By the end of this unit you should:
Spend 3 minutes to make a list of your strengths and weaknesses.
If you are not sure of your stengths and weaknesses, first consider the subjects that you did well at in high school and in this university. Then, recall how other people have described you in a positive way. What good things did you teachers say or write about you? Next, think how you want people to view you and start being that version of yourself.
Compare and contrast your list with a partner.
Are there any strengths and weakness that your partner listed which apply to you?
Create an extended inventory of your strengths and weaknesses..
To create a list you can select some adjectives to describe yourself in a postiive way. You also should select some subjects related to computer science that you are (or will be) good at. Aim to write as many strengths as possible. Naturally, you will have some strengths that you are quite good at and some that you are very good at. However, for the moment include all strengths. You should also identify a few weaknesses. Feel free to use the lists below for inspiration
Divide your list of strengths and weaknesses into three categories, namely skills, knowlege of behaviour.
Skills are the types of activities that the more your practice, the better your performance becomes. Knowledge is used for subjects that you have learnt. Many subjects need both knowledge and skills. In those cases, the theory is often the knowledge, and the practical aspect is the skill. Behaviour is a direct result of your character, and as such is more difficult to change. For example, people who are introverted and shy are unlikely to become extroverted and outgoing, but they may develop skills to compensate from their shyness.
The following table provides an example of how strengths and weakness can be divided.
| Skills | Knowledge | Behaviour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strengths | Communication, Python | Mathematics, Data structures | Focussed, Detail-orientated |
| Weaknesses | Spoken English | Database | Lazy |
Decide which strengths and weakness that would help you pass an interview and which would hinder you.
The strengths to declare are those that directly impact the possibility for securing the position or place. For example, for a job as engineer, strengths such as proficiency at baking and cookie making are unlikely to help. However, when applying for a post as part-time chef, those same strengths may help. It is obviously better to declare relevant rather than irrelevant strengths.
Fatal weaknesses reduce the chance of success. These include negative behaviour traits, such as laziness. These personality flaws will certaintly not increase your chance of success and so instead I recommend declaring weaknesses in either knowledge or skills.
Some weaknesses do not impact your ability to perform your duties. Weaknesses that you can declare safely broadly fall into two groups: known and shared. Weakness that you declare should be those that do not impact your ability to do the job or complete the course you are applying for. These are can be termed trivial weaknesses since even when declared they do not cause any negative feeling.
Known weaknesses are specific to a subset of the population (including you). For exampple, if you are not fluent in English and you are interviewing in English, declaring that your spoken English is a weakness does not give the interviewer any new information. You are already speaking non-fluent English and the interviewer already noticed that. Likewise, if you are relatively young, you can declare that you have little experience since this will also already be known to the interviewer.
Shared weaknesses are those which all interviewees share. For example, in the field of computer science, it is difficult for everyone to keep up-to-date with the latest software releases, latest guidelines and latest systems. It is also impossible to learn all the programming languages. Even within one programming language, few programmers can claim to know everything.
To sum up, your hidden weaknesses should be the fatal weaknesses and your declared weaknesses should be known or shared weaknesses. Itis possible to disclose an irrelevant weakness, but avoid declaring personality flaws.
Select nine core strengths that help your application, of those select the top three.
Once you have selected the nine core and the top three strengths, you should be in a position to build an argument to support your application. The aim is to provide overwelming evidence to convince the interviewer of your suitabilty for the post or place. This means that for each strength, you need to source evidence.
Decide on two weakesses that you can declare..
For each weakness, your aim is to disclose the weakness if asked, but end your turn by focussing on some positive aspect.
Make sure you: