How do I answer, "What are your strengths?"

You've finally scored an interview with a job you're interested in!

Tell the interviewer what you're best at and show off your skills.

This lets the interviewer know if your skills align with what they're looking for.

Start by writing down a list of your skills.

If you're stuck, try thinking creatively such as, listing your experience with different types of software, or the different languages that you can speak.

If you're unsure, try asking people around you!

Narrow down the list, making sure that the skills are accurate, specific, and relevant to the job.

Pick examples that are valuable to the employer and avoid generic skills such as being "a good person to work with". Show that you bring more to the job than the average candidate.

Be sure to include examples of how you have demonstrated your skills in your past experience.

Example Scenario:

"I consider my leadership skills to be one of my greatest strengths. In my previous job as a manager, I was able to successfully train my team so that they were comfortable in their new roles. As a result, we were able to increase sales by 5% at the end of the first month."

Use the STAR method to make sure you talk about your skill thoroughly:

S — Situation

• Explain the situation where you used a specific skill/solved a problem

T — Task

• Describe the type of action needed for the job

A — Action

• Talk about what action you took/how you deviated from the usual actions

R — Result

• The result that occurred after you did that specific action

For an entry level Marketing Intern position, you could say:

"At my previous internship there was a conflict between two team members due to a lack of communication. They needed someone that was unbiased to listen to both sides in order to suggest a solution. One of my strengths is being an attentive listener, so I was able to use those skills to carefully listen to both of my colleagues and was able to come up with a solution that satisfied both sides. We were able to continue with our project as planned."

• Sounding overly aggressive/arrogant

• Listing irrelevant skills

• Describing a strength that actually highlights a weakness

• Listing too many skills

• Going overboard with information about yourself

Follow this list to give the best answer: