How to Talk About Your Weaknesses in a Job Interview
Sharing your vulnerabilities with future employers is scary, but it’s worth learning to do well
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If you’re anything like me, you’ve got memories of cringeworthy moments in your work history that still make you want to crawl under a rock and hide. One of those memories that replays over and over in my mind happened during a job interview when I was fresh out of graduate school.
The position would have allowed me to teach, train, and travel. I really wanted it. I was interviewed by a panel of six people who already worked on the team. They asked tough questions, but I was prepared. I communicated well, and I felt great about how it went.
Then, in an unexpected moment near the end of the conversation, one of the interviewers asked: “Would you consider yourself to be a creative person?”
I panicked. He had figured me out. I was an imposter. As I tried to devise a plan to avoid discussing one of my biggest areas of insecurity, my mind was spinning: They want a creative person?? The job didn’t seem like it required a creative person. But they wouldn’t have asked me this if they didn’t need a creative person, right?
Over the next few painful moments, I tried to convince both the panel and myself that I was, in fact, a creative person. “Ummm, yes. I think I can be creative when I need to be.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt tension build in the room — tension that existed because I wasn’t confident enough in my strengths to admit my weaknesses. Needless to say, they didn’t buy it. I didn’t buy it either.
Looking back, I’m confident that the way I answered their previous questions had already told my interviewers that I wasn’t a naturally creative person. Perhaps the question was asked because the person filling the role really needed to be creative, but I think it was more to see how I would respond to being called out about my vulnerabilities. And I failed.
In truth, I wanted to be all the things I thought they wanted me to be. I was young and afraid that admitting I wasn’t creative would disqualify me in their eyes.
While it’s difficult to share our…
