There is a good chance that during an assessment, for example during the job interview, you will be asked to explain what your lesser qualities are. This is a question that you are most likely not looking forward to and that can make you very nervous. You want to show your best side during an assessment, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t mention your bad qualities. In fact, daring to discuss your bad qualities shows a great deal of self-knowledge and insight! But how do you name these bad qualities in a good way? Find out below:
Do not turn around it.
“Name some of your lesser qualities.” It is and remains a nasty question. But don’t turn around! If you try to answer this question by lying or distorting your answer in such a way that you ultimately talk about your positive qualities, it can often go down the wrong way with the person who is assessing you. Being able to name your bad qualities shows the assessor that you are not afraid to admit that you have a somewhat lesser side (like everyone else) and that is positive again!
Be specific.
Just as your positive traits are personal, this also applies to your negative traits. Try to avoid traits that are mentioned by almost everyone – such as ‘being perfectionist’ or ‘taking too much hay’ – unless they really apply to you. To demonstrate self-knowledge, it works better to take characteristics that really apply to you. Try to avoid the comment ‘It’s hard to say something about yourself’. Instead, as preparation for your assessment, review your characteristics, both good and bad. So during your assessment you have a list in your head that is relevant to you and you don’t have to improvise.
Consider your wording.
You can make your bad qualities sound very different when you formulate them as points for improvement. ‘I would like to learn to pay more attention to details’ sounds very different from ‘I am not that accurate’. Another advantage of formulating your bad qualities as points for improvement is that it shows the assessor that you want to learn! Instead of a ‘well, that’s just the way I am’, you adopt an active attitude, which in turn gives a positive image.
As you can see this post doesn’t have any ready made answers. The best answer to this question is always based on true introspection. Try out some assessment tests on our site for free to see your own quantitatively measurable abilities, like the aptitude test.