TRAPS: This could be
a make-or-break question. The
interviewer mostly likes what he sees, but has doubts over one key area. If you can assure him on this point, the job
may be yours.
BEST ANSWER: This
question is related to "The Fatal Flaw" (Question #18), but here the
concern is not that you are totally missing some qualification, such as a CPA
certification, but rather that, your experience is light in one area.
Before going into any interview, try to identify the weakest
aspects of your candidacy from this company's point of view. Then prepare the best answer you possibly can
to shore up your defenses.
To get you past this question with flying colors, you are
going to rely on your master strategy of uncovering the employer's greatest
wants and needs and then matching them with your strengths. Since you already know how to do this from
Question #1, you are in a much stronger position.
More specifically, when the interviewer poses an objection
like this, you should...
1) Agree on the importance of this qualification.
2) Explain that your strength here may indeed be greater
than your resume indicates
3) When this strength is added to your other strengths, it's
really your combination of qualifications that's most important.
Then review the areas of your greatest strengths that march
up most favorably with the company's most urgently-felt wants and needs. This
is a very powerful way to handle this question for two reasons. First, you're giving your interviewer more
ammunition in the area of his concern.
But more importantly, you're shifting his focus away from this one, isolated
area and putting it on the unique combination of strengths you offer, strengths
which tie in perfectly with his greatest wants.
