Talking about Your Strengths
What do you bring to the table?
What do you usually say when you are asked about your strengths in an interview? Maybe you offer typical responses: “I’m hardworking, I’m responsible, I’m friendly and agreeable,” etc.
These things might be true but you can better leverage your strengths if you know precisely what you bring to the table.
We find that job seekers do a ton of research on the company, but they often do not self-reflect. Almost every HR survey we’ve seen prioritizes emotional intelligence as a highly-desired skill, because it is not easily trained. Most terminations aren’t due to a lack of skills, but a lack of self-awareness or understanding of how your personality, communication, and tendencies affect other people on the team. Knowing what your strengths are, when your strengths can rub other people the wrong way, and your blind spots will serve you in any interview and in any job.
Check out a few ideas for doing that soul-searching to figure out what your unique sparkle is and how you can give examples of your strengths to an interviewer.
🤗Ask your colleagues, supervisors, family, and friends what they think your top 3 strengths are. Sometimes our strengths are so natural to us that we don’t recognize what they are.
💪Reflect on projects, tasks, and roles you’ve held in the past where you thrived. What exactly made you thrive? How did you take the team from a mediocre or struggling place to achieving goals? These questions will help you see how your talents and strengths have already benefited teams you have been a part of and are great responses to “tell me about a time when you…” questions in interviews.
📝Take a personality or trait assessment. Some of our favorites are the Big Five, DiSC, Predictive Index, MBTI, and Holland Code.
➡️You may feel your personality varies based on the situation; some people suggest taking it more than once, one time with your work-place mode of operation, and the second time with your non-work attitude.
Our team at Sipley the Best recently completed the Big Five personality trait assessment, so we’ll use this test as an example of how your scores can give insights into your strengths (and your weaknesses!). The five traits measured in Big Five are Accommodation, Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Neuroticism.
😄Accommodation: This trait describes your willingness to compromise, help others, and avoid rocking the boat. If you are high in this trait, you may be a peacemaker, and negotiator. If you are low in this trait, you may be more direct and blunt; you don’t mince words when tasks need to be accomplished or addressing someone’s workplace performance needs to be addressed.
🤸♀️Openness to Experience: This trait describes how open you are to new ways of operating and non-conventional ideas. If you score high in this trait, you may adapt and respond well in a rapidly-evolving environment. If you score low, your strengths may be stabilizing the team around an established way of operating and ensuring processes are followed.
👀Conscientiousness: This trait describes your orientation to goals, deadlines,and long-term plans. You may be great at delaying gratification now in order to succeed later. If you score high in this trait, you’re probably very cognizant of due dates and ensuring projects are on-time. Generally, conscientiousness is an important trait for success in the workplace (Source); however, if you score lower in this trait, you may have a knack for being immersed in the present moment, as you’re not worrying about what will happen in two hours, two days, or two years from now!
👋Extraversion: This trait describes where your energy comes from. If you’re low in extraversion (aka introverted), you may produce great work when you can work alone or in small groups, with time to process ideas and plans before acting. If you’re high in extraversion, you probably thrive working in dynamic teams and constantly interacting with peers. You may be comfortable speaking in front of groups and in roles that involve a great deal of client interaction.
🤨Neuroticism: This trait describes how strongly you feel negative emotions, such as stress, anxiety, fear, and anger. Higher neuroticism could help you if you find that your fear or frustration motivates you to work harder and resolve workplace problems. Low neuroticism may mean you are highly resilient to stressful situations, angry customers, etc. and can work without reacting emotionally.
“Finding yourself” might sound idealistic and like an impractical use of your time. But if you yourself don’t know why an employer should hire you, how are they going to know?
We hope these tips and advice help you in your self-discovery journey!