Positive and negative points: what to talk about in a job interview

What are positive points?

Positive points, or strengths, are a person's main qualities. In other words, strengths are everything that someone does well, that sets them apart from the crowd and, as a result, makes them perform above average in certain activities .

But strengths do not necessarily need to be linked to high performance, they can also be abilities that make a person's life easier in some way, that save time and that they do without major complications.

What are negative points? 

Negative points, or weak points, are often called “points to develop”, because this last term reduces some of the negative charge of this expression.

In general, points to develop are skills that you do not have or that you need to improve, commonly they are capabilities that you perform below average .

But this isn't always a bad thing. If you don't use a skill that is more technical and specific to a role, and you won't use it, there may not be as much need to develop it, even though it's a weak point.

The most important thing is to understand which skills you lack and which are harming your well-being or your good professional performance.

For example, for a person who is a driver , a high attention span is an essential skill in everyday life, without it the chances of an accident happening increase greatly.

On the other hand, good organization is not a skill that will make much of a difference in this professional's day-to-day life.

Therefore, not having the first skill can be a problem and a driver should worry about developing it, but the second, even though it is a point that has not been worked on, will not make much difference in the day-to-day of that profession, therefore, a driver does not need to worry if he does not have this skill.

So, the most important thing here is to know that a weakness is only a problem when you need that skill , both in your professional and personal life.

You should probably not worry about it until it is hurting you in some manner, in which case it is time to focus on fixing it.

How can I assess my advantages and disadvantages?

Knowing the advantages and disadvantages, you presumably want to know how to identify your own. If you want to learn how to determine your strengths and weaknesses, stop reading now!

1. Self-assessment

The  first step to ascertaining your strength and weaknesses is making a self-assessment. A self-assessment is an analysis that is made about you and by you; based on everything you have come to know in life. To look at what makes up your strengths, you can start by reflecting on what you find easy and effortless to do-so that you can work towards making your day-to-day life easier-and something that is important.

Also think about situations where people have complimented you on some skill or behavior, and that happened more than once.

For the negative points, think about your difficulties, or the skills you don't have, but that you believe could help you in some way.

In this case, you can also try to remember situations in which you faced difficulties in solving problems, dealing with people or any other type of situation that caused you discomfort.

And, for both your qualities and points to develop , it is important that you think of examples of situations in which that skill stood out or was lacking. This is important because we do not always have a correct perception of ourselves, so concrete examples can help identify what really happens in practice.

2. Ask for feedback from people you know 

As previously mentioned, we are not always aware of who we really are and we need to look for data in reality so that we can have a more realistic view of who we are.

For example, let's say you consider yourself a very proactive person, but when you ask people around you for examples, they can't think of any and even say that you rarely take the lead on group trips or projects; other people usually take the first steps. In other words, this may not be as strong a point as you thought.

People won't always have a clear vision of who you are either, but if you gather the perceptions of several people, you can find common points. And that's what you should focus on, what has been repeated with several people.

After collecting feedback and combining it with your self-assessment, you can list some identified skills that are well developed or that need to be worked on.

3. Talk to a professional 

If, even after the previous steps, you still cannot identify your defects and qualities, or if you want to delve even deeper into your process of self-knowledge, the next step is to seek professional help.

A psychologist is the best professional to help you in this case, as they are specialized in this and can not only help you understand yourself better, but can also help you develop the skills you want to improve, but still have difficulty with.

What to talk about strengths in a job interview?

Once you have identified your strengths and weaknesses, the question may arise: what strengths and weaknesses should you bring to an interview and what is the best way to talk about the points you need to develop?

If you have a very large list of everything you have identified and you don't know what to highlight, you can start by analyzing the company culture and the position you will be applying for.

All you need to do is research the organization's cultural values ​​online, then go to the company's website and search for the culture. This will help you identify the skills that the company values ​​most and see which ones you have.

Citing again the example of a person who wants to work as a driver, think that he could have the two qualities that were presented previously: organization and high attention span, in addition to several others that he has already identified.

In this case, if she were to choose between talking about organization or about high attention span, the ideal choice would be the second, because it is an essential skill for those who work in the area, while the other is interesting, but not essential.

For a company that has a very collaborative culture, it might make sense to prioritize examples and mention teamwork.

But it is worth remembering that it is extremely important that you only mention skills that you truly master.

What to talk about points to improve in a job interview?

As for the points to be developed, you need to be a little more careful when mentioning them. Here two things are extremely important: sincerity and concern for improvement.

Honesty is extremely important at this point, avoid generalizations or clichés like “I’m a perfectionist”, really try to identify your points for improvement, because the recruiter will be able to identify if you are lying or afraid to really talk about your points for improvement.

Furthermore, the most important thing at this moment is not what you will mention, but what you are doing to change it.

So, don't worry so much about what you need to improve, but rather about what you are doing to change this reality.

At this point, the recruiter is concerned about how much you are a person who is always trying to improve yourself and is focused on solving problems and not on the problem itself.

Therefore, look for solutions to deal with your difficulties so that you can give examples of how you are working on these points within yourself during the interview.

The most important thing of all that we present to you today is that you have self-knowledge and know how to identify your defects and qualities and, at the same time, that you are always seeking to improve yourself and find solutions to your problems.