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Another interview question that is considered as very is “What are your strengths?” And again, most job hunters would easily jump into answering a litany of their strengths. In my experience as a recruiter for how many years, below are the most exploited answers:
“I am hardworking, honest, an flexible. I am customer service oriented and can deal with pressure well. I am diligent at work and I am willing to render over time…”
It is so boring and it does not give me a “wow” experience. In fact I don’t listen to it anymore. I would then ask a follow-up question in relation to their strengths.
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While it may be true that you possess those strengths, you must find among your strengths that are relevant to the job you are applying. You have to discuss your strengths that will make you fit for the job.
The question gives the hiring manager or recruiters your assets that will help you become successful in the job. So again, the best way to tackle the question is to describe your skills and qualifications that are relevant to the job you are applying for.
Below are sample answers:
“I am the kind of person that wants projects to be accomplished not just on time but ahead of time. I make it sure that all schedules are according to the plan.”
“As a Marketing Officer in my previous work employment, I meet my sales target by more than 170 percent. With this, I was always on the top sales officer of our company and was given sales incentives for my sales quota.”
“As a Customer Service Representative, I manage to deal with different clients well. In fact I was awarded as among the Top Five Most Outstanding Customer Service Representative. The selection criteria was based on the mystery shopper that visited the branch where I was assigned…”
So again, do not mention any strengths that are not relevant. Don’t make a false impression on them. Saying all those list of strengths will not work to your advantage. In fact it may work the other way around.
I remember an applicant who talked for about 5 minutes regarding her list of strengths. and so I asked her:
“You said you were hardworking, can you share to me an incident in the past that shows your being a hardworking person? What was the outcome?”
Then she was lost for words, she could not think of any situation in the past. So again I asked her:
“How will your being hardworking help you become effective in the job you are applying?”
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Then again, she could not give a concrete and impressive answer. The situation above tells me that this applicant may not be really hardworking at all. Or she is not prepared during the interview and a lot more possibilities. As a result she did not “wow me.
To cut the story short, she was not hired. Again, before you come to the interview , you have to be prepared. Study the job description of the job you are applying. Evaluate yourself and your experiences how this will fit the job. That way, you will surely get that job with ease.
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