As a manager, what is your greatest weakness?

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When it comes to management roles, Apple looks for people who make 'Apple simplicity' look easy, even though it can be a very complicated concept. They look for managers with demonstrated leadership abilities in customer-facing sales settings. Apple also desires managers with a passion for technology and, more specifically, Apple products.

Everyone has his/her weaknesses, and that is OK. Talk to the hiring manager about what you feel you could work on the most, and what you are doing about it. Avoid discussing a weakness that could be detrimental to you securing the position.

"I could improve my technical skills when it comes to Numbers and Keynote. I have all the basics covered, but when it comes to more complicated formulas or visualization of data, I don't have much experience. To remedy this, I have enrolled in a course for next month, and my goal is to come out of that experience as a more intermediate user."

"As a manager, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt and have been known to continue trying to nurture people when they are overdue for termination. I have taken a couple of management training classes focused on this area, and I'm also working with an industry mentor. My ability to be objective with underperforming employees is certainly strengthening."

Anonymous Answer

"I have a lot of experience as a leader, and I’m proud of it. But my weakness for this role is that I am coming into a new environment where I don’t know the people or the culture, and I’m not officially a manager. I’m going to need to build trust with my teammates and learn the best way to influence them as individuals."

Marcie's Feedback

It's true that you'll need to get to know your new colleagues and learn about the company culture, but this is something everyone goes through when they start a new job. Can you think of a weakness as a manager that is specific to you? Try to choose a weakness that can also be viewed as a positive and talk about what steps you're taking to improve yourself in this area. (Some examples: you're a perfectionist, you have high expectations, you forget to delegate sometimes because you want to do it yourself, etc.)