Tough Interview Questions

What I don't want to hear is that your biggest weakness is that you work too hard. Give me a break...it may be true, but seriously, give me something better. I want a real answer like "I could improve upon my networking skills, or I am working on my public speaking abilities". If I hear "I work too hard" or "I have a hard time saying no"...my response is always "how does that negatively impact you or your team when you don't say no". I like a good solid response that they've had to think about...not a canned response they think will earn them brownie points.

Like Jonathon says, the "strength" and "weakness" questions don't get to who the person is in a very effective way. Behavioral questioning is the only interviewing that works well, especially if the questions are carefully crafted to fit the position. More firms are using candidate assessments to get a better grasp of the individual. The bestassessments will suggest behavioral questions to follow up on what the assessment identifies as needing more follow-up and exploration.

I’m not sure “What is your greatest weakness?” and a behavioral based question on developing a skill are the same and derive the same result. Similar but the not the same. We really want to know if the interviewee is aware of something that may have prevented them from at least meeting expectations or excelling. We want to see how the person perceives themselves – perfect with no flaws or human. We want honesty so we can assess how the honest answer fits the job and the culture.
Greatest weakness implies there is more than one weakness, we have multiple and we have rank ordered them in some manner - high need/low skill, level of career risk if not developed, etc. I could want at least types of responses – concrete or abstract. Concrete - I really do want to know how self-aware the individual is, what the person does with the awareness and thus want the response to include how the person approached the weakness and the results. Or abstract - I want a critical response to see if the person agrees/disagrees with my perception that everyone has weaknesses and how well they manage a conflicting point of view – influence and finesse. Or the person could do both. Give you what you want but provide an alternative point of view.
Directly responding to Caty’s questions, I would probably do both. I’ve developed platform skills over the years and can give details on how I approached it. I agree with Martin, we all have strengths or gifts, some are stronger than others and we tend to use those that are our most natural.
I feel strongly about personal accountability and responsibility for career growth, so I would want the applicant or candidate to describe in detail how they developed a lesser strength and the eventual result.

My Greatest Weakness:
All of us have stronger or lesser strenghts ,so I don't think of the lesser ones as weakness but rather a strenght that could use some improvement.One that I believe could use a fair amount of improvement,is my inability to ignore what I believe to be superficial attempts to uncover things about me that I consider irrelevant for this position.
Ideal candidate resonse:
Although I wouldn't ask that question,if I had, I would want the interviewee to challenge why the interviewer thought the question was important.

I agree with Jonathan, it is a question that you would ask if you have no other questions to ask!
The only response is a theoretical response as it is the applicants opinion only and rarely gets an honest response.
I would ask the the question of referees about the applicant, but definitely not the applicant.

How about phrasing the question so it is more specific? As in what do you think would be your greatest strengths (and on the flip side - weaknesses) that you would bring to this particular position.? It would give you the opportunity to assess how well they understand their own skill set as it relates to the job.

And I also agree with Julie...it's amazing how much information - negative and otherwise - people will provide to open ended questions. Maybe they consider it free therapy. ;-)

I learned through the years to use behavioral interviewing to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of candidates. Funny thing though, in the past I have asked that question to many people and have gotten very honest responses from "my hot temper" (that he blamed on his red hair) to"alcohol". I was shocked at how poorly and how honestly those who did not have the hated canned answers, answered the questions.

This question is going to be asked in many interviews. I want to see someone take ownership of the weakness and explain how they are working to improve. I want to know their real weakness so I can see how they fit with the strengths and weaknesses of our team.

When I was younger, my greatest weakness was my naivety. It seemed inconceivable to me that people would look me in the eye and lie to me. Now I fight against cynicism--which is the opposite of everything I am.

As an employer what I don't want to hear is an answer that suggest no weaknesses exist. What I do want to hear is an honest relevant answer and an explanation of what the individual has done to both take ownership of the weakness and how they are working to improve the weakness.

I generally give an answer that is a weak strength. For example I might offer that I can sometimes forget that my priorities are not the priorities of others. So, in my zeal to get things done I may have to remind myself of that reality and manage the project accordingly.

Johathan - I buy-in to your perspective completely. Making the question behavior based will provide a more accurate measure of the individual. However, Julie makes a very good point as well. If the question flushes out serious potential problems it has value.