During job interviews, recruiters often ask their potential employees about what areas they need improvement.
By asking this question, it enables them to determine the skill level of their potential employees and predict their willingness to improve to advance their careers.
If you’re preparing for a job interview, it’s important to practice responding to commonly asked questions like this one so you can equip yourself for a successful interview.
In this article, I will explain to you why recruiters ask this question, how best to answer this question “what areas need improvement?” with well-explained examples, and additional methods.
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Why Recruiters Ask “What Areas Need Improvement?”
When an interviewer asks you, “What areas need improvement?” or in another format like “How do you see yourself needing improvement?”.
You might be feeling like this question was designed to trick you.
But it’s not….
Rather, recruiters find this question necessary in order to determine your expertise, self-awareness and eagerness to advance.
They believe and understand that those driven by consistently improving will always have something that they will wish they were better at, even if they are already great.
So how best you respond can show your potential employers that you’re willing to invest in your professional development to become better at your job.
So before you answer this question, it is important that you note that the answer to this question is simple, but it requires humility and understanding to give a correct reply.
Most atimes, your answer may vary based on the position you’re seeking, but you can consider discussing your areas of weakness and specific interests.
How To Answer “What Areas Need Improvement?”
Here are some steps to help you answer the “What Areas Need Improvement?”.
1. Think About Areas You Want To Improve
As you consider the question, think about areas that you want to improve and how you might improve them.
For example,
If you’re often nervous speaking up in meetings, you might be interested in improving your public speaking skills.
While the areas of improvement you choose may relate to the position, they don’t need to relate to it directly.
You can also discuss professional areas that interest you and you want to learn more about.
For example, if you’re interested in incorporating graphic design skills into your work as a marketing coordinator, you might say that you want to improve your graphic design skills.
2. Choose Topics To Discuss
Once you’ve thought of a few areas that you want to improve, choose the topics that you want to include in your response.
To appear as qualified as possible, it’s helpful to focus on areas that are adjacent to the position rather than those that are essential skills for the position.
This can help you convince the interviewer that you’re qualified for the job and interested in improving your professional skill set.
For example,
If you’re applying for a computer science job, you could say that you’re interested in learning about cybersecurity.
3. Describe How You’re Improving
Another crucial part of your response includes how you’re improving by discussing steps you’ve already taken or describing your plan to improve in specific areas.
For example,
if you want to become a more effective leader, you might mention your intent to earn a leadership certification.
Making an effort to improve can show employers that you’re willing to invest in your professional development. This can make you a valuable candidate and increase your likelihood of getting a job offer.
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4. Give A Specific Answer
To help the interviewer clearly understand which areas you want to improve, it’s important to be specific in your answer.
You can provide an answer that’s easy to understand by describing particular skills you plan to develop or knowledge you want to gain.
For example, rather than saying you want to become a better manager, you could say you want to improve your ability to delegate tasks.
Sample of Answers To “What Areas Need Improvement?”
Here are some samples of answers to the interview question depending on the position that you are applying for:
Sample 1
Here’s how to answer this question if you want to enhance your leadership capabilities:
“One of my career goals is to take a leadership position in my organization, so I want to improve my leadership skills. Specifically, I want to get better at speaking in front of large groups and motivating teams. I plan on completing a leadership certification to improve in this area.”
Sample 2
Here’s an answer that focuses on presentation skills:
“I’m confident with my ability to write reports, but I have had little practice presenting them. I’d like to improve my public speaking skills so I can give confident and effective presentations. To begin developing my skills, I’ve started reading books about public speaking.”
Sample 3
This is an answer that concentrates on supplemental skills:
“Although web development isn’t central to my career as a content marketer, I’m interested in learning skills in this area. This can help me contribute to a wider variety of projects at work. I’m planning on completing an online web development boot camp to learn these skills.”
Sample 4
Here’s an example of how to talk about improving your writing skills:
“Since I’m interested in publishing research in this field, I’d like to improve my professional writing skills. To begin the development process, I’ve started taking an online writing course. I’ve also started studying articles in peer-reviewed journals.”
Additional Tips for answering “What areas need improvement?”
Here are some additional methods for answering this interview question:
Use the STAR method
The STAR method is a kind of method that helps you to craft effective answers to interview questions.
This method contains the following elements:
- Situation:
The first part of a STAR response illustrates a professional situation that you handled.
- Task:
The task section of the response explains your professional role and the responsibilities you had in the situation.
- Action:
This part of a STAR response details the steps you took to resolve the situation.
- Result:
The last part of a STAR response is the result, which is the tangible outcome that you achieved.
Conclusion
If you follow these examples provided above, you will have a great answer when a recruiter asks interview questions about what areas that you need Improvement.
It will be more memorable and will bring about more job offers, and will help to prove to your recruiters that you have goals and are also eager to add more value to yourself in those areas that will not only help you but will also benefit the company.
I hope that this article was very helpful in guiding you on how to answer the question, “What Areas Need Improvement.”