Page 83 - How To Answer Interview Questions (II)

Job Interview Question 39

If I were to ask your current boss what your greatest strength is,
what would they say?

If you had to choose only one quality of yours to explain why they need to hire you,
and your entire interview was limited to talking about that one quality, which one would you choose?
That is the one you should mention in this answer.

I might try to stack the deck and include a few more in my answer anyway: “My boss would have a
hard time choosing between my people skills, my work ethic, or X.”

“X” would depend on your individual situation and the job description. It could be:

“My ability to take steps out of almost any process and make it more efficient.”
“My ability to see the big picture and set smart strategies.”
“My meticulous attention to detail.”
“My ability to take the lead on almost any team project and get everyone working together.”
“My ability to fit into almost any team, get along with everyone, and accomplish our goal.”
“My creativity, combined with my business sense.”
“My knack for finishing projects on time and under budget every time.”
“My nose for finding new opportunities to generate revenue.”
Whatever you say, follow it up with a story that tells about a time you did this, to give an example:
“Recently, I did X and my boss was so thrilled that she mentioned me to the VP and I got a mention in
the monthly meeting as an example to follow.” This is going to help them visualize you in action on
the job and get comfortable with the idea of working with you.
Always try to quantify your answer. Provide numbers, dollars, or percentages to describe what
happened, what action you took, or what the outcome was. Let’s say you said your greatest strength
was your nose for finding new opportunities to generate revenue: “Last year, I realized that our
product would be perfect for X market, and we hadn’t ventured there yet. So I told my boss and