How to Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses

culled from:wikihow.com

Method 1 of 6: In an Interview

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   Throw away the "weaknesses" that are really just strengths in disguise. Potential employers are not stupid, and can see right through this. They interview sometimes hundreds of people for a position, and everyone's first instinct is to use a strength and spin it as a weakness.
   • "Strengths" that are commonly spun as "weaknesses" include:
     
     • "I'm a perfectionist and I can't stand to get things wrong."
     • "I'm stubborn and I don't let things go."
     • "I struggle to maintain a good work/life balance because I work so hard."
     
     
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        Instead, identify a real weakness. Weaknesses are human. There wouldn't be any point in asking the question if all you gave the interviewer was some canned response about how awesome you are. The interviewer isn't looking for that. They're looking for a real discussion of things you can work on, a signpost of insight about yourself. Real weaknesses might include:
        • Being overly critical
        • Being suspicious (of authority, of peers)
        • Being too demanding
        • Procrastinating
        • Being too talkative
        • Being too sensitive
        • Exhibiting a lack of assertiveness
        • Exhibiting a lack of social tact
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        Acknowledge the bad parts of your weakness, and how they could affect your performance. It can be quite impressive to talk about how your weakness has affected or could potentially affect your work performance. It shows insight and truthfulness, although you still need to be tactful about what you say.
        • Example: "Right now I am a procrastinator. I realize that this affects the amount of work that I could get done, as well as potentially the work that my colleagues could get done. In college, I got away with it because I knew the system, found a way to game it, and still got my work done. I realize that this won't work in the professional world, both because it's wrong and it's lazy."
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        Show the interviewer how you strive to overcome your weakness. Again, being practical here is better than being idealistic, because the idealistic response could seem unrealistic.
        • Example: "I'm taking serious steps to curb my habit of procrastination. I'm setting artificial deadlines for myself and offering personal incentives to meet those deadlines. I'm also seeing a career coach (be truthful here, no lies) who is helping me unpackage the potential root causes of my procrastination, which we think could be arrogance."
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        Talk about your strengths confidently, without being cocky. Try to be confident while still staying humble about your achievements and skills. Of course, try to truthfully pick strengths that could be in line with the individual, business, or organization to which you are applying. Real strengths fall into three main categories:
        • Knowledge-Based Skills: computer skills, languages, technical know-how, etc.
        • Transferable Skills: communication and people management skills, problem solving, etc.
        • Personal Traits: sociability, confidence, punctuality, etc.
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        Provide examples when talking about a strength. It's all well and good to say that you have amazing people skills, but it's another thing to show it. Illustrate what your strengths look like in real life by providing examples:
        • "I am an excellent communicator. I care about the words that I use, and about avoiding ambiguity when I communicate. I'm not afraid to follow up with someone who's senior to me when I don't understand them. I take the time to imagine how different people might interpret questions or statements differently."

     Method 2 of 6: For Personal Development

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        See beyond "strengths and weaknesses" as a mere interview technique. Each of us possess certain strengths and weaknesses. They shape and may even dictate how we approach life. Job interviewers ask this question as a test of how well you will fit into their organization; you need to ask it of yourself to know how well you know yourself and whether you're living up to your full potential.
        • Strengths are considered to be the talents, innate abilities and desires that "click" for you. In other words, these are the things that you'd be tempted to say "It wasn't effort, I've always had the ability to...."
          
          • Strengths should not be confused with skills, which can be learned or improved. For example, confidence and assertiveness are skills, while a way with words is probably a strength.
        • Weaknesses are considered to be something about yourself that you have the power to improve. It might be professional or social skills, or poor self-restraint when it comes to food. Often this aspect is about "learning lessons from life" and not repeating mistakes; other times, it's about making the effort to overcome a lack of skills.
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        Consider how you respond in certain situations that require action, thought and insight. Before doing anything more concrete, try to monitor your spontaneous reactions to experiences you've had in life already. The reason for doing this is that the spontaneous reactions tell you a lot about how you react in both ordinary and intense situations. Ask yourself the following series of questions on how you would respond — and use your gut. Make this into a list (call it List 1). Don’t spend a lot of time thinking about your responses.

