An important aspect for job seekers perfecting their CV or sitting across from an interviewer is identifying personal strengths and weaknesses.
Even after years in a career, it can be difficult to identify strengths and weaknesses when put on the spot.
Luckily, we’ve put this guide together so that you can recognise your strengths and weaknesses alongside practical advice so that you can present them effectively in interviews and on your CV.
Why knowing your strengths and weaknesses is important
Understanding your strengths and weaknesses is a crucial part of job hunting and wider career development.
At some point during the interview process, a potential employer is bound to ask you about your strengths and weaknesses. This could be during the interview, or even earlier in the application process.
These answers aren’t just about determining your strengths and weaknesses, though. They give the potential an employer insights into your self-awareness, honesty, and willingness to grow.
Being aware of your strengths enables you to showcase what makes you stand out from the crowd. While recognising your weaknesses demonstrates reflection and a proactive attitude.
Steps to identify your strengths
Now we know how important strengths are when applying for a new job, let’s take a look at how we can identify what your strengths are before you apply for a new job.
Self-reflection
Start by thinking back to projects you naturally excelled in or enjoyed. Think of a time where a line manager or colleague singled out your work as being exceptional. These skills could be leadership, problem-solving, or creativity.
Feedback from peers
As mentioned, feedback from peers can play a crucial role in identifying your strengths. Ask colleagues who work closely with you what you’re good at, and times that you may have helped them out and proved your worth within the team. Even friends and family can attest to personal qualities like problem-solving or time-management skills.
Review your past achievements
Look back at your professional or academic successes and identify recurring skills that contributed to those achievements. For instance, do your accomplishments often involve leadership, critical thinking, or attention to detail?
Assess your soft skills and hard skills
It can be easier to assess what skills you have by categorising them into soft skills and hard skills.
Soft skills include interpersonal skills such as communication, teamwork, adaptability, and emotional intelligence.
Hard skills refer to technical or job-specific skills such as programming, data analysis, financial modelling, or graphic design.
Steps to identify your weaknesses
If you want a long and successful career, you must be able to identify and overcome your weaknesses. Here’s the first step in that journey.
Conduct an honest self-assessment
Reflect on challenges you’ve faced or critical feedback you’ve received in the past. What are the tasks you find particularly difficult or frustrating? Recognising these areas without beating yourself up can help you see where there’s room for growth.
Seek external feedback
Ask colleagues or supervisors for constructive criticism. They may highlight areas you’ve overlooked, such as struggling to delegate tasks or overanalysing decisions.
Analyse patterns
Look for recurring difficulties or areas where you feel less confident. For example, do you often miss deadlines, find it hard to prioritise, or struggle with public speaking? Once you’ve identified those patterns, you can begin to tackle them effectively.
Discover opportunities for growth
Frame your weaknesses as areas for development. For instance, if time management is a challenge, you could acknowledge that you’re working on improving it by using scheduling tools or techniques. A weakness without a solution is a negative, but by showing your ability to overcome adversity, you can turn it into a positive.
How to approach your strengths and weaknesses while job searching
Now that you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses, how can they be used to help you land a job
Highlighting your strengths on your CV
When writing your CV, emphasise your strengths with specific, impactful examples. Use action verbs and quantify your achievements to clearly demonstrate your skills, such as leadership, problem-solving, or technical expertise.
Always tailor your CV to the job description, aligning your highlighted strengths with the role’s requirements to show why you’re an ideal fit. Remember, your CV is a platform to showcase your best qualities so avoid including weaknesses, as the goal is to present yourself as the strongest possible candidate.
We put together the ultimate CV writing guide, so that you’ll never struggle to know what to put in your CV.
Discussing your strengths & weaknesses in an interview
In interviews, balance is key. Focussing entirely on strengths might make you seem like you lack self-awareness, and focusing entirely on negatives will talk you out of a job.
Like on your CV, when discussing your strengths, be specific. Rather than saying, “I’m good at teamwork,” explain and give an example of when your teamwork led to a successful outcome for your team.
Ensure that the examples of strength you give have a tangible connection to the job you’re applying for.
In an interview, you can choose to highlight a weakness but frame it as an opportunity for growth by pointing out how you’re improving on it your weakness.
If you’re looking for surefire ways to ace your next interview, it’s important to take note of some of the proven tips from recruitment experts.
Examples of common strengths and weaknesses
If you’re struggling to come up with strengths and weaknesses, here are few common examples to get you started.
Common strengths
- Communication: Communication between colleagues is a skill that is easy to demonstrate and is highly sought-after.
- Adaptability: Giving an example of when a task didn’t go to plan is a great way to demonstrate adaptability.
- Problem-solving: Problems are inevitable in any workplace, but if you can show how you solved those issues, you’ll prove yourself to be an asset to potential employers.
- Attention to detail: Attention to detail is a quality that is valued from every employer at any level of employment, so be sure to think of examples of this strength.
Common Weaknesses
- Delegation: You could explain that you find difficulty handing over tasks but that you are actively learning to trust team members.
- Time management: Scheduling tools are a good way to cope with poor time management skills.
- Perfectionism: Spending too much time on details can be rectified by learning to balance efficiency with quality.
- Public speaking: Public speaking is among the most common weaknesses, but thankfully it’s easier to overcome by volunteering for public speaking opportunities.
- Technical skills: Gaps in industry-specific tools or technology can be easily addressed through training or courses.
By understanding and presenting your strengths and weaknesses effectively, you’ll leave a lasting impression on potential employers. Remember, the goal isn’t supposed to be perfection – it’s authenticity and growth. Take the time to identify your unique qualities and use them to confidently advance your career.
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