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What are your strengths and weaknesses? How to answer, with 12 examples

How to answer “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” with real, provable choices, a simple structure and 12 sample answers across jobs and career stages.

By the Applystead editorial team · Updated · 7 min read

Quick answer

To answer “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”, pick a strength the job needs and prove it with a short example and result. For the weakness, name a real work behavior that is not central to the job, explain its effect briefly, and spend most of the answer on what you now do differently and the progress you have made.

Key takeaways

  • Interviewers use these questions to test honesty, self-awareness and fit, not to catch you out.
  • Choose a strength from the job posting and prove it with one specific example.
  • Choose a real weakness that is not a core duty, and show evidence you are improving it.
  • Avoid disguised compliments like “I’m a perfectionist”; they sound evasive.
  • Prepare two of each so a follow-up like “Give me another” doesn’t stall you.

What interviewers learn from strengths and weaknesses questions

“What are your strengths and weaknesses?” is really two questions with one goal: finding out whether you understand your own work accurately. The University of Alabama Career Center puts it simply: interviewers want to know if you are honest and self-aware.

The strength half checks whether your best skills line up with what the job needs and whether you can back up a claim with evidence. The weakness half checks something harder to fake: whether you can talk about a limitation without getting defensive, and whether you do anything about it. Harvard’s career office notes that negatively framed questions like this are used to see how much insight you have into areas where you need improvement.

You may hear the question in other forms: “What’s your greatest strength?”, “What would your manager say you need to work on?”, “What’s an area of development for you?” or “Give me three strengths and three weaknesses.” The approach below works for all of them.

How to choose and prove a strength

A good strength answer is relevant, specific and proven. The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s La Follette School career office recommends starting from the qualifications listed in the job description and making the skill as specific as you can, for example “presenting to clients” rather than “communication skills.”

Then prove it. An adjective on its own gives the interviewer nothing to remember; one short example with a result does. If you want more depth, the STAR interview method is a good way to shape the example.

  1. List the three to five skills the job posting stresses most.
  2. Circle the one you can prove best with a recent, specific example from work, school or volunteering.
  3. Name the strength in plain, specific words.
  4. Give the example in two or three sentences: what happened, what you did, what changed.
  5. Close with one sentence linking it to the job you are interviewing for.

Sample answers: “What are your strengths?”

These answers are illustrative, with invented details. Each names a specific strength, proves it with a single example and ties it back to the role.

Strength example: warehouse associate (accuracy)

“My strength is accuracy under time pressure. In peak season at my current warehouse we pick around twice our normal volume, and I kept a near-perfect pick accuracy record through it by scanning every item rather than batch-confirming. My lead now asks me to check new hires’ first orders. Your posting mentions accuracy targets, so that habit would carry straight over.”

Strength example: medical assistant (calming patients)

“I’m good at helping anxious patients feel settled. At the family practice where I work, I noticed nervous patients often forgot to mention symptoms, so I started asking one open question before taking vitals and repeating back what I heard. The physicians told me their intake notes became more complete. In a pediatric practice like yours, that calm, structured approach with worried parents matters every day.”

Strength example: junior software developer (debugging)

“My strongest skill is methodical debugging. On my internship team, a report intermittently showed wrong totals and two people had already looked at it. I wrote down each assumption, tested them one at a time, and found a time-zone conversion error in one query. I also wrote up the steps so the next person could follow them. This role involves supporting a large existing codebase, which is where that patience pays off.”

Strength example: restaurant shift lead (running a rush)

“I’m at my best organizing a team during a rush. On Friday nights at the diner where I work, I assign stations before service, watch the ticket times and move people when one area backs up. Since I started doing a two-minute pre-shift huddle, our Friday comps for late orders have dropped. Your assistant manager role would let me do that for the whole restaurant.”

Strength example: staff accountant (clean reconciliations)

“My strength is building reconciliations that other people can follow. When I joined my current team, some account reconciliations lived in personal spreadsheets with no notes. I rebuilt six of them in a shared template with sources and explanations for every reconciling item. Our auditors needed fewer follow-up questions that year. For a team preparing for its first audit, as your posting says, that clarity would help.”

Strength example: career changer from teaching to customer training

“I’m very good at explaining complicated things in simple steps. As a high school chemistry teacher, I redesigned our lab instructions into one-page checklists with photos, and the number of students asking me to repeat instructions dropped enough that labs started on time. Training customers on new software is the same skill in a new setting: break it down, check understanding, adjust.”

How to choose a real weakness for an interview

The best weakness is real, not central to the job, and already improving. The La Follette School career office suggests choosing something learnable, like a skill or tool, and steering clear of anything that is a core duty of the role. Harvard’s career office adds that it helps to describe behaviors rather than personality traits, and to be accountable for the area you are working on.

Use a quick test before you commit: if this weakness would stop you doing the main duties in your first month, pick another. A bookkeeper should not choose “attention to detail”; a nurse should not choose “staying calm in emergencies.” A bookkeeper could reasonably choose public speaking, and a nurse could choose delegating to newer staff.

  1. Name the weakness as a specific work behavior or skill gap.
  2. Give one short, low-stakes example of how it showed up.
  3. Explain the concrete method you now use to manage or improve it.
  4. Share evidence of progress, even if you are not finished improving.

