Why Your “Biggest Weakness” Isn’t Being a Perfectionist

Q: “So what would you say is your greatest weakness?”

A: “It would have to be that I am too much of a perfectionist. I work too hard and I am not satisfied until the job is done. ”

Wow.

For years, job applicants have been wussing out of the “biggest weakness” interview question by answering that their biggest weakness is that they are too much of a perfectionist. Being a “perfectionist” is a bad answer.

Interviewers Are Not Morons

Candidates seem to think interviewers are stupid. They seem to think that they outsmarted the question by saying that their biggest weakness is that they are too hard workers.

But interviewers are not stupid, and that answer is so overused that it is essentially its own joke. It is a bad, cliché answer that everyone uses and is never true.

How to Answer Weakness Question

The best way to answer a biggest weakness question is to say a weakness that is actually a weakness, but one that everyone can relate to. Not long ago we had a list of several biggest weakness answers that are acceptable, but you can make up your known. The key to answering these question is to:

• Say a weakness that is only a small, barely important weakness.
• Follow up that weakness with what you are doing to improve.

You’re not outsmarting the interviewer by claiming you are a perfectionist. If you really want to impress the interviewer, you need to come up with a unique answer. Cliché answers are only going to harm your chances of getting the job.

Take Away Interview Tips

• You are not a perfectionist.
• If you were a perfectionist, you’d know why this is a bad answer.