Your strengths – what your interviewers want to know about you

Your strengths – what you want interviewers to know about you 

When you think about it, top of the list of things you want interviewers to know about you are your strengths, the positive reasons why it makes sense to offer you the job. Interviewers obviously endeavour to uncover your strengths during the interview, but you are making their job easier, not to mention selling yourself in a positive and proactive way, when you go into the interview clearly knowing your strengths as a candidate. 

So what are strengths? 

Strengths can be talents or aptitudes you have, for example, being a good communicator or listener, being naturally empathetic or good with numbers and so on. They can be learned skills like marketing, accountancy or IT skills. Strengths can also be personal qualities or characteristics, for example having an optimistic or can-do attitude, being friendly or self-motivated. Determining your strengths, and packaging them in a way that ties in with what the interviewers are seeking, is where good interview preparation starts. Before I share with you some questions that will help you discover your strengths, let’s look at the different questions interviewers will ask to identify your strengths.

Questions interviewers ask to uncover your strengths 

If you have attended interviews in the past, you will probably remember some of these questions. You are practically guaranteed to be asked at least one of them during an interview. 

• Talk me through some of your strengths 

• What do you consider to be your main strengths? 

This is the direct way of asking the strengths question. But there are other ways that may not be quite as obvious at first. 

• How will you add value to this organisation? 

• What do you see yourself bringing to the role? 

• Why would you consider yourself to be an asset to the team? 

• Why do you think you are the best person for the role? 

• Why should we employ you? (The harshest way of asking it.)

Remember, that irrespective of how it is asked, your answer to all these questions is drawn from your awareness of your own strengths. 

The interviewer may be very specific in asking the question. 

• What is your greatest strength? 

This can be a tougher question to answer because you can only emphasise a single strength. Although it is not explicitly asked, you would also explain why you have selected that strength as your main strength. There are other questions that interviewers can ask that also lead us into the territory of strengths. 

• If I was to ask one of your colleagues or your current (or past) manager to describe you, what do you think they would say? 

This is an opportunity to speak about your strengths whilst at the same time the interviewers are inviting you to view yourself as you think others see you, which also informs them of your level of self awareness. 

• What qualifies you for this job? 

This is a very direct question. You answer it by referencing your experience, qualifications, your main strengths and your ambition to succeed.

• How would you describe yourself? (Tell me a bit about yourself.) 

This is a very open question, sometimes asked at the beginning of an interview (and often by less experienced or prepared interviewers.) It is such a wide question that candidates can struggle to answer it. You don’t give the interviewers your life story, but you can seize the opportunity of such an open question to shape your answer around your strengths, mixing in a little of your career history or personal interests at the same time. So if the odds are you are going to be asked the strengths question in some shape or format, it makes sense to clearly know your strengths in advance of the interview.

Uncovering your strengths 

The questions that follow will help you uncover your strengths. There is a possibility that you could be asked some of these questions at an interview, but we are using them here as a way for you to identify the building blocks you will work with when constructing your answer to the other questions listed in this blog. 

• What are you good at in the context of your work? 

• What comes easily or naturally to you? 

• What have you been complimented on in the past for? 

• What aspects of work do you enjoy the most? 

• At work, when are you at your best? 

Another way of identifying your strengths is to think about those activities or situations that just make you feel strong on the inside. 

Examples of strengths include – 

• Good organisation skills 

• Being self-motivated 

• Good with people 

• A reliable team player 

• Strategic thinker 

• Leadership skills 

• Friendly, easy to get on with 

• A keen learner 

• Committed to furthering your career

• Good with detail 

• A good listener

Packaging your strengths into an answer 

When packaging your strengths into an answer you will have one eye on the job description, and the competencies the employer is seeking (Chapter Three is all about competencies.) For example, if the competency ‘interpersonal skills’ is used in the role description, use it, as opposed to synonyms like ‘relationship skills,’ or ‘people skills.’ When asked the strengths question you are not going to list every one of your strengths. You choose three or four of your most impactful strengths and shape them into your answer. 

Q – What would you bring to the role? I would like to think I would bring a strong track record of achievement. I try to be professional in everything I do because I’m eager to do good work. I’m a good organiser and I enjoy working with people, I’d be a committed team-player

          Q – How do you feel you would add value to the team? I would describe myself as self-motivated, so I would like to think I’d bring energy and enthusiasm with me into the team. I enjoy working with others and being part of a team, I think there is no greater buzz than achieving a goal with colleagues. Listening, accommodating other people’s points of views is vital when part of a team and I think this is a strength of mine, my ability to get on well with a diverse group of people

It would be easy for the interviewer to note the key strengths from answers like these. Your strengths are your building blocks and you structure your answer around them.

More tips for shaping your answers 

Anyone who has been to an interview can recognise the following scenario. You are asked a question and you begin to answer it. Words are coming out of your mouth and you hope by the time you stop speaking that you have said something at least semi-logical and have not rambled off the point entirely. Whilst we cannot predict every question we will be asked, we can have a plan as to how we will go about structuring our answer to any question. 

Think of your answers as linked bullet points 

Most interviews today consist of at least two interviewers. One interviewer may have a HR (Human Resources) background; the other might be a manager from the business unit where the vacancy is located. Interviewers will probably have decided in advance what questions they will ask and they will write down the key points of your answers. When we respond to a question without some preconceived idea of what we want to communicate, it is very difficult for the interviewers to note our salient points (because we don’t know them!) Ideally you want to be able to influence what the interviewers are jotting down about you. If your answers are punchy, built around two or three key points, the odds of them noting your key points are far higher. 

In preparing your answers you don’t want to come across as robotic, blunt or too succinct, nor do you want to waffle away talking semi-nonsense. The right balance is achieved by thinking of your answers as linked bullet points, two or three key points moulded into a flowing answer. Now it is not possible to do this all the time, but when thinking about your answers to the questions in this and subsequent chapters, think about your two or three key points and how you will link them. Put yourself in the interviewers’ shoes and imagine them writing on their notepads the key words and phrases you are communicating in your answer.

Using the conditional tense 

A great phrase to remember and use at an interview is ‘I would like to think that.’ At an interview you are being asked to sell yourself, to talk yourself up. Many people are uncomfortable doing that because they don’t want to come across as arrogant. Using the phrase ‘I would like to think,’ gives you permission to sell yourself, to talk about all your strengths and positive points, and you won’t come across as bigheaded or brash. Contrast these two answers. 

Q – Why do you think you are the best person for the job? 

I’m a strong team-player but I’m able to take the lead when I have to. I’ve a great track record and good experience in this area and I’m not afraid of hard work.

Using the conditional tense - I would like to think that I’m a strong team-player but I’m able to take the lead when I have to. I believe that I have a great track record and good experience in this area and on top of all that I’m not afraid of hard work. The second answer flows better and starting your answer using the conditional tense allows you to use even stronger, more assertive language in your response. 

The second answer flows better and starting your answer using the conditional tense allows you to use even stronger, more assertive language in your response.