Although Andrea knows she's going to be asked about her strengths and weaknesses she's always unsure how to respond and doesn't like bragging about herself.

Interviewers used to ask this question a lot; however it's becoming less and less popular as interviewers find other ways to get to the heart of what your strengths and weaknesses are. It's possible too many people were responding in a trite way with answers such as "my personality is my greatest strength" or "I don't have weaknesses" or "I'm a perfectionist" and the list goes on.

Strengths

• With the specific question above it would be wise to say that you had a great (or good if great is too strong) relationship with your manager and that they would probably agree your strengths were... give them 2 or 3 strengths that preferably relate to the job eg your ability to work under pressure, your attention to detail or work as part of a team.
• Use your career achievements to give concrete examples of your strengths.
• Don't know what your strengths are? Try working through our Who Am I eBooklet which will help you uncover lots of strengths and abilities.

Weaknesses

• Avoid statements such as "chocolate or shopping is my greatest weakness", as it's likely the interviewer will swing back with "I meant in a professional capacity" which will put you on the spot and you'll end up blurting out something inappropriate
• You may have been told at some point to try and convert your strengths into weaknesses in order to answer this question but that's an incredibly difficult thing to do and doesn't always work in your favour. Saying you're a perfectionist won't cut it at many interviews unless you specialise in work that requires precision
• Fail safe response: Respond by smiling at the interviewer and telling them that you thought they were going to ask this question and then go on to say "when I was preparing for the interview last night I was trying to think of what weaknesses I might have that might prevent me from doing this job well and when I thought about what you're looking for (state the key requirements of the job), though no one is perfect I believe I have no weaknesses that would prevent me from doing this job well. For example (relate your key strengths to the requirements of the job) I am experienced in XYZ and enjoy working as part of a team etc". (What you're doing here is keeping the focus on the job!).

Remember that when it comes to preparing for the interview it's a good idea to write down your responses and then practice. This will make you sound more natural.