My nephew was interviewing for his first paid internship and asked for some advice on how to answer the question "What's your biggest weakness?". It's a question most of us have had to respond to at some point in our career. There are a number of ways to respond. You can identify something that you are already taking steps to correct. You can pick something that is unrelated to the skills required for the job. You can redirect the conversation by giving an example of a time that you turned a negative trait into a positive result. My recommendation to my nephew was to rephrase the question to focus on a desired skill or competency. Tell the interviewer what he needed to learn and how the job would give him that opportunity.

I recommend asking yourself this question periodically as a vehicle to help you with your career development. What skills do you need to learn in order to achieve your career goals and how will your current assignment help you to acquire them? Keep a list of desired skills and competencies and put a plan in place today to achieve them.

By the way, he got the job!