One of the most common questions asked in job interviews is “what are your strengths?”  You might have a fabulously articulate answer to this question, but in my experience, most people don’t.  They might have some idea of their strengths, but they can’t clearly communicate how that strength makes them the right person for the job.

The first step in preparing an answer this interview question is to know what you are good at (AKA your strengths).  One of the best ways to do this is to take an assessment.  Most online assessments do a pretty good job of ferreting out your strengths.  Some assessments that I have used with my clients are DISC, Myers Briggs Type Instrument (MBTI), and the StrengthsFinder.  These and other online assessments are pretty accessible.  Just Google any of these and you’ll see what I mean.

After identifying some of your strenghts, you’re ready to answer that interview question.  Right?  No, not quite.  It isn’t enough to answer with a laundry list of words, especially the ones you’ll get if you take the StrengthsFinder assessment.  For example, when I took the StrengthsFinder, my strengths were Maximizer, Strategic, Achiever, Connectedness, and Learner.  Can you imagine what an interviewer would be thinking if you just rattled off a similar list in response to the question, “What are your strenghts?”

An employer wants to know if you CAN do the job (skills and abilities), if you WILL do the job (motivation), and if you will FIT in (cultural fit).  Instead of providing a laundry list of your strengths, you must sell the interviewer on the benefits of hiring you instead of someone else with similar skills and experience.  After all, you wouldn’t have gotten an interview if you didn’t already clear that first hurdle.  Let’s use the strength of Achiever as an example.  What does it mean to be an Achiever?  It means that you are driven to get the job done and to do it well.  You love to be productive and accomplish goals.  Does that sound like something that a prospective employer may want and need?

How would you answer this classic interview question?  What are your strengths?