What are your “Strengths”?
Just like yesterday’s question, “Tell me more about yourself”, even this question is asked in almost all interviews. It might happen that the interviewer might twist the question a little bit like “Tell me your 5 biggest strengths” or something like, “What strengths would you bring to our company?”, or maybe “What would your co-workers say is your strongest area of expertise?” etc.
Yes, this question might seem like a piece of cake, and anyone (including me 😜) would just think to answer the question spontaneously, but yeah, never take any question lightly.
You don’t want your interviewer to think that you are too arrogant and egoistic. So careful with this question :)
What makes up a good answer?
Here in this question, you have the chance to present your strengths and the good things about you, but it should be presented in such a way that you don’t look arrogant (and of course not too humble that you forget to tell any important strength/skill of yours).
So I was reading this blog where they took this funny example which caught my eye, so I am rephrasing it,
Arrogant
What are my strengths? Where do I begin? I’m Superman. I mean look. I take off my glasses — Superman. I put them back on — Clark Kent. You can see it. Yeah, you can! Plus, I’m so good at stuff that you’ll think I’m a psychic. I’ll get work done before there is work to do. I can already guarantee you that I’m better than all your other employees combined.
Too Humble
What are my strengths? Well, I guess I’m pretty good at breathing? I don’t know. That’s what my mom said. She’s usually right about stuff. So, I guess yeah. I guess I could say I’m a good breather.
And another example which I loved, suppose you are applying for the job of a content writer, you can say,
My greatest strength is my writing skills. I can also work to tight deadlines under pressure. For example, I was once asked to complete a project that fell through the cracks. My editor discovered the mistake two hours before the deadline.
It was an important piece that gave our publication a scoop on the topic in question. Not only did the piece have to go out on time, but it had to be perfect. I hunkered down and wrote. The result? The article was on time and acclaimed.
I must say, it’s really a well-written blog: https://zety.com/blog/what-are-your-strengths
Also, you can tell your skills and strengths that match up with the job profile, for example, if you are applying for sales, you might say my biggest strength is that I am good at convincing people.
Beware (it might be a trap 😅), whenever you say any strength, make sure you have some real-life examples/experiences, or projects (for tech interviews) ready. The interviewer might ask you So this is your strength, give me an example where you've shown this skill.
So be prepared with some strengths that you are going too say, and some examples or some projects where you have shown those skills.
Here are some examples of what people generally answer to this question-
- Good communication skills.
- Dedication…willingness to walk the extra mile to achieve excellence.
- Ability to balance workloads efficiently.
- Ability to learn programs and processes quickly.
- Honesty
- Extremely good people skills.
- Enthusiasm…high level of motivation.
- Flexibility and willingness to take on more responsibility.
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