For as long as you’ll be out there, looking for a job, one thing is certain:
You’ll be taking interviews.
A lot of them.
You will also be asked this same question on each and every one of them:
“What is your greatest strength?”
Your answer has to be short but not rushed; concise but not unclear; it has to show your skills but without bragging.
You might be thinking: “How the hell do I come up with an answer like that??“
We got your back!
We’ve created a guideline that will help you structure an amazing answer.
You’ll be looking forward to being asked about your greatest strength from now on!
Here’s what our guide consists of:
- 5 Key Tips to Answer “What is Your Greatest Strength”. How to understand the question, pick your strength, and tell an impressive story.
- 9 Sample Answers. Each for a different seniority level, professional background, and job field.
- 30+ Greatest Strength Examples to pick from in case you’re running low on creativity.
Without further ado, let’s get to it!
How to Answer “What Is Your Greatest Strength”
Tip 1: Understand the Question
The key to giving a great answer to anything is first understanding the question well.
What does the other person want to know?
In this case, what does the interviewer want to hear?
Here’s the thing:
Interviewers already know what they are looking for in an applicant. They’re using this question as a way to see if you check the boxes for those qualities.
Meaning, you should look for answers that are relevant to the job position and/or company you are applying for.
Mentioning “great writer” as your biggest strength when applying for a data analyst position will not do you any good.
Good analytical skills, however, are the essence of the job.
Tip 2: Pick the Right Strength
Need a starting point to pick a strength?
Analyze the job posting!
In most cases, the job description itself will specify what qualities the company is looking for in an applicant.
It usually looks something like this:
“We are looking for an organized and ambitious candidate to join our diverse and energetic team. If you are recently graduated and love researching and finding creative solutions to problems, this might be the job for you!”
The answer to what they are looking for is right there!
If you were to apply for this position, a great answer to “what is your greatest strength?” would be: being a good problem-solver or being detail-oriented.
You’ll notice that most of the wanted qualities in this example are soft skills (personal attributes, like communication skills) instead of hard skills (teachable abilities, like C++).
That’s because recently, employers are valuing soft skills more and more (especially interpersonal and people-oriented skills).
[ Pro Tip
When the interviewer asks about your greatest strength, it would be better to answer with a soft skill.
Most of your hard skills can be found on your resume anyway.
This is your opportunity to tell the interviewer about any valuable quality that they won’t be able to read about on your resume – that’s usually soft skills.]
Can’t come up with the proper skill? We’ve compiled a list of 30+ greatest strength examples for you below. Just keep on reading!
Tip 3: Stick to One Strength
Sometimes, your interviewer/s might ask about your top strengths, so it’s good to have a few options prepared.
However, don’t get carried away and overdo it.
Reciting a list of qualities will only make it seem like you’re saying whatever comes to mind, hoping one of them might stick and impress the interviewer.
It will do the opposite.
[ Example of what NOT to do:
“I have excellent leadership skills. That means I’m a great organizer, communicator, supervisor, and problem solver. I’m very patient and understanding too. Always worked well in teams.”]
Tip 4: Tell a Solid Story
After you’ve decided what you think is your best strength, it’s time to work on a story to support it.
The ideal story will show how you’ve used this skill successfully or how this came to be your strength in the first place.
This will reassure the interviewer that you really own this quality and you’re not just rambling.
Speaking of rambling: that’s something you should avoid at ALL COST.
Try to keep your story concise and skip unnecessary information.
The more into details you go, the more you risk losing the interest of the interviewer/s or end up sounding self-centered.
And don’t oversell yourself or be arrogant under ANY circumstances.
However, this doesn’t mean you should downplay your abilities, like:
“Eh, I guess I am an OK team player. You know who’s awesome, though? My previous manager. That sale I made? All thanks to him. Come to think of it, it was more of a team effort, really.”
Sounds a bit too fake, right? It seems like the candidate is dodging the question.
Here’s the lesson:
Don’t overdo it on either humbleness or confidence.
You want to go for a happy balance.
If it sounds a little confusing, take a look at the samples below and think about which of these two people you would be more willing to hire.
