What are your weaknesses?
Interviewers know this question has a high chance of throwing you off your game in an interview. Program managers are expected to show poise under pressure while delivering information that can be perceived as difficult to communicate. Your interviewer wants to see if you can maintain your composure, confidence, and integrity while discussing your own professional improvement opportunities.
Remember that this question is not an invitation to air out all of your professional "dirty laundry." Keep your answer brief and highlight one or two improvement opportunities that would further your value specifically as a program manager if they are addressed. Likewise, describe a few strategies you are actively pursuing to address the weaknesses you describe in your response.
Here are a few weaknesses program managers regularly work to address:
- A program or tool they need to gain more experience in
- Learning to make key decisions using a balance of data and intuition
- Working to learn the details of an industry or client base that is new
- Letting go of some of the details to focus more on strategy
- Improving the delivery of difficult news to a client
- Balancing servant leadership with the need to be an authority at times
"One of my weaknesses or opportunities is that I have not yet had the opportunity to manage projects within the range of industries I would like to have exposure to. The vast majority of my work has been within the healthcare sector and I would like to expand my knowledge of the technology and solutions available. That is one of the reasons I am so excited to interview with you today. This position will allow me to leverage my strengths through the management of healthcare programs, but you have a strong foothold in several other industries. I am confident that I could establish friendships and mentoring relationships that would allow me to gain exposure to other areas long-term.
One other weakness that comes to mind is that I have relied too heavily on data at times in the past. I am a firm believer in data-driven decision-making, but there are times when an intuitive approach is needed for balance and to keep things moving. I am working to become more conscious of my intuition and listen more to the intuition of my teams and leaders. I know this is more of an art than a science and it is a behavior I plan to continue working on if hired for the program manager position here at XYZ company."
