What Are Your Weaknesses?

You know what? That's a stupid question to ask somebody.

WHO ON EARTH thinks about their weaknesses and navel-gazes long enough to try and figure out how to answer a question like that? I've heard so many responses which weren't very helpful, honest, or just plain trying to rush through the answer so they picked something generic like "I'm a workaholic," or "I'm a perfectionist," or "I am an independent thinker."

I never asked that of my girlfriend, who became my fiancee, who became my wife of twenty-three years. Sure, I observe her weaknesses over time, but I can work with them, and she with mine. If I couldn't, then I apologized for my selfishness in not handling the relationship with grace and mercy.

I don't ask this of our kids. I don't ask friends this question. I don't ask this of my pastor, my doctor, my boss, my co-workers, my subordinates, my fellow volunteers at church or at my kid's school.

But WHY ask that of someone you don't even know in an interview when they're already feeling like they're under a floodlight investigation into the darkest parts of their soul already?

So what's MY greatest weakness? Having to answer stupid questions like this.

PS: This article is in NO WAY related to conversations I've had with any specific recruiter or hiring manager; it's more of a visceral response to the general industry practice. Focus on a person's strengths. Find grace and mercy for their weaknesses. If it's too obvious what they're weaknesses are, and you find them incompatible for the job they're applying to, then don't hire them.

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