Home Consejos para tu carrera Entrevistas Cómo responder a la pregunta “¿cuáles son tus puntos débiles?”
puntos débiles en una entrevista de trabajo

Cómo responder a la pregunta “¿cuáles son tus puntos débiles?”

Doris Benitez
Tiempo de lectura: 5 min

Weaknesses in a job interview is one of the most typical questions and it is a beginner’s mistake not to prepare it. But sometimes it can make us feel very lost: what can we say that is negative about ourselves ” but not so much” that the company considers us a bad candidate option?

And that is the grace of the question.

Why are you asking me about my weaknesses?

Sometimes we can think that these types of questions are to make you nervous in a situation where you can easily feel insecure, but nothing further: the objective of the interviewer with this question is to know your degree of maturity and self-knowledge . Because when a company contacts you after reading your job profile it is because you have interested them and want to see everything they still do not know: how you are .

Therefore, they want to know you better through a talk as natural as possible, and not in something similar to an interrogation. So you have to think about this question well, so that you don’t see ‘the typical home prepared’. And this is the difficult thing, because nobody likes to talk about their defects, and less when you want to make a good impression.

How I prepare the answers to my weak points

There is no magic formula to answer this question . You really have to think about your personality and highlight what, always professionally, you think are defects.

Ponder what you want to say so you don’t go blank on the day of the interview:

  1. Think of the position you aspire to, not to say defects with which you throw stones at your own roof. For example: if your candidacy is for a customer service position, putting as a defect that you have few social skills will not play too much in your favor, since this is the most indispensable requirement for the job. If you are looking for a programmer job, not knowing how to speak in public does not have to be a problem.
    You must find a balance between being honest and not falling into pessimism when selling yourself. Remember: we all have ‘negative’ aspects and that is what makes us unique. It is a matter of using logic.
  1. Do not consider it as ‘defects’ but as ‘things to improve’ When you talk about them, explain what you are doing to improve them. Don’t say ‘I’m cut to speak in other languages’ and stay so wide. Plant it differently, for example:
  2. Are you cut to speak in English or another language? You may have studied a course or had friendships with whom to practice and it has helped you to deal with the problem or that you are currently working on it.
  3. Are you little punctual? Explain how for half a year you go out twice in advance and make a coffee in front of the appointment site to ensure that you are never late.
  4. Remember that we only talk about defects in the workplace.
  5. Any explanation is better with examples. Take it as if it were a story. If you are shy: in what situations are you, or in what others? What helps you overcome your fears? For example, if you’re in a hurry to speak in public: do you rehearse the presentation the day before to feel safer? Explain, explain!
  6. Do you doubt what to say? Try calling a friend, co-worker or family member to help you be objective with your virtues and defects.

What (please) you must not say

As we have said before, this question is one of the most typical of job interviews. Therefore, as we do in this post, on the internet you can find a thousand ideas about what to answer in these situations. It is important that you think that the interviewer knows this too and that he will have heard the same answers countless times. So, always avoid the typical ones:

  • “I get too involved in my work”
  • “I am too perfectionist”
  • “I am too demanding”

Surely you had heard them before. Nowadays no one bites in the technique of ‘ disguising virtues as defects’ . Defects are defects , and that is what they seek to know about you. The real flaws can be things like: I am slow learning new things, I am unpunctual, I am very shy, I have not worked as a team in previous jobs …

After identifying them, it is time to focus them with a positive attitude . How? Not simply citing ‘everything that makes you badly employed’, if not explain with examples situations in which you have not liked your way of acting, and how you have tried to solve it in the following.

For example, you may need to be corrected a lot at the beginning because you are insecure at the beginning of a job. All right. Here you can tell how you have been working to be more independent when you have been in the position for a while.

In conclusion: it is important that you remember that whoever does the interview has ever seen you in your same situation, and that he / she will also have their own flaws. This question is not asked to see you fail, but to know you better in a more direct and faster way.
Lose your fear of this question, because you deserve that position!

Find your ideal job in our offers: cleaning , construction , events , kitchen , waiter , sales , admin and many more …Descárgate la app JOB TODAY ahora!