You’re sitting in a job interview, and the interviewer has just asked you, “What’s your biggest strength?” Your mind is flooded with possible strengths to share, but what is the best? Earlier this week, we gave advice on how to best answer, “What’s your biggest weakness?” For many, the strengths question can be just as difficult as a question about weaknesses. Here are tips on how to respond to an interview question about your biggest strengths:
Prepare
The strengths question is very common, so you should prepare for this question just like you would for any other interview question. List out all of your strengths, and try to find a mixture of personality traits, knowledge and transferable skills so you can give a well-rounded answer. Be sure to practice answering the question with someone you trust, as well.
Find Relevance
When assessing your strengths, pick out ones that are most relevant to the position. If it’s a job where you will be dealing with the public, mention your people skills and outgoing personality. If the job involves a lot of teamwork, highlight your communication and organization skills. Use a little strategy when answering this interview question.
Be Honest
Just like your weaknesses, always be honest when answering this question. Don’t highlight your computer skills or creativity if you have neither. You never want to mislead your interviewer, because he/she will be able to find out you lied sooner or later.
Show Confidence, Not Arrogance
Of course you’re supposed to be confident in a job interview, but you do not want to come off as arrogant. When you’re asked about your strengths, it’s not the time to be humble, but you can’t be conceited either. Find the happy medium and practice.
Give Real Life Examples
To help ensure your answer to the strengths question doesn’t sound like empty words, give a real world example of how your strengths benefited previous jobs or projects. Bringing your response to life will make it more memorable to the interviewer.
Trying to figure out what your interviewer would want to hear will get you nowhere when you’re asked about your greatest strengths. Your interview doesn’t what to hear cookie-cutter responses or what you think he/she wants to hear; your interviewer truly wants to learn about your strengths. Before your next interview, anticipate this common question, and prepare by analyzing the strengths the job would require and honestly match it up with your skillsets to give the best possible answer.