BEP90 Job Interviews: Talking about Your Greatest Weakness

（单词翻译）

In this advanced Business English Podcast we continue to look at the language and skills of interviewing for jobs in English.

So far in this series, we’ve examined two common question themes that you will likely be asked in almost any interview. They were, “Tell me about your previous experience?”, and “What is your most significant accomplishment¹?”

In this episode², we will likewise deal with another extremely common question. Unfortunately, it’s almost as challenging to answer as it is popular to ask. It requires you to think about possible problems with your working style and personality, and to give an answer that demonstrates professionalism and the ability to present your weakness as a strength. That’s right, you guessed it, the question is: What’s your greatest weakness?

Talking about your weaknesses tests a unique skill: It investigates your ability to present a drawback³ as an advantage. Thus, the theme of this episode is “be positive”, and that’s the main point that we’ll be focusing on.

Listening Questions – Good Example:
1) What is Sherry’s weakness?
2) Did this weakness affect her GPA (exam scores)? How?
3) Does Sherry explain the positive aspects of the weakness she describes?