A girls gotta have a pair of sturdy scrunchies just like she needs that elegant evening dress and that pair of heels and also the lippy balm and everything that makes her feel girly and gorgeous – strong scrunchies means – she can tie it all up and just leave it loose behind or curl it quickly onto a ponytail or make a bun for all she cares! I realized that after I discovered a strong pair of almost non breakable scrunchies. They are colorful, cute, strong, sturdy and I know I can rely on them. Not like the ones that will break after two knots or look old and drab – these are some really cool scrunchies. Strong scrunchies means I can be at ease. I can concentrate. I can cool off. I am carefree. Iam what I wanna be.

Soft music playing
Nightly orange glow out there
Carefree, feeling numb

5+ Weaknesses for the Interview

This is in continuation to the earlier post named “5 Strengths & 5 Weaknesses @ Google!” since the weaknesses described in it couldn’t be used for a real interview.

We deceive!

We Live to deceive!

We  Live to get deceived!

We  want people to deceive!

No matter how much you sugar coat Lies and words of Self-Deception, they still remain what they Really are. Does Reality matter? I am not sure about it anymore really. Growing up in life, Growing up to life all those years, I have not been able to make up my mind on that and the notions I held in my years of innocent childhood have been tarnished by the ugly reality of the World I live in. Why is it that Truth doesn’t get us the desired results in life?

When it comes to interviews especially, one of the most likeable and expected questions is “Describe your strengths and weaknesses”.

I would certainly find it not very hard to answer that question but to answer it As Expected by the Interviewer is another story.  Over the years, I have come to realize that my Dictionary meaning of the Term Weakness when it comes to Interviews is completely wrong.

Dictionaries might describe Weakness as:

1. An inadequate quality; fault
2. A flaw or weak point
3. The property of lacking physical or mental strength; liability to failure under pressure or stress or strain

My version of Weakness means: “An extreme personality trait or characteristic (that you may have or not have) sugar-coated to highlight that it acts as a merit for earning big buck to the hiring company.”

Another important fact of life that I have learnt is that everything in the world is Relative.  Thus, naturally my definition of Weakness is discussed in the context of the interview.

Though I have always wanted to speak my mind on what I really believe my weaknesses would be in front of an interviewer but believe me, this will not get you anywhere especially in a job market. One in a million HR managers would actually admire your Truthfulness in this regard and you would surely face more rejections than approval to do the same. I still can’t comprehend the idea of what the interviewers really intend to understand in us from our reply.

Is it the skill and tact with which we can lie? Is it our ability to think One Step Ahead and get things done before being asked? In this case, the homework we might have done to have a well prepared answer. Is it the quality of shrewdness and self selling ability (i.e. marketing) in us? Or is it the diplomacy and ingenuity with which we handle the question?

However, I still want to maintain a shred of decency and truth in my reply to the prospective employer in hand. This is because I can’t think of losing my Truthfulness for one and secondly because my notions about life are quite different and distinct and I believe no matter how the world works as per others, it works how you want it to work for you; it works how you perceive it to work. Since discussing this is irrelevant to the scope of the current post, I would just resort to a quick list of 5+ Weaknesses that I believe can be used for the interview.

