Ive been on this forum for many years A lot of people have been and gone during the time ive been a member A lot of people have helped me on my path and i hope ive helped as many on there path Ive been on this forum during job loss Mental health problems Relationship problems adapting to being a stay at home dad problems Not to mention the why does my bus do this funny things problems lol Ive been an alternative thinker for many years however the world and my life is changing My youngest child starts full time primary school in september To me that means the first time in years i have an almost freeday So im going to try and get gainfull employment despite my condition Im not daft and i know im going to be asked what are my strenghts and my weaknesses Lets not make it a para bash session but please i welcome alll constructive comments
Employers don't really care about your personal problems or your ideals, so keep them out of the discussion. You want a job, they want an employee. Simple. Sell your skills (see Rick's posts) and your reliability - what happens if one of your kids is ill, who covers that? Be prepared for this type of question. Most of all, employers want someone who will turn up on time, every day and do their job without fuss.
sell your weaknesses as strengths .....i.e. if asked about your weaknesses say - I like to take on too much work, I dont like to give work to others I can do my self, etc ....I'm sure you can think of other examples
I know in this day and age it's difficult to choose a job - you sometimes have to take what's going. But don't try and force a square peg into a round hole.....I mean, you know your strengths regarding the work you can do and enjoy doing - don't force yourself to do a job you will hate - it will back fire on you and your health - I speak from experience. You don't need to tell them about mental health/relationship stuff and they should not ask! if they do ask about being at home and looking after the kids, just say it made financial sense at the time and leave it at that. Your strengths......well as Owen says, sell your skills and your attention to detail and wanting to do a job properly Weaknesses - As Diddymen says, I was always told to try and take a strength and put this across as a weakness - don't know if it works or not, but......maybe something like occasionally taking longer on a job than necessary - cos you want to do it well, not just do it to a timeframe??
Surely it depends in what job you go for. If I employed you to drive a tractor would I care that you can't use Excel...same as would I care if you could build a survival shelter. When I interview people I always judge what the interviewee thinks is relevant. So that would be my advice, keep it relevant to the job and have a real think about what the interviewer needs to hear.
The most important thing I've been told is 'listen to ALL the question'. The interviewer can set a scene and the actual question is in the last sentence by which time you've missed it as you are thinking of a possible reply from the earlier waffle. Agree with everyone else, perceived weaknesses can be turned into strengths. Good luck.
Pick the right job, boy. (I know that ain't easy but you'll be WORSE off on the wrong one!) You know better than anyone what you can handle and what you can't. I employ a guy VERY similar to you, similar past, problems and personality (what I know of it) he's now in the right job, earns bloody good money (30k+) and has 4 days off a week! But when he is here he works hard, is conscientious and my top performer.
Transferable skills ........always used transferable skills, never go into your personal life, always give answers that are self reflective therefore accountable. Always, always think of the ABC's - Antecedents, Behaviour, Consequences of the actions ' you took' it must always be about what ' you ' did, even if it is part of a team.............. I run a job club and interview numerous times a year for our company......... What lines of work are you thinking of Para ?
Agree with the above, use a strength as a weakness i.e. try to get things perfect, but think about how you've addressed this "weakness" i.e. realise that 80% is what's needed to meet expectation Depending upon the type of role you're looking for, interviewing in my trade has now swung towards competency based questions i.e. "Give me an example of when you've shown great tenacity...?" (tell them you own a bus and that should do it!) or "How do you prioritise multiple tasks...?" but you don't necessarily have to refer to work related answers for everything I wish you the best of luck and hope you get everything sorted Mr B
If you're going to be working with the interviewer as part of a team, the most important thing is whether you'll fit in with him/her and the others and all get along.
Be yourself, and be truthful but also sell yourself by only focusing on positives (Not saying there are any negatives) just be the best self you can be for an hour then after that just be yourself totally. Also have to remember that your going to be there for many hours every day so your also interviewing them.
Interviews are about you wanting the job,you being able to do the job, and the interviewer wanting to give you the job. you cant really second guess what its going to go like, its about two peoples feelings and wants on that day. Be positive, be yourself and dont ramble.
I am just changing my part time job and one of the reasons i got it was i was open and honest about my illness and what i could and couldn't do. In the past when i interviewed people i picked those that where honest not those that was just telling me what i wanted to hear Lies about your ability and the type of person you are will catch up with you and you will end up hating the job or get kicked out
I've only been to 2 interviews in my life, but i always felt a good question i asked on the last one (11 years ago now and am still there) was how is their staff turnover? implying i want a job for the long haul and if this is the kind of company where people don't stick around for whatever reason then i don't want job.
