One of the toughest interview questions for all positions is, “What are your strengths?” It’s so common that it’s one of those interview questions you should expect to be prepared for.

PS: Find out how to sell yourself in job interviews by finding out your strengths with the Job-Seeker Skillfinder

Why Interviewers Ask the, “What are Your Strengths?” Interview Question

It’s the interviewer’s job to find the best candidate for the position. By asking this interview question the interviewer is looking for someone:

• Who is self-aware and confident about their strengths,
• Whose strengths, skills and abilities align with the job and the company,
• Who will make a good addition to the team

Just see it from their perspective – they need to find out who stands out from the rest and you can help them answer this question or end up losing to someone who answers this question better than you.

Many Candidates Don’t Answer it Well

Some people think this is an easy question. We all know ourselves and what we’re good at – right? So how could you screw it up? Unfortunately, many candidates fail to prepare properly and end up sabotaging themselves. The problems that I see job candidates make usually come from misplaced modesty and a lack of true self awareness.

Modesty can be a real obstacle for:

• Introverts who aren’t comfortable talking about what makes them great and better than the competition and,

• Inexperienced or new job candidates who haven’t had to sell themselves before.

A job interview is no time to be shy about your talents or to sell yourself short. The interviewer doesn’t have the time to get to truly know you and not selling yourself means you won’t get the job.

Lack of Awareness

Most people have a pretty good idea about who they are. But it’s difficult to know what other people think of you and how you compare to the average person. It really pays to develop this part of your self-awareness. And it’s important to know what your job-related strengths are.

Most job candidates haven’t been exposed to the right tools for identifying their job-related strengths.

How to Identify Your Job-Related Strengths

Behavior profiling (also known as psychometric testing) is a great way to identify and understand your strengths. Not only will it give you the upper hand when you answer the, “Tell me about your strengths?” interview question, but you can also use the insight to formulate a value proposition that makes you stand out from the rest.

That’s why I’ve developed the Job Seeker SkillFinder.  The Job Seeker SkillFinder is a fun personality profile with a serious side. The SkillFinder is based on a validated psychometric model. The aim is to provide meaningful insight in an entertaining way.

The mission of Manager Foundation is to make work a better place by improving self-awareness, communication and relationships. The Job Seeker SkillFinder will help you to get better jobs by revealing your strengths and how you can leverage these in your job search.

Super Pro Tip:

You can find out your full personality profile by doing a DISC behavior assessment. A DISC profile provides a deeper insight into yourself, what makes you different to other people, what other people think of you and importantly what are your blind spots that you need to be aware of.

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