How to Answer: What is your greatest weakness?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for an ADP job interview.
9. What is your greatest weakness?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
This common interview question is an opportunity to demonstrate your self-insight. Interviewers ask this question to learn more about your self-awareness and ability to reflect on room for personal improvement. Further, it might even be an opportunity to screen out candidates who may actually have a 'make-or-break' weakness when it comes to doing your job effectively.
Written by Elisabeth Walter
How to Answer
Pick a weakness that is not a core skill for this position. You can be candid in your answer, recognizing that you aren't great at something and acknowledging your need to improve. Be sure to have an action plan in place for improving on this weakness.
Perhaps you are watching TED talks to gain skills in a particular area, reading the latest-and-greatest book on the subject, or maybe you are taking a seminar at a nearby community center. We are all human, and all have weaknesses, so don't be afraid to share yours!
Written by Rachel Hills on November 13th, 2022
1st Entry Level Example
"I believe I could improve in some technical skills including Excel and PowerPoint. Currently, I am at a beginner to intermediate level; however, I would be more comfortable at an advanced level. I have enrolled myself in an evening/weekend workshop for the next six weeks. We will see how stellar my skills are after that course!"
Written by Elisabeth Walter
1st Answer Example
"I've been working on finding my voice when meeting with upper-level management. While I know the ideas I bring to the table are valuable, I've always been anxious when it comes to engaging people when the power dynamics are not in my favor. So, I have been working on growing my confidence when pitching ideas in these meetings. This has been my primary area of focus for improvement in the last few months, and one of my colleagues even recently commented that he had noticed a difference in the frequency of my contributions."
Written by Rachel Hills on November 13th, 2022
2nd Answer Example
"Sometimes, I struggle to say no to taking on additional tasks when my plate is already full. I'm a team player, love to help others, and like to be seen as someone reliable, so I'm inclined to say yes when others need help. I'm working on being more honest with myself about what I can accomplish in my forty-hour week and limiting how many extra projects or tasks I take on."
Written by Jaymie Payne on November 13th, 2022
Anonymous Interview Answers with Professional Feedback
Anonymous Answer
Stephanie's Feedback
About the Author
When I started my career in business management, branding, and marketing, I mistakenly assumed hard work and integrity alone would get me noticed. Back then, I assumed the harder I worked, the faster I’d rise through the ranks. Yet, even in a meritocracy, this is rarely the case.
The goals of my peers competed with mine, and too often, they were better at getting noticed for their accomplishments. And, some of them were all too happy to watch me working harder, as they worked smarter, rising through the ranks faster than me. At one point, a boss of mine labeled me a stealth worker. They said they had no idea I was the one performing all that great work. If only I’d drawn more attention to what I was doing, maybe I would have gotten rewarded for it. So I learned most of my leadership skills the hard way, and the journey was long.
As a leader, my favorite part of the job came to be coaching others. I took pride in sharing the secrets to my eventual success, and offering my outside-of-the-box view of the role. Where other leaders were only in it for themselves, I was genuinely in it for the company and the team. So I taught those I mentored not only what they needed to do, and how to do the job right, but why each step was important. I spelled out how everything fit into the big picture and shared every trick of the trade that no one shared with me. Every single individual I mentored advanced far ahead of their peers, surpassing those who were only in it for themselves.
Another favorite part of the job was recruiting and building the perfect teams. For me, conducting an interview was an art form. I later volunteered my services at career fairs and trade schools, offering advice, from crafting the perfect CV and resume, to delivering a perfect interview, to negotiating a decent raise. Now I am a full-time writer, and left my management career behind me. Yet, I still love coaching others to succeed, and I love writing for mockquestions.com for this very reason.
Here’s what I said to a friend of mine whom I mentored a long time ago: “Every single thing you do, at every stage, can alter the perception others have of your professional worth. My goal is to make you look like an asset worth fighting for.”
Learn more about Kevin Downey