What Are Your Strengths: Expert-Approved Examples to Boost Your Confidence

It is important to define and be able to explain your strengths, especially in job interviews. Understanding one's key competencies, writing skills as well as communication skills make a lot of difference towards how employers are likely to consider you.

Last update:

01/01/2024

What Are Your Strengths: Expert-Approved Examples to Boost Your Confidence

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This guide will focus on different strengths, offering examples and example sample answers, that you can use further when preparing for an interview and answering its questions about both your strengths and, opposites:

The Importance of Self-Awareness
Understanding the importance of Strengths in Job Interviews
Why Interviewers ask about Strengths and weaknesses in Interview?
How to prepare for "What are your strengths?" question.
Identifying your Strengths
Crafting a Strong Response
Types of Strengths
FAQ
‍

The Importance of Self-Awareness

Every strength identification process begins with the process of self-awareness. With self-awareness, the candidate can communicate her or his strengths and areas of deficiency, ask for feedback, as well as make use of strength’s assessment instruments to obtain meaningful information on her or his strengths.

Self-awareness enables one to grow in his or her personal as well as professional life, in other words, he or she befits versatile to meet the demands relating to the practice environment.

Self-awareness in job interviews example:

An example of a self- awareness pertaining to a job interview could be as follows.

“The attribute I possess is high self- awareness, which assist me in being aware of my abilities and limitations, I always consult my coworkers and bosses to ensure I am improving.

✒️ Read more: Interviewer Resume- the ultimate guide.

Understanding the Importance of Strengths in Job Interviews

Using job interviews, it is possible to emphasize that they need exactly this employee for their team or indicate own suitable qualities. Employers look for job seekers’ capability to describe their skills well and PDP with what is expected of them in the new position.

Here are other suggestions that may help you when it comes to talking about your strengths employing the stated keywords.

Demonstrating Transferable Skills:

This kind of skills are portable skills; these are skills a person will carry with him or her anywhere, be it a different company or a new career field. These skills when highlighted prove that an employee can be of significance to the new workplace by offering these variety skills.

Example: Transferable Skills

” In my previous organization, as part of my duties as an Inventory Manager, I acquired excellent skills relating to organization and attention to detail which, I believe, will equip me for the task of organizing projects and delivering high quality work in this new position.

✒️ Read more: Inventory Manager resume.

Emphasizing Professional Growth:

A professional development is a process of acquiring and expanding the competencies of a person. One of the objectives of books is to improve and update oneself, so if you are committed to showing that you are willing to enhance your professional skills set, people will notice you.

Example: Professional Growth

If the interview panel ask you about professional growth and how do you emphasize it as a final question final question is about extra learning: The answer should be: Yes, I do. In my previous job I used to attend the related industry’s conferences, and I used to take courses in the use of project management tools.

✒️ Read more: Project Manager resume.

Why interviewers ask about strengths and weaknesses in a job interview?

Every time I attended a job interview, questions pertaining strengths/weaknesses are posed to the interviewer in order to establish one’s strengths and dexterity as well as the weaknesses of a candidate. These questions are very crucial in determining the applicants’ self-awareness, skill set, and suitability for the position being described. That is why, interviewers pay attention to these aspects, using the given keywords.

Assessing Self-Awareness:

One of the major motives of the interviewers to inquire about strengths and weaknesses, is to measure the candidate’s self-identity. There are numerous ways through which candidates’ strengths and weaknesses can be brought to the limelight. Being self-conscious helps a candidate to spot his or her strengths and areas of weakness. This is a trait that is helpful in the advancement of one’s as well as other people’s affairs.

Understanding Job Fit:

Interviewers also desire to find out if the strengths of the candidate can fit the description of the job and the organizational culture. By knowing your skills, they can determine if you have the character traits and abilities to do the job.

Example: Job Fit

"The tight schedules in this position are suitable for me since I have proven track record in managing several projects in my previous organization with very tight schedules".

📌 Tip: Include professional summary to get the spotlight.

Evaluating key skills (including writing skills):

Strengths questions enable the candidate to explain his or her best attributes. That can be technical competencies or IT skills known as tangible competencies as well as interpersonal competencies including but not limited to communication skills or team working skills known as transferable competencies. This makes it easier for the interviewers to note the attributes that make you an inconvenient candidate.

Example: Key Skills

“I have good writing skills mainly used in writing project reports and client pitching documents which have always been well appreciated by my previous employer leading to more business generation.”

📌 Tip: Add achievements to your resume.

Identifying Success Stories:

Strengths and weaknesses questions provide one an opportunity to demonstrate his or her accomplishments from his or her working experiences. These stories offer specific illustrations of any given strength by demonstrating how you have utilized them to get favorable results.

