How Could You Be Misunderstood?

What I’ve Learned From Asking Interviewees “What Are Your Biggest Weaknesses?”

I recently read an article that featured Stacey Valy Panayiotou, the senior vice president of global talent and development at Coca-Cola. She shared that her favorite interview questions were “How could you be misunderstood?” and “How can people get the wrong impression of you, and what do you do about that perception?”. I liked her alternative to the age-old interview question “What is your biggest weakness?”.

While conducting job interviews, I have asked dozens of individuals what their “three biggest weaknesses” were. I typically received one of three types of answers:

  1. Spinning a strength into a weakness.

    I’m sorry, but saying you “work too hard” is a cop-out answer.

  2. “I can’t think of any.”

    If, after sharing a weakness of my own, the interviewee still couldn’t pinpoint a weakness, I would tell them I don’t hire anyone without weaknesses. Because we ALL have weaknesses and what matters to me is that you’re aware and working on them.

  3. An honest, articulate, self-aware answer.

    This was the minority of individuals I’ve interviewed but it was always refreshing to hear. There were the few who shared startling honest weaknesses which were red flags for hiring (you can work on your theft problem elsewhere) but, for the most part, their honesty spoke to their credit.

I’ve learned that sometimes asking this question proved fruitful; however, it was often too flat and generic. So I adopted Panayiotou’s questions into my interview process as they are less intimidating for the interviewee. Her questions bring in a dualistic dynamic by accounting for not only the individual but how self-aware they are towards how their actions are perceived.

While this is technically an interview question, I think it’s good for everyone to ask themselves this question. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait until I’m prepping for a job interview to figure out how I could be misunderstood. Unsure where to start? Get input from those around you — family, friends, coworkers. Learning how you are perceived can reduce frustration for you and the people around you…and we all want that!

Hiring Tips + Emily benson consulting
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