What is your weakness (good answers in the railway industry)?

[Ralt]

Hello everyone,

I'm preparing for my final stage interview with Southern Railway (customer service role) and I'm stuck on the question 'what is your weakness/what are your weaknesses?'. Do they ask that questions on rail interviews?

Which are answers are considered good for that question in the railway industry? Obviously not ones like unfocused, bad at dealing with customers, bad at maths, bad at using a computer.

What about if I would say that I'm not perfect with using Microsoft Power Point? Like I'm quite good but not perfect. But that weakness does not really matter for my position as I probably won't use Power Point. So I'm stuck on that question.

And sometimes they want to hear 3-4 weaknesses, that would be tough to answer.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

I don't know about the rail industry today but just give one or two weaknesses and then follow on with a positive.

For example, if you already have customer service experience you can say something along the lines of: "I don't know very much about the (rail) industry but I have good customer service/interpersonal skills and willing to learn what is required for this role" - or "I am not too familiar with the Southern route network but have spent my own time studying the map"

Ensure you read the job/person specification for the role you have applied for and use examples from that. Also, look at what you are doing now - what transferable skills do you currently have or need to develop. Look for specific examples.

Despite probably being the most feared question, don't avoid answering it. And big no-no's: don't be negative and don't blame someone else (e.g. I couldn't do this because somebody failed to do that). Don't tell the interviewer that you don't handle conflict/criticism well, don't work well under pressure or that you take risks as you'll be shown the door.

Knowing your weaknesses is fine, but conveying them in an interview is entirely different. You don't want to come across as an ass, derogatory or dishonest

 

[Emmsie]

Definitely not poor time keeping. How about that you have really high personal standards (possibly unreasonably high) and find it frustrating when others don't have the same standards

 

[pdq]

Any weakness where you can offset it with a strength is useful.
In my case, with document production, I have an eye for detail [good] but sometimes I don't know when to stop tweaking [bad]; or I get so engrossed in a project [good] and want to produce a quality result [good] that I lose track of time [bad].

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Mentioning anything negative to do with timekeeping - a big no-no (even though the trains can't always run to time...)

Something I have come across is dealing face to face with different cultures. For example, maintaining eye contact may (usually) be considered as polite and suggests you are paying attention and listening, for some cultures (e.g. Asian), direct eye contact is considered rude and confrontational. You will be dealing with people from all different cultures so if you have a weakness in this area (like I do), you could mention something along these lines - but end with a positive, e.g. the role would help/teach you to take more notice/be more sympathetic to people of different cultures

 

[Ralt]

I don't know about the rail industry today but just give one or two weaknesses and then follow on with a positive.

For example, if you already have customer service experience you can say something along the lines of: "I don't know very much about the (rail) industry but I have good customer service/interpersonal skills and willing to learn what is required for this role" - or "I am not too familiar with the Southern route network but have spent my own time studying the map"

Ensure you read the job/person specification for the role you have applied for and use examples from that. Also, look at what you are doing now - what transferable skills do you currently have or need to develop. Look for specific examples.

Despite probably being the most feared question, don't avoid answering it. And big no-no's: don't be negative and don't blame someone else (e.g. I couldn't do this because somebody failed to do that). Don't tell the interviewer that you don't handle conflict/criticism well, don't work well under pressure or that you take risks as you'll be shown the door.

Knowing your weaknesses is fine, but conveying them in an interview is entirely different. You don't want to come across as an ass, derogatory or dishonest

Ok, thank you. Mentioning that I don't have rail background is a good weakness to mention, I'll remember it.

 

[Ralt]

Definitely not poor time keeping. How about that you have really high personal standards (possibly unreasonably high) and find it frustrating when others don't have the same standards

I've read not to disguise strengths as weaknesses, so I'll rather leave that one, but thank you!

Any weakness where you can offset it with a strength is useful.
In my case, with document production, I have an eye for detail [good] but sometimes I don't know when to stop tweaking [bad]; or I get so engrossed in a project [good] and want to produce a quality result [good] that I lose track of time [bad].

Ok, thank you.

