Strengths Interview Question.

One of the most common interview questions is “What are your strengths?”

Selina has difficulty with the question. “I really can’t think of a strength,” she begins. “Maybe I could be more focused. My strength is probably my ability to deal with people. I am pretty easy going. I usually don’t get upset easily.” This answer leads with a negative, and then moves to vague words: maybe, probably, pretty and usually.

So what is the best way to answer the strength interview question?

Categorize your strengths
How do you answer this question when you are attending an Administrative Job interview? By accessing your strengths. This can be done by dividing your strengths in three categories.

1. Personal Traits
Focus on your personal strengths that have to do with the administrative job. For example, you could say that you work well with people. This is a good answer as Admin jobs require a lot of interaction with different kinds of people.

2. Knowledge-based skills
Another way to approach this question is to focus on the skills that you have, that give you an edge over other candidates. This could be skills that you can envelop into the company.

For example, you could say “My organizational skill is one of my greatest strengths. In my previous administrative assistant position, I restructured the office filing system to make it easier to access client charts and information quickly and efficiently”

3. Transferable skills
Another stance to take is to focus on the needs of the company. You could say something like “I am a team player. At my previous place of work, I organized team building activities for my colleagues”
Pick the category with your greatest strengths and capitalize on it as opposed to fumbling while trying to say everything at once.

Make sure you tailor each answer to your employer’s specific needs in order to impress them. You should be careful, however, not to exaggerate your answers or rehearse them beforehand. Natural answers always go a long way in ensuring that you leave a positive, lasting impression on your employer.