Whenever I get interviewed for a job and they ask what I think my weakness or faults are I say “I care too much” or “I work to hard sometimes.” Stuff like that. The last guy I said that to in an interview just grinned and mumbled that “at least this guy was prepared.” And I’m still working there.
I just say, “Well, that is a hard question. I’m good at so many things. Bye.”
Thank goodness I don’t have to work anymore. I started in the days when HR just took care of your paperwork. Actual managers in the working group did the interviews and selection. 40 years ago in the oilfield the HR department for the entire division that covered most of ten states was three people. One of them was the secretary and handed out office supplies for the whole 11 story HQ building. You could well and truly get another pencil if you brought in the used stub. The lady that ran central files could tell you in an instant where every well file was and would come looking for us if one was late. I still remember the names of both those ladies nearly 50 years later.
One company that starts with T and ends with O would not even let people plug a radio into the wall outlet, batteries only. That made the troops happy because they got to listen to the radio when a progressive move forward was taken. Another company inspected pipe with a hammer. If it didn’t go through when you hit it, the pipe was good to run.
Last real interview I had I finished, thanked them for their time and told them I was not interested. Never went without work a single day that I wanted it in nearly 50 years even through all the ups and downs.
Need clarification please.
*Work too hard* has one meaning.
*Work to hard* has a different meaning.
Those are the cliche answers and most HR people roll their eyes at that humblebrag. Seriously, that answer is a punchline now. The current thinking is to actually answer the question honestly, BUT...what you want to give them is something that's easily fixable by their training. "While I have deep experience with systems X, Y, and Z, I haven't spent as much time as I'd like learning the newest version of Z that I understand you're using now. I'm very excited to learn that, though."