How to Describe Your Strengths During a Job Interview

From Job Search Secrets

Along with "tell me about yourself," "describe your strengths" is
one of the questions that you know you'll be asked in a job interview.
At first blush, it sounds like an easy question. But because it's such
a broad topic, it can actually be quite difficult to answer well. Below
are a few guidelines to help you prepare for and deliver a great
response.

Identify your strengths. You should think very
carefully about your personal strengths well before you step foot into
your interview. It's not unusual for even the most ambitious
professional to be at a loss as to her own strengths. Try viewing
resume samples and notice some of the strengths that come across. Do
any of those apply to you? Another good source of "strength
identification" is to ask your friends and family what they see as your
positive attributes. Are you organized? Decisive? Detail-oriented? It's
a good bet that these qualities come through at work as well.


Limit your strengths. Of course you want to impress the hiring manager
with your many and varied strengths, but it's a good idea to put a lot
of thought into just three or four, rather than make a catch-all list
to regurgitate. If you try to sell the fact that your strengths cover
every single thing that could possibly arise-ever!-two negative things
are likely to happen: your interviewer probably won't believe you, and
you won't have enough time to expound upon anything (and, hence, miss
the opportunity to lend credibility to your claims).

Avoid
over-used catch phrases. It's tempting to say things like, "I'm a
people person" because it sounds like it should be the right answer.
But it's far too vague to convey anything other than the fact that you
don't know how to interview well.

Make sure your strengths are
transferable. If you're interviewing for a similar position as the one
you have now-or with your current company-it'll be fairly easy to
describe how your strengths relate to your potential new job. But if
you're changing careers or re-entering the work force after an absence,
you'll need to be more creative. If you're switching from graphic
design to sales, for instance, you can relate how your dedication to
on-time delivery and creative customer presentations would be a huge
plus in your new job.

Relate your strengths to the new company
or job. It's no secret that candidates need to research the prospective
company, as well as the specific job they're after if possible. But you
may not realize how valuable that information can be when you're
relating your strengths. If you know that the culture of the hiring
company is customer-focused, for example, you should make sure to
convey that customer service is one of your strengths. The company
doesn't care about your strengths in an abstract sense; they want
concrete evidence that you can hit the ground running for them.


Give concrete examples. Too many job seekers begin well with their
"strengths" answer, but then stop short of an impressive response by,
well, stopping short. Don't just say that you're persistent; back your
assertion up with a story about the time you courted a new client for
six months to secure a huge deal for your previous firm. Or demonstrate
your attention to detail by showing your interviewer a company
newsletter that you edited.

Be prepared for the follow-up. A
good interviewer knows that you'll expect questions about your
strengths and weaknesses and that, if you're smart, you will have
prepared a good answer. So to mix things up a bit, some interviewers
ask questions that force you to defend your assertion. If you describe
one of your strengths as being able to sell ice to an Eskimo, the
hiring manager may pick up a stapler and ask you to demonstrate your
no-fail sales technique. The best way to prepare for follow-up
questions like this is to make sure that you actually possess the
strengths you say you do.



By: Jason Kay