Character and Context

Have you ever been asked in an interview to describe your strengths and weaknesses?

After answering (and asking) that question for years, I finally realized that strengths and weaknesses were really different sides of the same character traits. 

Am I impulsive or a quick decision-maker? Am I impatient or action-oriented?

I’m all of those things - it just depends on where I am!  

There are really no such things as strengths and weaknesses. There are character traits and context.  The same trait that serves you well in one situation can handicap you in another.

The key is to understand where you are and what you need to be successful. If a situation arises in which you know your instincts are not going to serve you well you need to consciously manage your behavior.  

Make sure you get the counsel and support of others whose character traits are different from your own. That will require you to be reflective and open-minded.

Perhaps a better interview scenario is to ask someone about their character traits and present them with situations in which their traits may be a liability. How would they manage those situations? What would they do to increase their likelihood of success? 

 

Technorati tags: Business, "Strengths and Weaknesses", "Job Interviews"

Comments

[Atul]

Interviews often test the ability of the interviewee to prepare answers that the interviewer wants to hear. I have read that they are not good indicators of job performance. One article I read said that IQ tests are a better indicator. Companies should just talk to candidates, give an IQ test and be done with it.

The strengths and weaknesses question is useless, and the new method of STAR penalizes those who haven't encountered certain situations even though they can competently handle them. They are forced to fit past work experiences to the randomness of the question, making them look like they are incompetent.

[Trée]

Ann, you continue to amaze me with your insight. Kudos for another excellent post.

Since I interview people for a living, I completely understand. I too have moved away from strenght and weakness types of questions although I must admit I still like asking them. Instead, most of my interview falls under the generic heading of "behavioral" questions, which as your post implies, gives the needed context to discover more significant insight into the candidate.

[i-ming]

Great Post! I agree completely!

Lately playing soccer iwas taken aside and called rude and arrogant,.. when all the while i thought i was being strong ,confidant and decisive.

you can play a game and think you did great, but that's not how the guy who got oknocked off the ball feels, well soccer is a contact sport isn't it!