... Still got offered the job though.

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