Strengths vs Weaknesses

Like I've made clear in the first articles I wrote about this subject: knowing how to talk about your strong points, and where you can improve, is vital when looking for a job.

But, how do we refer to these things? On one hand we have our 'strengths' and the other our 'weaknesses' or 'areas of improvement as I prefer to call them.

Where to start?

We start with the most positive: our strengths. Or to be even more specific, we're going to start with our 'main strengths' (nobody can tell me they don't have strong points or specific strengths, we all do). If English is not your main language but you are applying in it, be sure not to get yourself in to trouble by trying to be overly complicated with your English. Here are some examples of how, depending on your level of English, you can say the same thing.

• Basic Level: My main strength is my organisation skill.
• Intermediate Level: My main strength is that I am a highly organised individual.
• Advanced Level: I would say my main strength is my ability to organise my time efficiently and prioritise tasks.

If you don't like to use 'strengths' you can always use 'strong point' instead.

Also, you might think that what I have written for the intermediate level is simpler than the basic level, but just remember it's all subjective. Choose what you feel comfortable using, regardless of how easy or hard you perceive it to be.

What about weakness/areas to improve?

Although this part is focussed on 'weaknesses' it doesn't mean we've finished talking about our 'strengths', something you will see more in future articles (as long as I don't get bored of writing about this subject like I did with others), it's vitally important to talk about our shortcomings in a way that makes them seem less so.

• Basic Level: My main weakness is my organisation.
• Intermediate Level: My main weakness is that I'm a bit of perfectionist.
• Advanced Level: I would say my main weakness is the fact that I am a bit of a perfectionist.

Again you can always change 'weakness' for 'weak point'. Use whichever one you prefer.

Is there a trick when talking about 'your not so strong' points?

When you talk about your 'weaknesses', you usually try to play down what you are saying. Rather than saying 'I'm a perfectionist' you could say 'I can be a bit of a perfectionist at times' or something along those lines.

• Basic Level: I can be a bit of a perfectionist. Is that a strength or a weakness?
• Intermediate Level: My main weakness is that I can be a bit unorganised.
• Advanced Level: I would say my main weakness is that I can be a bit of a perfectionist and I find it hard to delegate tasks.

Conclusion

You've got to practice and there's nothing better than learning some key phrases and common words to help you. It's all about perseverance and working hard. I'll keep devoting time to this and I hope that it helps you.

Let's Go! Keep learning, keep improving!

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