Your biggest strength and weakness?

Hi everyone!

I’m in the middle of applying for jobs, and this question (or a similar variation) pops up quite frequently so I thought it would be good to get you guys thinking!

What would you say is your biggest strength and why? And the same for your biggest weakness?

Tasha
(Law graduate)

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Reply 1

DrawTheLine

They're both the same for me. I'm very critical of myself. This is good because it means I won't half-attempt a task and I always make sure I do the best I can. However, it also means I am rarely happy with anything I do and never feel happy handing in a piece of work, meaning I can get a bit stressed out unnecessarily.

Reply 2

sdniufheoiw

My strength is that I am a very good liar I can easily deceive someone I have got out of many sticky situations by many methods dw i'm not a snitch.

My weakness is overthinking- but this can be a strength at times. Also getting distracted such as going onto TSR.

I got 7-9 detentions from yr 7 - yr 9 currently I should've got isolation for 1 thing and deserve 35 detentions but I got away with a lot clearly

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 3

Legomenon

Strength: Perfectionism
Weakness: Perfectionism

Reply 4

bones-mccoy

My biggest strengths are my empathy and compassion, my biggest weakness is that I'm governed by my emotions and can sometimes be overly sensitive

So two sides of the same coin, really

Reply 5

Moonbow

Strength: ambition
Weakness: Distrust in others. Being critical :smile:

Reply 6

β0b

actual strength and weakness: swimming and everything that isn't swimming
job strength and weakness: I can always find a way to improve myself self and I love swimming.

Reply 7

The University of Law Students

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@DrawTheLine

I really like this answer - you explain how a weakness is turned into a strength which is a very good thing!

The only thing I would maybe leave out if I was personally going to use that answer would be the fact you get stressed out unnecessarily, but apart from that a really great answer! And of course I am no expert in what a “good” answer is, thats just my opinion :-)

I’m like you in that way, always have to make sure everything is perfect which in turn means more pressure and work I make for myself and I definitely stress a lot! But like you say, it’s such a good thing ah the same time!

Reply 8

username3477548

Original post by β0b

actual strength and weakness: swimming and everything that isn't swimming
job strength and weakness: I can always find a way to improve myself self and I love swimming.

why do you like swimming so much?

whats your story, if you don't mind me asking, I'm very curious! :h:

Reply 9

The University of Law Students

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@sndiufheoiw

Haha not sure the strength would be the best thing to tell an employer!

I like your weakness answer and how you turned it into a strength! Distractions are natural however again possibly not the best thing to tell an employee :-) TSR is a good place to distract yourself though because you are still doing soemthing thought provoking!

Oh wow haha you really did get away with a lot

Reply 10

The University of Law Students

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@Legomenon

Haha yep love that you used the same for both! Could you possibly expand on them- use examples of how this works as Both a strength and a weakness?

Reply 11

The University of Law Students

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@bones-mccoy

Wow really love this answer - definitely my favourite!

They are such good traits to have! What do you want to go into career wise may I ask? This is the perfect answer for a lot of jobs!

I’m similar to you, very passionate about certain topics, for example animals, and I find myself overly sensitive about such topics! Likely you said though, it is also a very good strength

Reply 12

The University of Law Students

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@Moonbow

Love your strength! Can you give an example of a time where your ambition has shown, for example getting a certain job?

Your first weakness is interesting! Any particular reason from it? And how would you tackle this when being asked about this weakness by an employer? Yes I relate to your critical weakness, although I think it can turn into a strength as it makes you produce brilliant results :-)

Reply 13

The University of Law Students

Official Rep

Original post by β0b

actual strength and weakness: swimming and everything that isn't swimming
job strength and weakness: I can always find a way to improve myself self and I love swimming.

Hahaha love this so much! I actually love swimming so can’t relate, however you made me laugh so you can add that to your strengths!

Okay so your strength is that you can always improve, is there a time when you’ve done this?

Reply 14

The Real Me

My bigges strenght is liking bts
my weakness is everything

Reply 15

Foxehh

Strengths? I do my best at everything I do, even if I its not my favorite. I also put others first, although sometimes that could be considered a weakness as well ( sometimes you need to put yourself first ).
Weaknesses... Probably my spelling, which I noticed after spelling 'weak' wrong 3 times while writing out this paragraph :rofl:

Erm, but also Id say that sometimes Im quite indecisive and can be rather stubborn.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 16

richmkay

Im very worried about what people think of my ability to do a job but that means i will always do my best when given a task.

I also seem to be able to put others in front of my needs, even when its negative towards me.

Reply 17

username5308830

strength: my determination. if there’s something i want to do, no matter how many obstacles i may face, and how difficult that could be for, if i want it enough, i will work tirelessly to get it 😊

weakness: i’m quite a shy person, so i can find it quite easy to just take a back seat and let others take charge rather than challenging myself to try something new.

Reply 18

username5243162

My strengths are the fact that I don’t easily give up. I’m hardworking and extremely goal oriented. I am also empathetic.

Weaknesses would be stubbornness, I don’t like to be bossed around much either.... I am also extremely independent which wouldn’t be great if I was working in a group setting.

Reply 19

β0b

Original post by The University of Law Students

@

Hahaha love this so much! I actually love swimming so can’t relate, however you made me laugh so you can add that to your strengths!

Okay so your strength is that you can always improve, is there a time when you’ve done this?

just then, when I changed incompetence in everything to aware of my incompetence to knowing I can always improve. in all seriousness though, I was in a STEM competition where I was the CAD designer and lead researcher. It was my job to test and improve the design repeatedly. I also apply this to swimming. my one motive for staying in shape is improving my swimming capability. I like rock climbing because it also exercises the muscles I use for swimming. If I love something, I WILL find how to get better at it.
oh, and I meant, my job weakness is the fact that I love swimming. you know, because you can't say anything negative and all.