Sample answers: “What is your greatest weakness?”

These are illustrative answers with invented details. Notice that the weakness takes one or two sentences, and the fix and progress take the rest.

Weakness example: new supervisor (delegating)

“Delegating has been a weakness. When I first became a lead, I kept the hardest orders for myself because it felt faster, and I ended up staying late while newer staff didn’t learn. Now I assign one complex task a week to someone else and check in halfway rather than taking it back. Two people on my team can now handle those orders without me.”

Weakness example: data analyst (presenting to groups)

“Presenting to large groups doesn’t come naturally to me. In my first quarterly review I read from my slides and lost the room. Since then I’ve volunteered to present at our monthly team meeting, I rehearse with a colleague, and I build each talk around three points instead of every chart. I’m more comfortable now, though I still prepare more than most people.”

Weakness example: administrative assistant (saying yes too often)

“I used to say yes to every request as soon as it arrived, which meant urgent work sometimes waited behind small favors. After missing an internal deadline, I started asking each person when they actually needed it and keeping a visible priority list my manager can see. I still help people, but I rarely have to scramble anymore.”

Weakness example: marketing coordinator (a tool gap)

“I haven’t worked much with marketing automation platforms; my last company used simple email tools. I know your team uses a more advanced system, so I’ve already started its free online training and built two practice campaigns in a trial account. I expect a learning curve for the first few weeks, but I’ve picked up new tools quickly before.”

Weakness example: recent graduate (asking for help late)

“I tend to struggle alone for too long before asking for help. During my internship I spent most of a day stuck on a data export that my supervisor fixed in ten minutes. Now I give myself a set time limit, usually an hour, and if I’m still stuck I write down what I’ve tried and ask. It saves time and I learn more from the conversation.”

Weakness example: charge nurse candidate (giving direct feedback)

“I’ve found it hard to give direct feedback to colleagues, especially more experienced ones. I used to hint instead of saying clearly what needed to change. I took our hospital’s coaching workshop, and now I use a simple format: what I observed, why it matters for patients, and what I’d like to see next time. The conversations are shorter and less awkward than I expected.”

Weaknesses to avoid in an interview

Some answers backfire no matter how well you deliver them. The La Follette School career office specifically warns against clichés like perfectionism and weaknesses that are strengths in disguise.

  • Disguised compliments: “I work too hard,” “I care too much,” “I’m a perfectionist.” They sound rehearsed and avoid the question.
  • “I don’t have any weaknesses.” This signals low self-awareness.
  • A core requirement of the job, such as reliability for a shift role or accuracy for a finance role.
  • Integrity or conduct issues, such as cutting corners or missing shifts without notice.
  • Private matters like health conditions or family circumstances. You are not obliged to disclose them, and they are not what the question is about.
  • Jokes, such as “chocolate.” A light moment is fine only if you follow it with a real answer.
  • A weakness with no improvement story. If you have done nothing about it yet, choose a different one or start working on it now.

How to answer when they ask for strengths and weaknesses together

When the question comes as one, answer the strength first, then the weakness, and keep the total to about 90 seconds. Use a short bridge such as “On the development side…” so the shift is clear. End on your improvement, not the problem.

If an interviewer asks for three of each, give three quick strengths with one proof point for the strongest, then one weakness in full and two briefer ones. The La Follette School career office recommends preparing two answers for each question even though you will usually use one, which also covers follow-ups like “What else?”

Keep these answers consistent with the rest of your interview. If you claim organization as a strength, your behavioral interview answers should show it. Our guide to common interview questions covers other questions that often follow, and our interview preparation guide shows how to rehearse them together.

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Common questions

What is a good weakness to say in a job interview?

A good weakness is real, not central to the job and already improving. Examples include delegating, presenting to large groups, asking for help too late, or a specific software tool you have not used much. The key is what follows: explain the concrete step you now take and show some progress, so the interviewer hears self-awareness rather than a warning sign.

Is it okay to say perfectionism is my weakness?

It is usually better to avoid it. Interviewers hear it often and many treat it as a way to dodge the question. If attention to detail genuinely slows you down, describe the specific behavior instead, such as re-editing finished documents, explain what it cost, and share the rule you now use, like a set review time, to keep deadlines on track.

How many strengths should I mention?

One well-proven strength is usually stronger than a list of five adjectives. If the interviewer asks for several, name two or three that match the job, give one short example for the most important, and offer to expand on the others. Keep the rest of your interview consistent with what you claimed.

What should I say if I can’t think of a weakness?

Look at past feedback from managers, performance reviews or teachers, or think about tasks you avoid or that take you longer than colleagues. A skill you have not needed yet, like a tool your target employer uses, can also work. Saying you have no weaknesses tends to come across as low self-awareness, so prepare a real one.

Should my weakness be related to the job?

It should be relevant to work but not to the job’s core duties. A weakness that has nothing to do with work, like a hobby you are bad at, sidesteps the question. One that sits at the center of the role raises doubts. Choose something in between, such as a secondary skill or a work habit you have already improved.

Sources and editorial notes

Written by the Applystead editorial team with AI assistance, from the public sources above and original illustrative examples. Examples are not real applicant outcomes. This is general job-search information, not legal, tax or financial advice; hiring practices and local rules vary. No independent expert review is claimed. How we write and check guides.

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