What Are Your Strengths?
How-To-Answer
The dreaded question that results in overthinking. It really isn’t as difficult as you may think though and just remember: they’ve asked you to come for an interview, so there’s already something about you that they’re impressed with!
However, that doesn’t mean you should sit back and relax just yet – from the employer’s perspective, you have potential, but they need to know exactly why they should hire you over someone else and what you can personally bring to their business.
Because this is such a key question however, if you nail it, you’re much more likely to stand out from the crowd of mediocre answers – so how do you do it?
Firstly, it’s important to take the time to identify your strengths and PRACTICE talking about them in advance; that way, you’ll be prepared as well as you can be when it comes up – because it will. We’ve come up with three main points to get you started:
- BRAINSTORM
Start by banishing that little negative voice in your head and brainstorm a list of your top strengths – aim for at least 10 and jot down everything that comes to mind. These could include:
Experience | Expertise in a particular industry, experience with a certain software, a track record of working with similar products or client etc
Talents | Multiple languages, writing proposals, selling, organising events … the possibilities are endless here
Soft Skills | Competencies like problem solving, management, team building, influencing, negotiation etc
Education/Training | Relevant background on topics related the role; degrees, certifications, any training courses you may have been on
If you’re having trouble with work-related strengths, bring in a friend to help – they often see you more clearly than you see yourself and can help identify your personal qualities and strengths which you can then relate back to job performance.
- FOCUS
Narrow your list down to about five strengths you’re most comfortable talking about, the more the better – you may not need to talk about them all in one interview, but it’s good to have options.
Always keep in mind to focus on the right kind of strengths; choose ones that you actually possess for a start! Don’t pick one just because it’s in the job description – though if you have one that matches up, that’s even better! Regardless, you’ll be much more convincing if you talk about authentic strengths.
Remember to be specific; instead of “people skills” which is rather broad and can apply to a myriad of people, pick something a bit more impressive such as “persuasive communication”. If 90% of your friends could claim the same strength, it’s probably best to keep digging as this mistake makes a candidate bland and forgettable at best – at worst, it could raise a red flag; who wants to hire someone who’s main strength is being a pleasant person to work with?
- PREPARE
Hopefully, you now have a list of specific strengths you’re confident in expressing. Now you need to develop at least one example or story for each strength.
Be careful to not ramble on here; you need to be concise and explain exactly why this strength would be an asset to their company. If you can back your chat up by explaining a specific scenario in which your strength or skill was used to overcome a problem or showcase why it can be applied to everyday situations, you’ve got an excellent start towards impressing the interviewer.
With all that in mind, you’re on the right path to standing out! And if the interviewer doesn’t think to ask you about your strengths specifically, you can be guaranteed there’s another question being asked that effectively is asking for the same thing – watch out for questions such as: Why should we hire you? Why are you the best person for the job? What makes you a good fit?
They’re essentially the same thing, and you can tweak your prepared answers to fit the question. Your main goal for every interview is to walk in and communicate your most relevant strengths, so if you aren’t asked directly about them, look for openings to share your examples – because they’ll be there!
To help prepare even further for an interview, check out some of the commonly asked questions in another blog post of ours here.