Example: Success Stories

"For a large-scale project I had undertaken at the previous workplace what set me out was the bank stability of coming up with out of the norm solutions where I was able to solve an intervening problem that could have crippled the project but instead, I was able to wrap up the project before the due time".

Highlighting Professional Skills Assessments:

Interviewers want to know how you appraise your strengths as a professional, specifically the technical competencies and the behavioral competencies. Speaking of these assessments proves that you are always reflecting on the further development of your skills.

Example: Skills Assessments

"I make biannual self-checks as a way of discovering organizational weakness. This has assisted me in improving on my project management approaches and being in line with new tools and procedures".

Showcasing High-Quality Work:

Describing strengths and, particularly, weaknesses let you stress the willingness to do the best and complete an excellent project. This involves your professionalism in your work, punctuality and adherence to the set time and your commitment in your work.

Example: High-Quality Work

I deliver quality work and I can work on many tasks at the same time due to my excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.

Showing Public Speaking and Communication Skills:

Some subjects such as public speaking and communication are always listed as strengths since they are areas that many people will require in their places of work. These skills show your communication and managerial skills in order to present ideas and steer people in a certain direction.

Example: Public Speaking

"I consider myself good at public speaking, and I have practiced this quite often while actively working in my previous organization where I conveyed daily team meetings and project progress reports".

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Understanding Self-Criticism and Improvement:

Employers seek people they can correct or argue with; in other words, people who are willing to criticize themselves. You should be able to talk about your drawbacks and the work you are doing to change for the better serves as evidence that you want to become better.

Example: Self-Criticism

“Probably my biggest flaw is that at times, I am overly harsh on myself and my work; in fact, I am gradually trying to change this by not only paying attention to suggestions from others but also by choosing to find the positives in my work.”

Highlighting Delegation and Teamwork:

Delegation and collaboration are important assets throughout the working processes in various positions. Here are some tips on how to answer this question: When answering the question on how you delegate tasks and work within a team you are indeed demonstrating how you can lead and work as a part of it.

Example: Delegation

‘As a Company Secretary, I had the strength of delegating responsibilities to ensure all the administrative works are done. This competency ensured that all relevant tasks ran efficiently and were beneficial to the team".

✒️ Read more: Sample resume for secretary.

Be Prepared Before for the Type of Interview:

Acquiring time to think about the questions that may be asked concerning strengths and weaknesses ensures the provision of the best responses. The preparation is beneficial to the interviewers because it illustrates that candidates are actually interested in the position and have sat down to think about their skills.

Leveraging Hard Skills:

These are skills which are factual, definite, and more often, vocational. They could englobe technical competencies, software knowledge, and another related knowledge essential in the field.

Example: Hard Skills

“I have mastered the use of project management applications, Asana and Trello which has helped me in organizing the tasks and achieving project deadlines hence possesses the hard skills that help one to navigate large end-of-course projects”.

How to prepare for the “What are your strengths?” question

Forcing yourself on how you will answer questions regarding your strengths in job interviews is cardinal when it comes to selling yourself for the position. Interviewers pose these questions to test your self-employment, main skills, and fit to the position’s requirements. Below is how you can prepare effectively using the mentioned keywords.

The Final Evaluation of Self-Awareness and Self-Improve:

It is important to clearly see your own abilities and thus be aware of them, which is why it is critical. Think about your previous work experience and your personal life rather, what skills you feel you are best in and where people have complimented you most frequent.

Example: Self-Awareness

In the previous position as Software Developer, I was appreciated for solving problems and thinking out of the box while abiding by strict deadlines; this lets me know what value I can deliver on the table.

Review the Job Description:

I encourage you to go through the job description to have a clue what hiring managers expect out of the candidates. Relate all your skills and experience with aspects of the job that are explicitly stated in the ad to prove that you are the best person for the job.

Example: Job Description

“The job description demands project management skills and good communication. I have a basic understanding of project management tools and my writing skills are very good therefore suitable for the job.”

Prepare Concrete Examples:

You should be able to recall instances from your past employment positions that you want to illustrate your abilities. This should help the readers to appreciate how the strengths have in the past enabled you to be productive in your previous roles.

Example: Concrete Example

"During my last position in ABC company as an Inventory Manager, I was able to balance many tasks and have initiated a reorganizing of the filing system where productivity increased by 30%".

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Sample Answering of Frequently Posed Interview Questions:

This about common interview questions that relates to one’s strength. This preparing will assist you give precise and coherent answers throughout the actual employment interview.

Example: Common Interview Question

"Speaking of one’s strengths, one of the skills that I usually emphasize is time management, especially in pressure-packed projects as when implementing the proposed schedule, which allowed me to complete all the tasks on time and produce good quality work".

Identifying Your Strengths

Analyzing the job description to identify key skills and qualifications:

The job description is a map of what is expected from candidate by the employer and hence should always be utilized. When one spends a considerable amount of time in its analysis, he or she is in a position to determine which skills and qualification he or she possesses in plenty that matches that of the contracting company.