     Method 3 of 6: List 1 Thought Exercises

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        Think of a challenging situation in which something bad happened. Perhaps it's a plane plummeting in turbulence or a child suddenly dashing out in front of your car while you slam on your brakes. How did you react when confronted with the spontaneous situation? Do you clam up and retreat or do you meet the challenge head on, assembling tools and resources to address the situation?
        • If you took control and acted as a leader, you probably feel that handling these situations is a strength. If you reacted by crying uncontrollably, feeling helpless or lashing out at others, staying in self-control during a challenging situation might be a weakness.
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        Think of less challenging situations that are still hard but not so life and death. For example, how do you react when you enter a crowded room? Do you want to engage everyone you meet there or do you want to find a quiet corner away from the noise and connect with just one person?
        • The person connecting with others is strong at socializing, while the quieter person is strong at connecting individually. Both these strengths can be used to the person's natural advantage.
        • It might not be effective to call either relational style a weakness, although in certain situations, garrulousness can be a weakness, and shyness can also be a weakness. The silver lining is that both of the "weaknesses" can be improved upon.
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        Think of a time when you've been put on the spot and had to react immediately. How quickly do you learn and adapt to new situations? Are you a fast thinker, rattling off a great comeback when a co-worker makes a snide remark? Or do you tend to absorb, think, and then react in those situations?
        • The person who rattles off a brilliant comeback or who solves a problem quickly can be said to have quick-wittedness as a strength, and perhaps limited depth as a weakness.
        • The person who takes time to think could be described as having planning as a strength and perhaps limited nimbleness as a weakness.
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        Think of a time when you had to make a decision but lacked all of the facts. Maybe you're asked to design a marketing strategy for a part of the world you know nothing about. How do you react?
        • If you go ahead and make the decision without waiting to gather all the information, your strength might be in taking practical action as a means to clarify a situation. Your weakness might be shortsightedness.
        • On the other hand, if you waited until you got more facts before making the decision, your strength may be in analysis and certainty, while your weakness may be over-cautiousness.

     Method 4 of 6: List 2 Thought Exercises

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        Consider your desires next. Your desires or longings say a lot about you, even if you've been spending a lot of time denying them. Stories abound of people pursuing a particular career course because it's what their family expected, and becoming a doctor or lawyer when they'd rather have been a ballet dancer or a mountain trekker instead. Like before, make a list (List 2) of your desires or life's longings.
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        Ask yourself: What are your desires in life? Whether you're applying for your first job or have just settled into retirement, you should always have goals and yearnings in life. Determine what drives you and what makes you happy.
        • Consider why you want to complete those activities or goals and what it will take to reach them. Chances are, these are your passions and dreams in life — areas of great strength.
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        Ask yourself: What types of activities do you find satisfying or appealing? For some, sitting by the fire with their Labrador Retriever by their side is extremely satisfying. For others, sitting fireside with a dog sounds inescapably dull — they’d rather be rock climbing or taking a road trip.
        • Make a list of the activities or things you do that make you happy and provide you with pleasure — most likely, those are some strong areas for you.
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        Ask yourself: When do you feel energized and motivated? Consider times in your life when you feel ready to take the world on by storm or inspired to go to the next level. The areas that inspire and motivate you are typically where you are strongest.
        • Note that many people feel desires very early on in life, indicating the childlike self-knowledge that many come to lose when family, peer and social expectations or financial pressures push the initial desires down deep.
        • Think of Grandma Moses, someone who didn't paint until she was 78 years old because of various circumstances. When she finally let her real talent come through, she spent 23 years painting up a storm. It is not recommended that you wait that long to free your talents!

