Featured Image Credit: Sean Gallup / Staff / John Nacion / Contributor / Getty
Everybody finds job interviews tough, but one question often stands as the biggest obstacle for many people - and Bill Gates might have the answer you're looking for.
Tech CEOs are full of ideas when it comes to interviews, offering 'absolute' red flags, go-to questions that you should be asking, and the ideal response to the start date question that you might not quite expect.
What every interviewee dreads though is being asked what your biggest weaknesses are, as there's seemingly no right answer.
Pointing out something that's actually a weakness of your own is understandably seen as the worst possible action, but employers are far too tired of fake weaknesses that are actually just strengths in disguise.
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When everything's on the line and one answer could make or break your chances for a dream job, then you'll want all the help you can get, and thankfully Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has given out some handy advice for free.
Speaking to NBA superstar Steph Curry in 2020, Gates outlined the perfect response to the question of strengths and weaknesses in a job interview.
Gates outlines: "Well I'm not somebody who knows a lot about marketing. I wouldn't enjoy being a salesman. For a position where you're actually creating the products and thinking through what those features should be, I'm fascinated by that.
"I followed the history of the industry, read about the mistakes that had been made. So product definition, product creation, very strong. If you have a team that understands the customers, the sales, the marketing, I'm not going to bring that, but I would enjoy working with them."
While this can be understood as hiding your strengths within a weakness, it's far more impressive that simply saying you 'care too much' or 'work too hard'.
What Gates outlines is that while he doesn't have specializations in everything, he's very good at particular things and is highly proficient when working with others to achieve a common goal.
This shows the interviewer that while you do have shortcomings, you can more than make up for these as part of a larger team, and can achieve success 'in spite' of these.
Some other advice on the r/careerguidance subreddit is also illuminating, as one Operations Manager reveals: "When asked for a weakness, find something you've struggled with and how you've grown yourself to create barriers or prevent that weakness being an impediment."
Often interviewers won't mind too much if you have a weakness - we're all human after all - as long as you show how you're able to combat or work around it. They might even appreciate your honesty and self awareness, which are also a key strengths in the workplace.
