The Worst Interview Question?

I recently read a very interesting article by Harvard Business Review's Priscilla Claman entitled The Worst Interview Question (and How to Answer It).
In an interview, when you are already understandably nervous, the question you are dreading but fully expecting is "So what would you say is your weakness?" or some variation of this.
This is a very difficult question to answer for anyone. As Claman points out, answer too honestly and you risk losing the role. Answer with the (unfortunately very common) arrogance where you state “I work too hard and push myself beyond my limits” and you also risk losing the respect of your interviewer.
Interviewers usually ask this to gauge your self-awareness and self-perception. It really isn’t meant to be cruel. However, any anxiety can be avoided by preparing yourself for the question with an articulate response.
Claman’s methodical answer to this question is a good one. She suggests you “prepare an answer that is true, trivial, brief, and not a fault”. As long as your answer doesn’t sound over-rehearsed or too personal, you will come out of this unscathed.
The article can be found here: http://bit.ly/dI5N0a and we invite you to join our LinkedIn discussion on this topic as well! New Frontiers on LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/c0pmjt

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