     Method 5 of 6: List 3 Thought Exercises

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        Write down areas of your work and life that you believe or think are your strong and weak areas. This time you're being asked to consciously focus on making choices about how you currently see your own strengths and weaknesses. This should be based on what you're doing in your life right now, both personal and professional, rather than looking to the past or to your desires. And remember, no one is grading this “test” or judging you based on your responses, so be honest! It might help to draw up two columns, with the headings "Strengths" and "Weaknesses" and to write them down as they come to you. Remember that this is List 3.

     Method 6 of 6: Putting It All Together

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     Compare the lists against one another. Did they match up and did you find any surprises?
     • For example, did you think you were strong in one area but in your gut response list (List 1), that doesn’t appear to be the case? This type of mismatch occurs when you're telling yourself you're one way, but a challenging situation displays your real character instead.
     • How about mismatches between List 2 and List 3? This mismatch can happen where you've tried to do things with your life based on other's expectations or on your own ideas about what ought to be done, while your desires and actual reactions have been considerably different.
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     Consider any surprises or mismatches across the lists you've made in the preceding steps. Reflect on why you think that some of the qualities and weaknesses you've spotted have turned out to be different. To recap, the first list is based on your "gut," the second list is based on your "desires," and the third list is based on what you "think." Is it possible that you think you enjoy certain things or that you're motivated by certain things, but in actuality you can't or you aren’t?
     • Focus on those areas that differ and try to identify situations that address the area. For example, did you write on List 2 that you aspire to become a singer, but on the third list you said that you wanted to be a doctor? While a singing doctor might be a novelty, the two professions differ considerably. Figure out which area really motivates you in the long-term.
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     Have a close friend or family member provide you with feedback. Although self examination can lead you to a few answers, getting an outside opinion will help you either solidify your observations or can shatter a few illusions too.
     • Choose someone who will give you the truth and not sugarcoat or gloss over your weaknesses. Find an external, neutral person, preferably a peer or a mentor, to give you honest feedback.
     • Ask for feedback on your lists. Have your outside person review and comment on your lists. Helpful comments and questions may include, “What makes you think that you don’t act quickly in emergency situations?” The outside observer may recall an instance where you were the hero of the day during an emergency although you may have forgotten.
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     Ask a professional to help you to determine your strengths and weaknesses. There are entire companies based on psychological profiling, often attached to recruiting agencies. For a price, you can take tests to have on-staff psychologists review your personality and professional profiles.
     • From this, you should find out what they consider to be your strengths and weaknesses. A good test should be long in order to draw out the repeated aspects of your personality. After taking a test like this, be sure to talk directly with the psychologist to work out weaknesses and uncover strengths.
     • There are online tests you can take to assess your strengths and weaknesses. Look for tests that are on reputable sites and that have been compiled by licensed psychologists or similarly-qualified professionals. If there is a cost involved, do some research about the company providing the tests first; make sure you're getting value for money.
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     Reflect and determine how you feel about your identified strengths and weaknesses. Decide if you need or want to work on any of your weaknesses and contemplate what you will need to do to attack or change any weaknesses.
     • Enlist in a class or find activities that will address your weaknesses. For example, if you find that you become a deer in headlights when confronted with a spontaneous situation, put yourself in situations where spontaneity occurs. Examples including joining an adult community theater, participating on a sports team, or even doing karaoke at the bar.
     • Consider therapy or ways to talk about fears or concerns. If taking a class or joining a theater group doesn't seem to do the trick, and you have deep rooted fears or anxiety that prevent you from moving forward, consider talking with a therapist.
     • Take care not to become hung up on weaknesses. Some of them are best accepted rather than worked on. You can spend too much time trying to over-correct a weakness at the expense of celebrating a strength that compensates for the weakness.
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     Don't deny "Eureka" moments in your life. These are the times when you do something you've never done before, it just "clicks," and you find that you're a total natural at it. This might be sport, art, creative pursuits, interacting with animals, standing in for someone who is away and doing their job, etc. If you suddenly discover a fire inside yourself and an ability to do something as if you were born to do it, it's highly likely that you've fallen onto a previously undiscovered strength. Not everyone will experience this amazing moment, but if you do, work with it to enhance your life and reach your true potential.
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