One of the most common interview questions is “What are your strengths?”
Selina
has difficulty with the question. “I really can’t think of a strength,”
she begins. “Maybe I could be more focused. My strength is probably my
ability to deal with people. I am pretty easy going. I usually don’t get
upset easily.” This answer leads with a negative, and then moves to
vague words: maybe, probably, pretty and usually.
So what is the best way to answer the strength interview question?
Categorize your strengths
How do you answer this question when you are attending an Administrative Job interview? By accessing your strengths. This can be done by dividing your strengths in three categories.
1.Personal Traits
Focus on your personal strengths
that have to do with the administrative job. For example, you could say
that you work well with people. This is a good answer as Admin jobs
require a lot of interaction with different kinds of people.
2.Knowledge based skills
Another
way to approach this question is to focus on the skills that you
have,that give you an edge over other candidates. This could be skills
that you can impart on the company. For example, you could say “My
organizational skill is one of my greatest strengths. In my previous administrative assistant position, I restructured the office filing system to make it easier to access client charts and information quickly and efficiently”
3.Transferable skills
Another
stance to take is to focus on the needs of the company. You could say
something like “ I am a team player. At my previous place of work,I
organized team building activities for my colleagues”
Pick the
category with your greatest strengths and capitalize on it as opposed to
fumbling while trying to say everything at once.
Make
sure you tailor each answer to your employer’s specific needs in order
to impress them. You should be careful, however, not to exaggerate your
answers or rehearse them beforehand. Natural answers always go a long
way in ensuring that you leave a positive, lasting impression on your
employer.
Source: CSS