“I’m really good at managing crises. My first job was as an assistant at a wedding planning company. That required a lot of thinking on my feet and dealing with last-minute problems like delayed orders, demanding mothers-in-law, missing items, or wrong arrangements. After just 3 months, my manager gave me a raise and a promotion. She said I was the first to achieve this in such a short time.”
versus…
“I’m a great crisis manager. I was so good at this at my previous job. It was a wedding planning company. My manager there just loved me. I saved a loooot of weddings, just by solving the problems that we encountered and being so quick on my feet. This one time, we had two weddings going on at the same time. They were on opposite sides of the city, like a good 20min drive without traffic. And the weather was exceptionally bad that day, so you can imagine the traffic! So, it was one hour before the weddings and the flowers still weren’t there. I called the flower company but nobody was answering so I called …. *interviewer falls asleep*”
And the winner…
What’s the point, you already guess it’s #1.
Without getting into details, it demonstrates the applicant’s strength and shows how it was key in their success at work and how their supervisor appreciated and valued it as well. The candidate doesn’t downplay his/her achievements and neither oversells him/herself.
Straight to the point.
It kills all three birds with one stone.
Tip 5: Be Honest
If you don’t have any previous work experiences that showcase your strengths, don’t be intimidated.
There’s no need to come up with a superhero story that isn’t true.
Your strength and story can come from anywhere.
It could be something you have developed during school, a part-time job, or even within your family.
An honest and realistic answer is appreciated by most recruiters.
For example:
“One of my biggest qualities is being a good mediator. Growing up as the oldest of three siblings meant I was always acting as the judge between them. It made me develop a good sense of fairness and ability to negotiate. That is what made me decide to get into law school in the first place and I like to think it served as practice for me to excel in all of my classes. I would love to have the opportunity to put the same amount of effort into your law firm as well.”
9 “What Is Your Greatest Strength” Answer Samples
Now that you’ve gone over the theory, it’s time to put that knowledge into action.
To make your life easier, we created some answer samples for different seniority levels and some key industries:
- Entry-Level, Student, or Recent Graduate Answer Sample
- Mid-Level Professional Answer Sample
- Senior Professional Answer Sample
- University Admission Answer Sample
- Service Industry Answer Sample
- Creative Industry Answer Sample
- Business Industry Answer Sample
- Financial Sector Answer Sample
Entry-Level, Student, or Recent Graduate Answer Sample:
“I’m great at multitasking. During my studies at University X I was involved in a lot of activities. I was an active member of 3 clubs, participated in Model UN, and worked as a Student Assistant, all while studying for my double degree. I remember one time during my Junior year, a lot of events were on the same week as my final exams. I managed to help organize one talent show and one TedX event, and I even got a 3.7 GPA at the end of the semester. I like being busy and active, and I always put a lot of effort and passion into everything I’m involved with.”
Mid-Level Professional Answer Sample:
“I’m a very skilled public speaker. As head of the marketing team at company X, it was my duty to pitch our campaign ideas to the board. Our company went through a merger a few months ago and both our and their marketing team would be competing for the winning campaign to represent the brand. My team worked very hard and I was honored to present our idea. It was in front of both boards and with a lot of on-the-spot questioning, but in the end, our team’s project was chosen as the winner. The CEO said it was as much due to the convincing presentation as it was due to the great idea.”
Senior Professional Answer Sample:
“I’m a very flexible person. Throughout my years in the engineering field, I’ve worked as a team leader and supervisor in construction for 7 years and as a consultant in an architectural firm for 5 years. I also taught structural engineering to third-year students at X University. I can easily adapt to new working environments and teams and put my skills and knowledge to different uses.”
University Admission Answer Sample:
“Up to this point, I think I have shown strong leadership skills. Throughout high school, I was very interested in participating in discussions regarding students’ problems. I was elected three times as a student senator and was very devoted to my duties. Every concern my peers presented to me, I made sure to proudly represent and bring to the board for discussion. One of the wins I am most proud of was the year we created an official girls’ volleyball team for our school.”
Service Industry Answer Sample:
“I have very good communication skills. In all the years working as a sales assistant, I have always exceeded my sales goals by at least 10% and gotten end-of-the-year bonuses. I’m very quick in building connections with customers, understanding their issues, and effectively helping them. When I started working at store X I was told about a very difficult customer they had. She always complained about something, so all employees were hesitant in helping her. The next time she came to the store, I offered to help. It took me just a few minutes to figure out her type of character. She wasn’t very talkative, but she wanted the person helping her to be. So that’s what I did. I talked in detail about each item she was interested in – the material, the brand, how to best style it -, I gave my thoughts on everything she tried on and was 100% focused on her. She asked to always be assisted by me after that day. A lot of other customers prefer to be left alone while shopping, so I always try to figure out their type and find the right way to communicate with them.”
