How to Answer the ‘Greatest Weakness’ Interview Question

peter
Feb 3, 2009 9:36 AM CST

my greatest weakness is that I refuse to bill 3,000 hours a year for big law.

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Deyseeme T. Rollin
Feb 3, 2009 2:25 PM CST

@associate:  I’m right behind you.  The only way to answer this question is honestly.  (Though, as the source states, it’s a good idea to offer your attempts to correct it.)

That said, one would think that I would disagree with B. McLeod’s seemingly glib answer of Kryptonite.  I, of course, would be, if it were not a true statement.  I hear he’s fatally allergic to the stuff.

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recent grad
Feb 3, 2009 5:38 PM CST

Interviews?  What?

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Chris
Feb 6, 2009 5:33 AM CST

I agree with #7.  It is a BS question.  Perhaps a good answer is saying that you rely on others to tell you what your weaknesses are.  It suggests that you listen to others.

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Lauren
Feb 6, 2009 6:34 AM CST

I agree it’s a BS question. I was once on an interview for a summer job where the attorney handed me a pad and a pen and told me to write an essay on my three greatest strengths and weaknesses. I didn’t get the job, so maybe my greatest weakness is not being able to write ridiculous essays.

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Professing
Feb 6, 2009 7:13 AM CST

For dean interviews, the two predictable but asinine questions:  1)  Why do you want THIS deanship (in East Podunk) and 2) Where do you see legal education in 50 years?  And, of course, they ask, What is your biggest weakness?

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Tom
Feb 6, 2009 7:29 AM CST

I agree with 7, but wonder what interview questions are good indicators of future successful job performance?

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an annoyed interviewer
Feb 6, 2009 7:45 AM CST

Good Question Tom.  It never fails to amaze me how some interviewers where I work gush over the “right” answers, only to have several of those that gave “right” answers be awful.  But hey, why just hire the nice guy with good work ethics when you can have an ivy league grad with a sense of entitlement.

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Ira
Feb 6, 2009 7:50 AM CST

#7 & 8 are dead on point.  In my prior profession, we used to hire contractors.  Our permanent employees were usually selected from the contract work force.  Law is not so different,... firms hire and fire like flipping light switches.  Why not in small firms, give people a trial run / probation period?  In larger firms, (that used to be) able to absorb less efficiency, why not simply hire people outright, if you reserve the rights to supervise and can people?  How is that so different than what goes on now?
In short, it is a BS question.

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Brian
Feb 6, 2009 8:01 AM CST

Fluff, like the “why would you be a good Miss Americal” question.  If an employer is seriously making a hiring decision based on how someone responds to the “greatest weakness” question that is a big red flag that this is a place you don’t want to work Get up and run, don’t walk, to the exit.  And how abou ACC or anyone else who beleives they can make answering this dumb question into a science - Daubert - you are out, out of your mind.

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Charles
Feb 6, 2009 8:07 AM CST

As with most questions during an interview, it is not bad or good.  The issue is how the interviewee responds and hwo the interviewer uses the response.  “Ihave no weaknesses” may be more true than not.  But that answer very well could indicate that the person will be extremely difficult to work with.  If that is to be the conclusion, there need to be other indicia that support such an conclusion and if you do not care whether you can work with the person, maybe it is not important.  Over the years I have learned that interviews are a big part of the process but not the thing that necessarily tells me what I need to know.  All interviewees are intelligent and reasonably well educated—these are givens.  What I want to know is (1) who are you?; (2) are you responsible; (3) are you reliable?;(4) do you know what the “right thing” is?  And some other things as well, but these are things that interviews will not necessarily tell you.

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cybertao
Feb 6, 2009 8:13 AM CST

Humility.  If I wasn’t so humble I’d be perfect.

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Openskies
Feb 6, 2009 8:19 AM CST

To Opus (commenter #15), you can get to the complete version of the article by clicking the Wall Street Journal hotlink in the text above.

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Peter
Feb 6, 2009 8:23 AM CST

My biggest weakness is that I don’t answer impertinent and disrespectful questions during interviews.

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Glen
Feb 6, 2009 8:46 AM CST

So if I understand correctly when the interviewer asks, “what is your greatest weakness,” you are to pretend they asked “what was your greatest weakness.”  Then interviewer and interviewer wink at eachother and do their little interview dance because the Disingenuous Test has been passed.  Sad.

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Donna
Feb 6, 2009 8:49 AM CST

Oh, and/or how I work on not being that way and being able to say “no” when I know I don’t want to do something?

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Don
Feb 6, 2009 8:56 AM CST

I assume No. 29 did not get the job!

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DP
Feb 6, 2009 9:02 AM CST

To #31: I would say something like “I tend to be very willing to pitch in when I’m asked, but sometimes that means I’ll take on more than I’d like.  But knowing that about myself I tend to check in every once in a while on what I have on my plate for a reality check.  If I find I’ve taken on an unreasonable load, then I have to delegate or ask a superior to delegate.”  It’s total BS, but that’s what the question is too.

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Scott
Feb 6, 2009 9:13 AM CST

In over 25 years of hiring lawyers and support staff, it never occurred to me to ask such a question.

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Joe
Feb 6, 2009 9:22 AM CST

My wife.  Happily married two years to a Top Ten Model and very much in love.

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Greg
Feb 6, 2009 9:30 AM CST

I loved the Kryptonite answer!  Some other suggested answers:

My biggest weakness is I tend to lose bladder control when I am asked difficult questions . . . um, is this chair expensive?

I think my biggest weakness is that I tend to procrastinate, but can I get back to you later on this?  I want to give this question some more thought . . .

But seriously, it is not so much a bs question.  If you know your self and are constantly striving to improve, you should be able to answer the question well.  So the question really gets at whether or not you are that type of person who knows himself or herself and is constantly trying to improve.  If it helps, rephrase the question in your mind as “what is the most important thing you are currently trying to improve about yourself?”  The question also tests your ability to talk about something negative in as positive a way as possible, or even turning a negative into a positive.  That is an important skill in many occupations, especially for litigators.

So for example, I might answer that I tend to dominate conversations, so I have been working on listening better and giving others more of a chance to speak.

If you are being honest about your weakness and that makes them not hire you, then chances are that it was not the right job for you anyway.

If you can’t answer the weakness question, then here is an even more pointed question for you:  when and why did your journey of self examination and improvement end?  Of course, the obvious answer to that mean question is “when I became perfect.”

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The BIg Kahuna
Feb 6, 2009 9:32 AM CST

I am on my way to an interview, and if I get this ridiculous question (which matches this ridiculous article) I will answer cheese too. It’s honest. And Jay, you sound like a schmuck…we’re all so glad to know you work for what you think is the hot shit.

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Instructing
Feb 6, 2009 9:46 AM CST

Yaw’l are right that this is not a useful question—it doesn’t reveal anything of substance about the candidate.  But don’t trash the interviewer for asking it.  Many very nice people are a bit unsure about how to conduct an interview, and I’ve been asked this question by folks who turned out to be lovely to work with.

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Mona Lisa Vito
Feb 6, 2009 9:50 AM CST

Here is another reason it’s a trick question ... ‘Cause Chevy didn’t make a 327 in ‘55, the 327 didn’t come out till ‘62. And it wasn’t offered in the Bel Air with a four-barrel carb till ‘64. However, in 1964, the correct ignition timing would be four degrees before top-dead-center.’

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Hadley V. Baxendale
Feb 6, 2009 9:57 AM CST

The question is a failed attempt at a curve ball, at getting away from the canned or anticipated Q&A.  When I interviewed candidates, I tended to have a conversation about travel, music, undergrad, anything other than law or the firm; from that I could get more feel for the person’s character and communication skills.  Others would test ability or provide information about the firm.
I also appreciated it when candidates volunteered answers to the illegal questions that are on every interviewer’s mind:  Do you think you will stay here, in this town and at this firm, for the long haul, or would you likely quit for children, a spouse’s transfer out of area, after a few years to move “back home”, etc.  We scour the resume and spend the entire interview or its post-mortem looking for clues to the answers.

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