Human Resources: “Tell me Susan, your strengths are all laid out very nicely on the CV, but I wonder what you would consider to be your greatest weakness?”

Susan, the Applicant: “Well, let me think a moment. I guess that one of my weaknesses is that I tend to work too hard, and I’ve been told that I need to get some balance going with other important parts of my life. It’s actually because I love my work.”

Human Resources: “Yes, many of us have that problem.” But thinking to himself, wow – that’s a really overused and textbook reply to my message. I’m downgrading this candidate!

Why HR people feel they need hip boots
I’m in an industry conference today, and there are meetings taking place all around me. I can tell you, from my own personal experience, that it gets pretty deep in some of these interview rooms. There are many people who literally memorize their responses to questions and end up focusing on things that they think the interviewer wants to hear. I’m here to tell you that trying to forecast what someone else wants is the wrong way to win a job offer!

Have you seen those books that have titles like, “Snappy Answers to Tough Interview Questions”? If so, than you know that there are lots of ways that you can prepare for just about every type of question that someone could throw at you during an interview. Even columns from our Managing Your Career series in Contract Pharma could potentially be misunderstood as fodder for interview responses. While it is important to be prepared for an interview, it is my view that this kind of obvious over-preparation is too easy to see through. Don’t get caught in that trap. It’s always been my advice to be well-prepared but not stuffed full of someone else’s words.

A better approach is to use books and columns like these as a map to what the interviewing process might be like. If you’re headed out on the job market and doing some interviewing yourself, you can adapt your view of how the process works. Always keep in mind this important point: Interviewers need to see the real you. They don’t want to see a walking, talking interviewing machine.

Understanding strengths & weaknesses
This might sound too simplistic. After all, if you have entered the job market, you’ve certainly written a resumé or CV that shows your strengths. And who wants to even think about weaknesses! But it isn’t as simple as it sounds. In fact, analyzing strengths and weaknesses is something that most people skimp on.

Large corporations do an annual SWOT analysis, and this is a highly recommended practice for individual employees as well. To do a good SWOT analysis requires at least an hour or two of time and a quiet place to think. It is best to do this freeform with paper and pencil so that you can avoid the restrictions of your computer. Looking at words on a screen doesn’t get the creative juices flowing as well as doodling on a notepad. Keep both sides of your brain stimulated!

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Here are some questions that will assist you in writing up a SWOT Analysis:

Strengths: Your strengths are more than a list of lab techniques or a list of daily job responsibilities. Because this isn’t for publication, you can go in any direction that you think is truly a part of what makes you special. What made you go into science in the first place? What were the motivating factors and influences? Do these areas still represent some of your inherent strengths? To what do you attribute your success? Don’t forget about all of your important personal characteristics: your persistence, creative abilities, and so much more.

Weaknesses: This is the area that needs the most digging. Start with your technical abilities, as you most likely did with your strengths, and list those areas that could be perceived as a shortcoming. Think about the goals that you have developed for your next career move. Are there bits and pieces missing from your professional “toolbox”? On the personal side, what weak areas do you see in your life that might have an impact on your career? Do you allow your emotions to take over while on the job? Is there a “hot button” issue that stands in the way of your career progress? What have bosses told you in previous years that you needed to work on?

Opportunities and Threats: These are two sides to the same issue—your future. On one side, you have huge opportunities being developed by trends in science and business. What do these mean to you? Make a list of every opportunity that you might have, and don’t restrict yourself to the “normal” careers for a person with your background. Are there opportunities being created for you because of the current changes in drug discovery, or biology and computers? On the other side of the coin, are there possible threats to your future career choice because of some potential development? Are there too many people available in the job market within your area of interest?

Using what you learn
We’ve had earlier columns in Contract Pharma on the interview process, and on the importance of presenting yourself in an upbeat, positive manner. This involves a certain amount of self-promotional ability, something that not everyone is comfortable with. But because it is so crucial to your interviewing success, I believe that you must go in armed with your strengths from the SWOT analysis and be prepared to use them liberally. Of course, there are good and bad ways to do this.

The single most important thing to remember about discussing your strengths is to be succinct and to frame your strengths along with an appropriate accomplishment. When describing that success, use these three critical elements: The problem you were facing, the approach you took to solving it, and the results you achieved. I can’t tell you how important it is to be brief in your replies. You can always go back and elaborate when requested, and you’ll lose your audience very quick after more than a couple of minutes.

Presenting your weaknesses is a whole other game, however. This is one of the scariest moments in an interview for many scientists and engineers.

Going back to my opening example of the H/R interview and the applicant’s “canned” response, what is it that you think the interviewer was looking for with that question? Do interviewers really expect to get an accurate portrayal of weaknesses when they ask this question? My experience shows that not only can you make a positive impression by showing some of the “real you,” but you can make great strides towards landing that job by taking control in this area.

Here are my recommendations on how to answer questions about your weaknesses:

• First off, know your real weaknesses by doing some self-analysis like the SWOT. But in every reply to questions like this, show that you have a game plan and a positive intent to move past that weakness.
• Always think about what your weaknesses might be in relation to the job you are interviewing for. Never volunteer a “deal killer” weakness. Use weaknesses that the interviewer most likely has already assumed. In this way, you can use this as an opportunity to make the problem weakness a “non-issue.”
• Technical or “background experience” weaknesses are usually deemed repairable. Be much more careful when describing weaknesses of a personal sort, as the interviewer may see these as issues that the company cannot help you with.
• Never get into any protracted discussion about a weakness, period. Interviewers appreciate open communication, and they are just as uncomfortable as you are when asking these questions. Well, maybe not that uncomfortable.

Conclusion
Every one of us has our own unique mix of strengths and weaknesses. Although you will indeed be asked to discuss your weak points in the interview, all successful interviewers seem to be able to turn these moments around and move into more positive conversation. Don’t be consumed by your weaknesses. Learn what it is that you do well, what it is that you need to improve upon, and build your career plan on your knowledge of both.

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David G. Jensen
Contributing Editor

Dave Jensen, President of CTI Executive search, is an executive recruiter with 30 years of experience in biopharma recruitment, and he can be reached at davejensen@careertrax.com. See his website at www.careertrax.com for hundreds of open positions across the industry.