5/20    For the person who was asking how to best answer the question,
        "What's your weekness?" during the interview.  IMHO, the best
        way to answer that is to talk about how you'd like to be more
        proficient in an area that you are _not_ interviewing for.
        For example, if you are interviewing for a backend position,
        then talk about how you are not as strong in front end design
        but would love to get more exposure to it.  Or for non-managedment
        engineering positions in general, it is also okay to say you are
        not comfortable enough speak in front of hundredes or thousdands
        of people but you would like to take some public speech classes
        if the company can sponsor it (it is important to quatify the
        number of audience; you want to point out you are totally comfortable
        doing a technical presentation/review for your peers).
        This answer usually leads to discussion about company's education
        benefits, which is what you want to find out anyway.
        \_ The best answer is "I don't have any weaknesses"
         \_ I'd rather someone blew off the question than respond this way
         \_ No, that's the worst answer.a
            \_ I dunno -- the last thread about this had some pretty messed
               answers....
            \_ It's not the worst answer if it is true. If you're good at
               your job and you have good people skills to boot plus tons
               of experience in the relevant positions then why would you
               have any weaknesses? I mean, seriously, what the hell are you
               supposed to say? I don't have a good backhand in tennis?
               I don't play golf? I mean, seriously, wtf ARE you supposed to
               say if you have 10+ years of experience in the field, worked
               on various projects as follower or leader, have had a pretty
               good track record on those projects, given lectures on the
               field, published papers, etc. etc.. If you are the best
               candidate for the job, why SHOULD you have any weaknesses?
               \_ If you think you're perfect, that's a weekness.
                  \_ Perhaps if you think you are NOT perfect for the job,
                     now that's a weakness. If you don't think you're perfect
                     for the job, then why are you applying? Also, who said
                     anything about thinking that you yourself are perfect?
                     Not having a weakness != perfection.
                     \_ Okay, I'll emend that.  If you don't think you have
                        weaknesses, you're lying to yourself and others.
                        \_ So in other words, you don't believe that people
                           can be good at what they do. That's an interesting
                           attitude.
                           \_ No.  I believe that people who are never
                              introspective are dangerous.  I believe that
                              people who don't find they have things to
                              better in themselves are stunted and boring.
                              \_ Being introspective is one thing, being
                                 weak at something is another. Don't mix
                                 the two. You're confusing self assessment
                                 with being weak. Self assessment leads to
                                 improvement, even in things you are strong
                                 at. It's akin to saying that Tiger Woods
                                 has a "weak" short game. His weak short
                                 game still blows 99% of the population
                                 out of the water. He can improve on it,
                                 (heck, he can improve on all aspects of
                                 his game), but I wouldn't call it a
                                 weakness, especially if you're applying
                                 for a job. Seriously, this is one of those
                                 dumb corporate interview questions that
                                 should be banned. It's a dumb question and
                                 leads to no real answers.
                                 \_ Sounds like you're reading too much into
                                    the question.  This is exactly what they're
                                    asking about.  Things you'd like to be
                                    better at.  Maybe it's bad terminology,
                                    but you're being really obtuse.
                                 \_ If you asked Tiger Woods his biggest
                                    weakness and he said "My short game"
                                    it would make plenty of sense. How his
                                    short game compares to mine is not the
                                    question.
        \_ my biggest weakness is not being able to find more time to <stick
           in something irrelevant to work>. For example, I'm unable to find
           more time to read fine American literatures, take French/cooking,
           class, and do things that'll make me a better rounded person.
           Heck they don't give a shit how well-rounded you are, so why not.
        \_ The purpose of this question is to bait you into revealing a real
        show stopper flaw, or see if you dodge the question or throw up a smoke
        screen answer.  As long as you answer it honestly and don't throw out
        a juicy flaw like stealing other people's lunchs from the company
        refrigerator, you are probably fine.  -ax
           \_isn't hacking code and eating Doritos making you more well-rounded
                \_ Only in the chiapet sense.