Campus interview questions and answers - part 2

Tell us some of your strengths.

To answer this question, it is extremely important to study the requirements of the position before you appear for the interview. List down your strengths and offer ones relevant to the position.

Tell us some of your weaknesses.

This is a straight yet tricky question to answer. Every human being has weaknesses, so it is perfectly OK for you to have some. Do not offer a weakness which will directly affect your selection but at the same time saying that you do not have any weakness will not be right too.

The best way to answer this question will be to turn one of your strengths into a weakness and say that others accuse you of having this weakness but you think it is an important ingredient to effective work. For e.g.: “My colleagues accuse me of paying too much attention to syntax but I believe it is important when you are writing the code. It helps you avoid spending too much time on finding and fixing the bugs later on.”

Another way to answer this question is to offer a totally un-related weakness for e.g. “I have been staying alone for so many years now but I still can’t cook.”

You do not have all the experience we need for this position?

Perfect bundles of skills are rare to find. It is OK for a candidate not to have all the experience an employer requires – you should have the major characteristics.

The best way to deal with this question is to analyse the requirements of the position well and match your skills set as close to them as possible. If you see yourself lacking in certain qualities, offer your quick grasping power and ability to learn quickly as a solution. Back it up with an example from the past to justify your answer.