Creative Industry Answer Sample:
“I can work extremely well under pressure. In the design business, it’s normal for your first draft of work to get turned back. Clients are very hard to please, but I’m quick with turning the situation around and getting them the final desired product. A lot of times, I’ve found myself having to deliver a project in a very short time. A client once demanded a custom-made pitch deck for a new product release to be ready in 48h. Not even the first draft, the final one! It was ready for him in 24h.”
Business Industry Answer Sample:
“I’m a very skilled organizer. I like to structure tasks and time so work is more efficient. When I was at Company X, I was leading the real estate team responsible for the Y region. When I was first introduced to them, I could tell that there was more to be done. I spent time with all members and identified their strengths in order to give them the right tasks. For example, I found out one of our secretaries had great writing skills, so I put her in charge of writing for our website – mainly describing the houses we were listing. The person who was previously doing this was a great communicator so I let him assist our agents with talking to clients. I did some restructuring around the team and it proved to be so efficient and helpful. The work dynamic completely changed for the better. We were rewarded by the company as the team with the most sales, three years in a row. ”
Financial Sector Answer Sample:
“I possess great interpersonal skills. As an accountant, apart from being good with numbers, I’ve noticed that communication and empathy have been very helpful to me. I once had a client, one of my first clients actually, whose business wasn’t going that well, so he was ready to sell it. However, I always try to get to know my clients and their companies better. I knew how many years my client had put into building this company, what they stood for, and how hard it would be to find a buyer that would keep the same values. So I did a lot of research and found another company with which my client could merge. He went for this option, even though he had never thought of it before. He made me an amazing recommendation and brought me a lot of other clients. What they all valued was the fact that I was as much their advisor as I was their accountant. Sometimes clients want more than just profitable options.”
Technology Sector Answer Sample
“My greatest strength is my motivation to learn. I’m constantly picking up new trends in the industry and incorporating them into my work. There are so many new languages, frameworks, and methodologies going out so quickly. I try to be on top of everything that is helpful to my career. When I applied for the position at the company I was previously working at, I didn’t fulfill their minimum years of experience, so I knew there was a chance I might get rejected. At the interview, however, they told me that they would be introducing a new information system at their company and asked me if I would be willing to learn that. That was a program that I already knew a lot about. I’d already started learning about it myself. They not only hired me but also put me in charge of teaching and assisting the other employees.”
30+ Greatest Strength Examples
While prepping for answering our at-this-point-very-familiar question, the worst-case scenario might be not being able to come up with a strength at all.
Don’t let that stress you!
All it takes is a little inspiration.
Here’s a list of 30+ greatest strength examples most commonly used, sorted by job field.
[💡
You’ll notice that most of these skills aren’t very specific or personalized. No doubt, there’s going to be other applicants also claiming them.
What will make you stand out is your story.
So, whatever you pick, make sure you’ll be able to demonstrate and personalize with your story.]
Management Job Strengths
(For positions like: manager, supervisor, etc.)
Leadership
Organization
Responsibility
Coordination
Crisis management
Communication
Constructive criticism
Discipline
Employee motivation
Analytical Job Strengths
(For positions like: analyst, accountant, economist, developer, etc.)
Problem-analysis
Data analysis
Problem-solving
Effective research
Communication Job Strengths
(For positions like: human resources, public relations, marketing, sales, etc.)
Collaboration
Persistence
Detail-orientation
Active listening
Effective communication
Multitasking
Negotiation
Creative Job Strengths
(For positions in: advertising, designing, art, publishing, etc.)
Creativity
Imagination
Out-of-the-box thinking
Writing
Visualization (visual art)
Detail-oriented
Personality traits
(Appreciated and useful in any position)
Trustworthy
Curious
Determined
Flexible
Patient
Punctual
Handles pressure
Understanding/Empathetic
[ If you still find yourself uncertain about your strengths, you can always take the Gallup StrengthsFinder Test. It’s a behavioral assessment test that will help identify your top 5 unique strengths. However, it’s not a free test as it was made for employers to assess their prospective employees or better distribute their current ones. Here’s a free alternative you can try!]
Key Takeaways
Now that you know all there is to know about the “What’s your greatest strength?” question, you’re one step closer to nailing the interview.
Before you go, though, let’s run over everything one last time:
- Make sure your strength is relevant to the position/company you’re applying for. You can scan the job posting and find what the hiring manager is looking for.
- Tell a story that will complement your strength. Make sure to mention a specific accomplishment to back it up and avoid rambling.
- Find a balance between modesty and confidence. Avoid getting overly arrogant or not owning up to your achievements.
- Be professional and be truthful.
You got this!
Good luck!
