STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Maat · Kenneth Cole

Please help!

Hermione · Kate Spade

i HATE this question, b/c honestly, as an employee, I don't think I have one - and i feel like i come across as pompous when i say that. :(

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

Admit to a weakness (make it a minor one), then tell a story about how you overcame it. For example, I used to tell a story about how my first editor told me a couple times that I had a problem with spelling errors caused by going too quickly, but blah blah blah I practiced and ended up with the best record at the paper because I had to compensate for a natural tendency to go too quickly and cuase mistakes... see how that ended up being a way to brag?

heehee - and see how I put a spelling mistake in there just now...

-- Edited by Dizzy at 19:30, 2006-03-08

Elle · Hermes

I say that my greatest weakness is that I'm a perfectionist

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valenciana · Dooney & Bourke

Elle wrote:

I say that my greatest weakness is that I'm a perfectionist .

That's what I always used to say too...because it's true...but then I read that this isn't a good "weakness" to use because like Hermione says it could come across as pompous. "My only weakness is that I'm perfect..."

I don't know...I have since tried to rework perfectionism as my weakness so that I don't actually say it outright, but express that I struggle with the balance of time management and making things "good"...that i sometimes devote too much time to something in an effort to produce the ultimate product. uh, but more articulate than "produce a product"... but it's tough to express that without it sounding like it really is a weakness and have them not want you cause they think you can't multitask, spend too long on work, etc...

honey · Gucci

a tip my brother gave me was to just pick the opposite of my biggest strength. what i did when i was interviewing for school was say that my biggest strength was my intellectual curiousity and willingness to learn. my biggest weakness was that sometimes i spread myself too thin. it works b/c it's not really a negative, and then you spin it into how you've learned to prioritize, etc. and make re-emphasize how fabulous you are.

Aurora · Marc Jacobs

i've used a variation of the perfectionist line and it worked pretty well. I know I told the story of how at the time I was dependent on to-do lists and being overly organized and how I had to teach myself to save some things for the next day because I couldn't do everything on my list in one day because it would be a list to cover the entire week (I was in school at the time so it worked)

nunzi182 · Kate Spade

Elle wrote:

I say that my greatest weakness is that I'm a perfectionist .

I ALWAYS use this line. I say something like, "I'm a perfectionist to a fault sometimes because I can't put something aside until I finish it right away. I don't like to have things hanging over my head..."

That seems to work!

Shello · Kenneth Cole

I've been thinking about that question too, and I think I've decided I'm going to go with being shy. That way, if I seem a little quiet, it will look okay if I say that I get over my initial shyness quickly, or if I can appear confident and outgoing, they won't really think it's a problem.

Any thoughts on that one? I've never used it yet so I'm not sure how it might go over.

kenzie · Chanel

honey wrote:

a tip my brother gave me was to just pick the opposite of my biggest strength. what i did when i was interviewing for school was say that my biggest strength was my intellectual curiousity and willingness to learn. my biggest weakness was that sometimes i spread myself too thin. it works b/c it's not really a negative, and then you spin it into how you've learned to prioritize, etc. and make re-emphasize how fabulous you are.

This is almost exactly what I always say. That I have a tendency to take on everything and then realize that I may have taken on a bit too much, but I prioritize everything and then I just plug away until everything is finished.

RyanJ · Coach

I have talked to a few career counslers at school and people who do interviewing (my mom and dad are both in the postions to hire people) everyone has said they hate it when people say they are a perfectionists or a workaholic answer.

I have been told to give a real weakness, but minimize it as much as possilbe by telling them what you are doing to fix the problem.

My biggest weakness is that I am not a very good writer, so I have been taking writing classes at the local community center to improve.

Make sure that you come up w/ a weakness too. Shaq is a great basketball player, but he is not the greatest at free throw shots. Everyone has a weakness. It may be small, but you are not perfect at everything.

-- Edited by RyanJ at 10:59, 2006-03-16

NCshopper · Hermes

I think as long as you spin whatever weakness you have into a positive, you're okay. Or at least tell them what steps you're taking to overcome that weakness.

I also usually choose a relatively weak weakness, like I'm not very good at multi-tasking. In and of itself, it's not a huge weakness, so it's not a huge big deal in the first place. Then you'd say something along the lines of "I'm not great at multi-tasking because I feel that I owe it to the company I work for to give my full attention to whatever I'm doing" or something to that effect.

But you certainly wouldn't want to say something along the lines of "My weakness is that when I'm bored at work, which is all the freaking time, I long on to a fashion forum and chat." Something like that might not go over so well.

ETA: RyanJ, I totally agree w/ your perfectionist answer. As an interviewer, that would totally rub me the wrong way. I think a much better way to say it is to say that you are really detail-oriented and sometimes your attention to detail means that you a) take more time to complete a project than most people, or b) that sometimes you get bogged down in the details and lose track of the bigger project. Or something to that effect.

-- Edited by NCshopper at 10:58, 2006-03-18

lynnie · Chanel

Shello wrote:

I've been thinking about that question too, and I think I've decided I'm going to go with being shy. That way, if I seem a little quiet, it will look okay if I say that I get over my initial shyness quickly, or if I can appear confident and outgoing, they won't really think it's a problem. Any thoughts on that one? I've never used it yet so I'm not sure how it might go over.

this is a good one- my friend used this one to land his I-banking position. He said, I can be kind of quiet at first as I'm getting to know everyone, but i'm a great worker and it doesn't take too long for me to come out of my shell. or something like that. it was just a personality trait that some people would be unsure of how to read, and he just wanted to explain it. I would say something like that.

DONT say you're a perfectionist- please. i know a lot a lot a lot of people use that one- but if i was interviewing someone and they said that, i'd cringe. And in all my business classes and my class on "getting the job" lol- something lame like that- they always bring up that specific example and said don't use that one- even if in you think it IS your biggest weakness. it does come across as either pompous or boring (because so many people say that). It's something that can have weaknesses to it- thus why its used- but i'm a perfectionist as well and something about it being the standard response rubs me the wrong way. Worst case scenario- the employer doesn't even believe you because he's heard it so much.

Now, I'm sure it works a lot because so many really strong candidates say that. But that is just my $.02- it depends on how many people are being interviewed for the spot too. If its highly competitive- don't say that because 50% of the people will say that as well. Try to be as HONEST as possible with your personality traits.

nyc_shopgirl · Dooney & Bourke

Try to make a positive negative. Do not use I am a perfectionist too canned. I use that I am so friendly and bubbly that often people underestimate my intelligence. This just means I work harder to prove myself and show them that I know my stuff.

blubirde · Chanel

I always answer my weakness as I have a hard time letting things go, meaning I like to see a project I start finished, top to bottom. And sometimes I realize that that's not possible. I try to correct that problem by prioritizing the most important tasks first and following through with the small, finishing tasks as my free time permits me.

It's honestly a weakness, although it's not mine (I'm super easy with letting something go unfinished), and it sounds plausible enough. In my field, it's easily understandable why you have to let cases go and not get too wrapped up in the details. (You have to pick your piece and go with it - you can't do everything.) But I think it's a good weakness to illustrate in an interview because it leads to my particular expertise and prior job situations, etc.

I also turn it around to my strongest asset also, that I like to see a job done and done well. I don't like things half-assed. (Totally not true. I'm perfectly okay with things half-assed.)

Frankly I don't mind lying or fibbing or whatever on this question because it's a dumb question. Everyone has a stock answer prepared and it doesn't require any actual thought on the part of the employer or the potential employee. If they're going to be lazy enough to ask me that question, I'm going to be lazy enough to answer it that way.

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

blubirde wrote:

I also turn it around to my strongest asset also, that I like to see a job done and done well. I don't like things half-assed. (Totally not true. I'm perfectly okay with things half-assed.)
Frankly I don't mind lying or fibbing or whatever on this question because it's a dumb question. Everyone has a stock answer prepared and it doesn't require any actual thought on the part of the employer or the potential employee. If they're going to be lazy enough to ask me that question, I'm going to be lazy enough to answer it that way.

Heeeheehee - Bluebirde you are awesome!

bumblebee · Coach

i agree that this is a good one--because it's honest and it could be seen as a weakness, but it can't be construed as something that will inhibit your performance (at least in most jobs). i've used "i have a soft speaking voice" in the past and that has worked well. because it's true, and it's something that interviewers always notice up front but they can't really ask about it without being possibly offensive, so it gives me a chance to explain that it has actually worked in my favor in the past, i maintain my composure in heated situations and defuse chaos, people pay attention when i am telling them something because i am not known for wasting people's time, etc. blah blah blah.

i agree that the "perfectionist" line is tired and over-used. it's kind of a non-answer to the question.

Shello wrote:

I've been thinking about that question too, and I think I've decided I'm going to go with being shy. That way, if I seem a little quiet, it will look okay if I say that I get over my initial shyness quickly, or if I can appear confident and outgoing, they won't really think it's a problem. Any thoughts on that one? I've never used it yet so I'm not sure how it might go over.