 

[4F89]

I stated that I was a pretty crap dad for a few years because I had lost my sense of direction in a work/home life balance. But that I know where I went wrong now and am a stronger person. Another weakness is turning negatives into positives, (wink)

 

[Emmsie]

I've read not to disguise strengths as weaknesses, so I'll rather leave that one, but thank you!

Ok, thank you.

Why do you think that having high standards and expecting the same from everyone else isn't a weakness, not looking for an argument but that weakness came from personal experience where my high expectations led to me feeling very stressed but I was actually being completely unreasonable in what I expected from staff.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Why do you think that having high standards and expecting the same from everyone else isn't a weakness, not looking for an argument but that weakness came from personal experience where my high expectations led to me feeling very stressed but I was actually being completely unreasonable in what I expected from staff.

A weakness in one industry could be a strength in another (and vice versa). Which is why the OP needs to read the role and job spec very carefully

 

[Stigy]

I think this is one of the more difficult questions to answer at any interview, since you’re trying to sell yourself to your prospective new employer, and this only want to focus on the positives. One of the worst things to say is that you don’t have a weakness, or can’t think if one, as this can come across as arrogant or just not bothered.

One of my weaknesses is over-analysing things. Not sure if I’ve mentioned it at Interview before, but it’s an easy one to turn in to a positive in that it can have its benefits (being thorough being one benefit). As weaknesses go, it means you can worry about things a lot, which could impact your work if you don’t nip it in the bud.

 

[Ralt]

I stated that I was a pretty crap dad for a few years because I had lost my sense of direction in a work/home life balance. But that I know where I went wrong now and am a stronger person. Another weakness is turning negatives into positives, (wink)

Yes, I've read not to disguise a strength as a weakness, I'll remember it.

Why do you think that having high standards and expecting the same from everyone else isn't a weakness, not looking for an argument but that weakness came from personal experience where my high expectations led to me feeling very stressed but I was actually being completely unreasonable in what I expected from staff.

It is weakness but it is a strength at the same time (in my opinion).

 

[Emmsie]

I think this is one of the more difficult questions to answer at any interview, since you’re trying to sell yourself to your prospective new employer, and this only want to focus on the positives. One of the worst things to say is that you don’t have a weakness, or can’t think if one, as this can come across as arrogant or just not bothered.

One of my weaknesses is over-analysing things. Not sure if I’ve mentioned it at Interview before, but it’s an easy one to turn in to a positive in that it can have its benefits (being thorough being one benefit). As weaknesses go, it means you can worry about things a lot, which could impact your work if you don’t nip it in the bud.

The worst question I've ever been asked was during a BA Interview when I was asked Give me an example of a time that you broke the rules at work.

 

[Stigy]

The worst question I've ever been asked was during a BA Interview when I was asked Give me an example of a time that you broke the rules at work.

Brutal. An even worse question, especially in an industry so stringently governed by rules (like the railway!). I think we’ve all broken a few small rules here and there, but it’s not something one generally mentions in a job interview.....it’s hard enough with Situatiinal Judgement Exercises sometimes!

 

[Spankthemonkey]

The worst question I've ever been asked was during a BA Interview when I was asked Give me an example of a time that you broke the rules at work.

Minor uniform transgression ("I spilt coffee on my tie and did without it for my shift") usually does the trick.

 

[Spankthemonkey]

Hello everyone,

I'm preparing for my final stage interview with Southern Railway (customer service role) and I'm stuck on the question 'what is your weakness/what are your weaknesses?'. Do they ask that questions on rail interviews?

Which are answers are considered good for that question in the railway industry? Obviously not ones like unfocused, bad at dealing with customers, bad at maths, bad at using a computer.

What about if I would say that I'm not perfect with using Microsoft Power Point? Like I'm quite good but not perfect. But that weakness does not really matter for my position as I probably won't use Power Point. So I'm stuck on that question.

And sometimes they want to hear 3-4 weaknesses, that would be tough to answer.

Use something completely or largely irrelevent to the job role.

I said "I am crap a delegating". How often does a train driver have to delegate?!

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Use something completely or largely irrelevent to the job role.

I said "I am crap a delegating". How often does a train driver have to delegate?!

How does this help the OP? In his opening line, he states he is applying for a customer service role - not a train driver's role