Example: A critical evaluation of duties described is actually an essential quality of the job description.

"When I was preparing for an interview at a company, I read every detail oriented the job description very attentively in particular, the description of the last job had claimed that the successful candidate should be good at project management and should be able to perform the assigned tasks within a limited amount of time.

Making a master list of your skills:

Buildup of a list of assets assist you to develop a perfect understanding of what you have to offer from the negotiation table. This list should comprise technical skills as well as the communication skills like writing and speaking.

Example: Global List of Skills

"It is the list I used when noting down the discrete skills I possess excellent written communication skills as well as delegation skills. This list in resume is very instrumental when searching for a job as it allowed me present real-life situations when speaking of skills alongside unique ways that correlated with some of the job specifications".

✒️ Read more: Create Resume templates to stand out.

Focusing on transferable skills:

Transferable skills are efficiency and effectiveness that can be worked on in any given organization. It is suggested to highlight such skills to show the potential employer both the variety of spheres you are familiar with and the fact that you can easily adjust to the new conditions.

Example:

"I previously worked as a Mortgage Loan Officer, I honed interpersonal relations and communication skills as I built and maintained relations with clients; indeed, such soft skills are quite useful in any position involving interaction with the clients, hence the idea shows that I am rather adaptable to different tasks".

✒️ Read more: Mortage Loan Officer resume.

Seeking Feedback:

It is suggested to ask for feedback from the co-workers, supervisors and mentors because it can give an indication about the strengths. Such feedback can be useful to determine what people consider to be specifically your greatest strengths, and the spheres you are best at.

Example: Seeking Feedback

"As a Teacher, I was looking for positive attitude and feedback from the learners and faculty, and they have received positive feedback on my creativity in teaching methods and the proficiency of the communication skills insight me confidence".

✒️ Read more: Sample experienced teacher.

Crafting a Strong Response

In answering the strengths of the person in a specific job interview, it is important to answer the question most appropriately, formally, briefly and to the point, furthermore it must have relation to the job in question. The STAR method, truthful self-promotion and staying on topic when answering questions are some of the critical techniques. Here’s how to properly address this often-asked interview question incorporating the specified keywords.

Using the STAR method to structure your answer:

The STAR method (situation, task, action, result) is a widely used strategy in job interviews to organize your answers. That is, it helps you give practical illustrations and show your capabilities potently and coherently.

Situation:

Start by orientating the readers to the setting of your story. It will be pro forma to explain a situation to the interviewer to have a better understanding of the scenario you are placing the interviewer in.

Task:

State what you were tasked to do in that scenario. This then makes it easier to show one’s abilities and attributes in the aim of completing projects meeting the intended goals.

Action:

Elaborate on how you handled the task to solve it. Emphasize what kind of activities you performed and what skills/traits you used to prepare ahead to solve the problems.

Result:

Don’t forget to communicate the results of your behaviors. Measure the extent of your strengths if this is viable as a way of demonstrating the effectiveness of your strengths.

Example:

"I hold a position of a Project Manager in a previous organization (Situation) and during my practice, I dealt with a large-scale project with strict time constraints (Task). For this, relying on my project management abilities, I introduced a new schedule of where multiple tasks are monitored (Action). Consequently, the major project part was done two weeks before the estimated time and was well applauded by the team and the client (Outcome)".

✒️ Read more: Star Method resume.

Emphasizing your strengths without overselling:

On one hand, it is crucial to mention achievements, on the other, it is equally dangerous to overdo and sound utterly arrogant. Concentrate on highlighting what are considered to be your greatest strengths here, as well as support them up with examples.

Example: Emphasizing Without Overselling

"One of my key capabilities, I think, is multitasking because, in my previous job as site manager, I was handling multiple projects, and I made sure each project was completed as per the set time with quality".

Keeping your answer concise and relevant to the job:

Briefness is very important when it comes to interviews. While writing your answers, strictly confine yourselves to the job description so that one gains the impression that you are the most suitable candidate for the job. Do not elaborate on things that are not essential as this will just waste a lot of time.

Example: Keep your answers concise and relevant to the job.

"They reveal the demand for good writing skills, which was also well necessary as the Company Secretary I had to draft reports and correspondences and make them as clear and concise as possible".

✒️ Read more: Create your professional resume.

Incorporating Relevant keywords:

Employ many of the keywords used in the job description and related to the industry to prove that you are conversant with the field. This is also useful in making your application seen by the personnel if the company utilizes applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Example: Incorporating Keywords.

"The nature of the role involves communication and management an understanding of project management tools and my written communication skills shall enable me to perform well in this position.”

✒️ Read more: How to use keywords for your resume.

