Expert: Eric Potts - 7/20/2008

Question
Hi,

I applied for the job of dispatcher with some local police departments. During an oral interview I was asked “What is your greatest weakness?”  This question left me speechless. Eventually I began rambling, saying something about being too much of a perfectionist.  I don’t think they bought that one.  

I suppose my greatest weakness would be that I have no dispatcher experience; another weakness is that I’m not bilingual, and knowing Spanish or Chinese in my area would be quite helpful. But I would rather not remind the interviewers of these facts.

In the context of a dispatcher interview, what would be a good reply to this question? An answer that doesn’t relate to the position of dispatcher, e.g., my weakness for chocolate, might be deemed frivolously disrespectful.

Jim


Answer
Jim,

This is a common question asked in job interviews. Many people think an answer such as "I tend to expect others to work as hard as me" or " I'm a perfectionist" are good answers. They are not, they are canned answers that every interviewer expects to hear. They show you aren't being sincere and truthful with your self evaluation.

Any answer you give MUST NOT show a weakness for the job you are applying for, so saying you don't have Dispatch experience is a NO NO.

Here are some sample answers I got from the internet these will show you that the question is easy to answer if you know how:

"I honestly can't think of any weakness that would prevent me from doing an outstanding job for you in THIS position. But in the past, I've had some trouble delegating duties to others. I felt I could do things better and faster myself. This sometimes backfired because I'd end up with more than I could handle and the quality of my work would suffer. But I've taken courses in time management and effective delegation, and I've managed to overcome this weakness." [NOTE: You would not want to use this example for a supervisory position]

"I honestly can't think of any weakness that would prevent me from doing an outstanding job for you in THIS position. But I’m very weak in math and have to rely on a calculator even for basic computations. I always have one with me just in case a calculation is needed." [NOTE: You would not want to use this example for an accounting position or one that requires math skills!]

This question really isn't so tricky, once you know what to expect and how to respond.