1. Lack of Experience: While I know that I don’t have any Direct experience for the position I am being interviewed for, I have professional experience that required all the desired qualities of professionalism.  My previous employer can second that I was effective and efficient in my previous job and I believe I can contribute and deliver fully to the new one. If given a chance and little time, this weakness can be overcome easily with my professional attitude.
2. Carefree Attitude: (While this is strength on one side, it can also prove to be a weakness. Dynamism and passion/enthusiasm is required to lead.)I am only carefree and relaxed till I think everything is under control. As soon as the deadlines and pressure pump in, I become proactive to meet them in the most efficient manner.
3. Working Alone: I prefer to work alone as I think I can deliver my best, concentrate and can avoid spending my energy on the team issues.  But since I like challenges and my past work didn’t really allow me to coordinate and work in team much, I am looking forward to grow in that area professionally.  I am excited that this will enable me to define some best practices in the area.
4. Getting Over Burdened: As mentioned earlier, I want to deliver my best and this perfectionist attitude makes me reluctant to delegate work to my subordinates. I can’t trust fully on their abilities and therefore, I over burden myself with work. The over-whelming feeling does take its toll sometimes. I realize this clearly and consciously and I have tried to work on it. Recently, I coordinated an event and tried to delegate as much work as possible and stick to concentrate to my duties.
5. Time Management Skills: Sometimes my perfectionism can affect my time management skills. Both of these are related and as I manage to curb that weakness, I believe this will be solved too.
6. Lacking Assertion: I don’t believe in coercion to get things done. My lack of assertion also stems from that fact. But I realize that this attribute is greatly required to build a strong character.  I have been working on this in my personal life as well as my teaching career and have successfully managed to have an upward graph.
7. Lacking Rational Thinking: Sometimes, I get over sensitive to what others have to say about my actions and notions. This is especially in areas of personality. I can’t meet everybody’s expectations and I can’t stop implementing the decisions I believe are right in my heart. I have tried on work on this area by researching and reading on human psychology and have managed slightly to understand and read people’s psychology and view every statement or comment in the light of practicality and rationalism.

There could be a much bigger list to use for the interview but since it was to match my Friend in order to carry the element of Truth in it, I have tried to keep it precise.  Also I believe that if asked to provide for 5 weaknesses or more, you should avoid the exact count since it makes the interviewer believe that you have had it planned already and that’s why he is unable to check your ability to respond to something out of the blues.

Some old fashioned, stereotypical employers do want the candidate to be well prepared and well read for all the questions so this decision will be based on your own personal analysis of the interviewer.

I personally believe that you can’t use one answer for each and every interview. Just make sure that your answer matches the position and business for which you are being interviewed. Analyze the interviewer’s personality, try to get into his mind, be attentive to his line of questioning, his attitude and what the things are he is stressing on.  For instance, if he’s insisting on finding the right candidate who can Grow with the company, you have to mention that this is one of your wish and desire. If you have had a couple of years experience with a previous employer, highlight it. If you don’t have this, then explain implicitly that its always been your dream and intention to Grow with a company but you also believe that you can and should not continue to work any longer when you start realizing that you can’t deliver your 100% and can’t work to your full potential. Since this won’t be honest and truthful to yourself and to your employer and you can’t continue something with a guilty conscience.

Another handy tip is to always have personal and professional experiences related to your strengths and weaknesses prepared since mostly the next question in line is to give an example to support your claims.

In a Nut Shell:

1. Be truthful.  Keep your conscience Alive.
2. Your strengths can actually be used as weaknesses.
3. Reply dynamically (as IT people would say). Base your reply on the given situation analysis. Avoid using the Prepared answer if it doesn’t fit well in a given interview scenario.
4. Understand the True definition of Weaknesses in the given scenario. Don’t start babbling your A, B, C ….Z personality weaknesses. Keeping in perspective the Job and Position, draft your weaknesses.
5. Your weaknesses are Actually things you professionally lack right now but are active and willing to develop.

The last thing to note here is that every person is different so no matter how much articles you read, no matter how much research you do on the Best Practices, there aren’t any hard and fast rules or text book definition of interviewer’s expectations or interviewee’s responses.

If you need any more examples to tricky interview questions, use a comment section below.

Share It!!

i am beat. a friend visited perth and i accompanied him down south… missed my beloved boyfriend so much… after waiting for internet to resume today, i can finally sleep. 9 more hours till the boyfriend picks me up to go for lunch at some winery(i can’t wait)…

that means 8 hours of sleep… and he better not be late, damnit.

i feel a quiet elation blooming inside, slowly spreading its cheer to every bit of me. you make so glad to call you mine.

today some white people drove past and yelled “SUSHI!” at me. i confess my vague amusement.