Types of Strengths

Interpersonal strengths:

Interpersonal strengths are vital in positions where beneficiaries are involved or frequently engaged in mutual communication. Such include the ability to communicate, deal with people especially patients, Gen Yer have to build relationship with them.

Example: Brand Manager

During my work as the Brand Manager the interpersonal skills like communication skills, were extremely beneficial constructing rapport form relationships with the clients and other partners, keeping and even building the word-of-mouth trust in the brand and its abilities to deliver its promises.

Technical strengths:

Technical strengths imply tact and skill required for a specific job or series of jobs." These are especially relevant in the positions that require one to have some specialization.

Example: Digital Marketing

"I have consistently been able to increase freelance clients’ online traffic through efficient SEO and PPC executions as well as data analysis. I always apply project management tools to manage different projects and maintain the highest quality of the work".

✒️ Read more: Digital marketing resume.

Example: Marketing Assistant

" As a marketing associate with five years of experience, I have worked in various fields relating to technicality and honed skills in utilizing various software and tools to create best reports as per the manager's requirement".

✒️ Read more: Marketing assistant resume.

Business strengths:

Business literacy is one of the skills which include business knowledge, management knowledge financial knowledge and strategic skills.

Example: Best Marketing Associate

"My business skills are comprehensiveness of market trends and consumer behavior hence have cultivated effective strategies in marketing which when applied in my previous job improved the sales by 20% within six months".

✒️ Read more: Best marketing associate resume.

Example: Business Development Manager

" I, as a Business Development Manager with skills include definition and identification of new business opportunities and strategic plans’ development, which has a positive impact on the company’s development in my practice and also helped in the growth and development of the organization".

✒️ Read more: Business development manager resume.

Organization and time management:

We have clearly identified the importance of organizational and temporal skills in order to work effectively and meet necessary timelines. Many of these strengths are regarded valuable especially when an organization operates in the very fast paced environment-paced business setting.

Example: Marketing Coordinator

“I have been working as a Marketing Coordinator the product that I have benefited from the most is the ability to multi-task and good organizational skills in delivering a successful marketing campaign The brought in a new tracking and scheduling system with marketing deadlines”

✒️ Read more: Complete guide to write a marketing resume.

Example: Handling Communications

"I was concurrently handling different projects in my capacity. I was able to apply time management and successfully complete all docket in a competent manner within the required time and proffer only the best results to the company".

✒️ Read more: Sample communications resume.

Adaptability and creativity:

Flexibility implies the ability to manage changes and generate new ideas, which are some of the important aspects of existence. These strengths are especially useful where great changes are expected in an industry or in the production and delivery of goods and services.

Example: Handling Social Media

‘In the previous company, I had to balance within new social media trends and algorithm hence applying my creativity to come up with content that our followers would relate to which we gained more traffic and followers.

✒️ Read more: Social Media resume.

Example: Project Coordinator

“My good communication skills, and teamwork were fundamental in organizing successful marketing campaigns Most of the time, I received positive feedback for my teamwork.

✒️ Read more: Project Coordinator resume.

Develop Creative Solutions:

Creativeness is needed in any enterprise since it contributes to the emergence of new superior solutions to complex problems and establishing new strategies for the enhancement of organizational efficiency. This is specifically so where the position involves reporting to the Human Resources department or the Art department.

Example: Human Resources (HR)

"As an HR Manager who aimed at raising the level of activity at the company and its employees’ retention rate, was coming up with new development programs. Since the central abilities and essential competencies differ according to a specific post, I decided to redesign the method of introducing new members to the company.

Of course, a new, more flexible system and hiring process of maintaining our working schedule was also an innovation; we discussed all the opportunities for the creation of a flexible schedule, allowing the employees to have the bare minimum of working hours and get more free time for their personal lives, and this is what we received positive responses and increased performance".

✒️ Read more: Job winning HR resume.

Example: Art Director

"As an Art Director, I have come to appreciate that the need to develop proper and effective operating models cannot be overemphasized as it seeks to meet the clients’ needs and other requirements of the project. For example, in one of my projects with a client, he insisted that project must be done within certain time frame though it was a narrow project’s budget. I ensured that I put together a team of designers so that I could get the best of the strategies befitting the campaign production to suit the client".

✒️ Read more: Art of writing a prestigious Art Director resume.

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FAQ on "What are your strengths"

Which of the strengths should be considered when applying for a job?

Skills defining the benefits of a hiring manager to a person are the strengths that should be highlighted during the job interview. These are widely known- communication skills, problem solving skills, leadership skills, teamwork skills and flexibility.

How can a person determine what sorts of skills or accomplishments are worthy of putting on a resume?

If you are looking for your strength for resume, then you should recall those spheres where you got the best feedback or where you succeeded. Think about abilities you might have acquired during the previous employment, education or while working on a personal project.