In fact, the interview question “What are your weaknesses” is a pretty complicated question. It’s hard to know for sure how to answer. Usually, candidates try to present themselves as best as possible. But that’s not what employers are looking for. In fact, even famous CEOs have weaknesses. So by acting like you’re perfect, they’ll notice it immediately.

So how can you identify your own weaknesses and improve them? We invite readers to discover how to make a list of their own weaknesses and how to overcome them through the article below by Ms. Uptalent.

What is the concept of weakness?

Personal weaknesses are simply your own flaws. These are imperfections that exist in every person. Everyone has their own weaknesses, but due to different personalities, each person has different ways of expressing their weaknesses.

Although the weaknesses are limitations in abilities and skills. However, you should not be embarrassed or shy away from it. Either you feel defeated or you have to give in to it. Instead, find it and fix it.

The truth is that your weaknesses can become your strengths if you know how to overcome them. In the world, many leaders and billionaires have weaknesses, but they overcame them and became successful.

Why do you need to identify your own weaknesses?

Instinctively, people often hide their own flaws and weaknesses. But that’s not what you should do. Instead of hiding, we need to figure out what our weaknesses are and overcome them.

Finding your weakness and facing it will bring you great benefits:

+ First, highlight your own strengths: by finding your own weaknesses, you also see your strengths. From there, maximize your strengths and achieve exceptional success.

+ Second, overcome weaknesses: Once you find the weakness, you will have a way to overcome it. From there, you can improve your weaknesses and improve yourself.

How to make a list of your own weaknesses

To recognize your own weaknesses, you must first clearly understand your role. Because the same factor may be a strength for one person, but for another it may be a weakness. This difference is due to the fact that each person has a different role. Only when you clearly understand your role can you objectively comment on your weaknesses and strengths.

You should then make a list of your weaknesses and ask someone else to evaluate them. Then you will surely receive different reviews. The reason is that with different people you will reveal your skills in different ways.

Here are the steps to help you create a weaknesses list:

Step 1: Consider your career

First you need to think about what skills you actually need. That is, if your job is writing, it doesn’t matter if your math skills are “bad” or you don’t need to improve your writing skills if your job is just writing numbers and spreadsheets .

Therefore, you should learn about your career and the skills employers are looking for. Make a list of the most important skills and start your research.

Step 2: Evaluate yourself

Once you’ve found the skills that employers need, it’s time to examine yourself and assess what skills you’re actually good at. Don’t list a set of skills like communication, leadership, teamwork, etc., without really considering whether you have those skills or not.

Think about the comments others made to you when you were at school or at work. If someone scolds you for something, there must be some part of your behavior that is wrong.

You can also ask people you trust, such as friends, relatives, or mentors (if possible), to point out some of your weaknesses. These reviews are always very useful to you.

You might ask yourself questions such as:

+ What tasks do you usually put last on your to-do list?

+ What makes you try so hard?

+ When do you need help from others?

All of this will help you get the most complete and honest picture of your weaknesses.

Step 3: Identify technical skills and soft skills

Skills are generally divided into technical skills and soft skills. Technical skills are often practical, such as being able to play a musical instrument or being able to write code. Soft skills are more abstract and related to your personality, such as communication, emotional intelligence, and leadership.

Most technical skills can be learned, but it may take time and effort. Soft skills are closely linked to your personality, so they are more difficult to develop if you don’t have them yourself.

Categorizing your skills into hard skills and soft skills will help you develop a more effective improvement plan.

Step 4: Take a personality test

Although there is some controversy over the validity of personality tests. At the same time, relying solely on questions will not accurately represent a person’s personality. However, it’s still a really good way to help you think carefully about your personality and how you react in different situations.

There are currently two popular personality tests: Myers-Brigg and The Big Five:

+ Myers-Brigg (MBTI hay): It is a type of test that helps you learn and discover your personality, tendencies and abilities to make appropriate career choices. This test is based on 4 evaluation criteria:

First, a natural tendency. Determine whether you are introverted (Introversion) or extroverted (Extraversion).

Second, learn and perceive the world. Determine whether you are left-brained (Sensing) or right-brained (Intuition).

Third, decide and choose. You decide based on reason (Thinking) or emotions (Feeling).

Fourth, how to act. Do you act according to principles (Judging), discipline or flexibility (Perceiving).

+ The Big Five: This test does not attempt to determine a person’s personality. Instead, the Big Five believe that human personality consists of five factors: self-control, extroversion, sociability, openness to experience, and emotional instability. This test will determine the level of performance of each factor. And based on this, you will discover your own strengths and weaknesses.

The advice for you is to recognize your weaknesses but don’t force yourself to improve, eliminate or modify them. What we need to consider here is ourselves. If possible, you should modify your job role based on your strengths and weaknesses.

Basically, during an interview, you should only mention a maximum of 3 weaknesses. Too many weaknesses and no company will dare to accept you.

>>> You might be interested in: Should you note your weaknesses on your CV?

How to overcome your own weaknesses

Once you have determined what your weaknesses are and the skills needed for your career, the next thing you need to do is “turn” those weaknesses into strengths. For example, if you lack coding skills, sign up for a course immediately and start learning. Soft skills are more difficult. If you’re an introvert, you’ll likely have difficulty speaking in front of a crowd or have poor communication skills.

As long as you are aware of your friend’s weakness, you have taken the first step to solving the problem. Additionally, you can also apply some of the following tips so that these weaknesses do not hinder your development path:

+ Compensate for skills gaps: If you are not good at expressing your opinions in meetings or when presenting work, prepare carefully before meetings and presentations to compensate for this.

+ Practice regularly: It’s easy if you decide to “shrink” in front of things you don’t have confidence in. But if you know how to practice, you will get better and better. For example, if you are afraid of communicating with strangers, the best way is to step out of your comfort zone and try to communicate with more people.

+ Ask those around you for help: Once you realize your weakness, there is no shame in asking others for help. Find out if there is anyone in your group who is trustworthy and can complete the task better than you, then ask them to help you.

Hopefully, with the practical sharing of this article from Ms. Uptalent, readers can find their weaknesses and know how to make a list of their own weaknesses and how to overcome them. Besides, you should also not be confused by the question “What are your weaknesses?” ” Again. Good luck. Don’t forget to follow Uptalent for more interesting information!