Wreckless is obviously a play on words, and for good reason. Many of us are walking through this life desiring to do or be something great. This is not an unworthy pursuit. Better to go for it than to be got by it, better to apprehend than to be apprehended. We have one shot at the life we are given and we need to make the most of it. The question to ask is, “Do I want to live this life with “reckless” abandon or “wreckless” abandon?” To be reckless is to be utterly unconcerned about the consequences of some action, to do things without caution to be careless. Marinate in that definition for a minute. Come on, are we really wanting to live a careless life, a life unconcerned about consequences to our actions. Is this the utopian bliss we crave. Think about it. If we all did this, gave in to our base desires with utter disregard as to how it would affect others around us, you and I both know chaos would ensue. Imagine the driver of a vehicle unconcerned and not caring whether the light was green or red, the drunk driver getting behind the wheel? What happens? You and I both know the answer. A wreck or many wrecks happen. How many stories have you heard with these same scenarios? How many wrecks have you seen or even been in? Time nor your tolerance of the written word would permit for alot of examples about reckless attitudes and actions. Notice in the definition stated previously that reckless is unconcerned about consequences presupposing that irregardless of what is done, there will be consequences. When I mention wreckless, I don’t mean that there won’t be obstacles or even accidents along the road of life. I am just saying that we can take precaution without relinquishing the joy that comes from living life to its fullest and enjoying the benefits afforded on this side of eternity. Heres an awesome quote and life lesson: “…if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care– then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Php 2:1-4) I just thought I would hit you with this in order for us to give us something to think about. Let us not live recklessly but wrecklessly so we we can wreck-less. Marinate. PD

www.viewfamilychurch.org

shame on me yalls! last week I forgot to post an oldie of the week – and to keep you calm I dedicided to post two oldies this week – isn´t that rad?
ok, here we go – first oldie is my third or fourth physical release I had on a compilation. this time it was on the often mentioned Bubble Bunny Music in 2001 on the sweet little but deceased label ‘Schneetreiben’.
they chose my tune ‘final fantasies’, which is my personal dedication to the worlds most greatest action-rpg-game that was ever made for the playstation 1. stylistic this tune goes from freaked out illbient & idm into breaky sci-fi dnb.
caution: this is the full extended version of ‘final fantasies’ which was also on my unofficial release ‘unireverse’ in 2000 – the version on ‘Bubble Bunny Music’ was only the single edit. enjoy!
hell g. – final fantasies

the second tune I´ve got for you isn´t really an oldie coz it´s nearly only 3 years old. the track is called ‘gated community’ and is from my official release Carefree from 2006 on my little label $upra-Recordings.
it could be described as a very fast electrostep/dnb-track mixed up with chiptune elements.
hell g. – gated community

i was hungry, and i made myself a snack. the snack turned out to be spaghetti with two kinds of cheese with heaps of garlic and and basil.

i comforted myself after i polished off everything, with this quote.

“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.“
-Sophia Loren

food for thought, anyone?

Slowly, silently I fall . . .

The winds whisper change as my skirt billows in the breeze.

The sun shines on my face – as the icy bite of the wind whips at my bare knees.

The ground is cold, and my heart warm.

My insides jitter at the start of this morn .

I fall as deeply as I need to be.

I fall – and fall – lightly and carefree.

I feel the breeze in my hair –

faraway from the world’s harsh stare.

I fall and fall, want and need -

And where my heart leads me to be.

I fall, and fall – fall into you.

Wrap you in these feelings – that I know you feel too.

my first day as a lacto-ovo vegetarian. i don’t think i miss meat much though.

i’ve given this matter a great deal of thought. and i’m not doing this for health reasons, nor animal welfare reasons. i think there are some things we do inevitably with no explanation for it.

(although i will continue to eat normally as i would, when i eat out.) wait, wait, wait. don’t scoff. i stay home 95% of the time, so i will consume minimal meat.

wish me luck! will be posting a detailed menu of what i have consumed after my first week goes by successfully! (: