What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Back each strength with an example; pick a real weakness and show what you are doing about it.

Model answer.

What the interviewer wants. Self-awareness and honesty. For strengths, evidence; for weaknesses, a genuine area of improvement and proof that you are acting on it.

Strengths: claim, evidence, relevance
Pick two strengths that matter for the role and support each with a short example.

Sample (replace with your own experience):
"One strength is that I'm persistent with technical problems. In my project, [describe a specific problem, e.g. our sensor readings were drifting], and I spent [time] testing [what you tested] until we traced it to [cause]. A second strength is planning: as [role] for [event], I created the schedule and task list for a team of [number], and we [outcome]."

Weakness: real, not fatal, with action
Choose something real that does not directly disqualify you from the job, and show what you are doing about it.

Sample:
"I used to find it hard to speak up in large group discussions, even when I had a useful point. I've been working on it by [specific action, e.g. volunteering to present our project reviews and joining the college debate club]. I'm more comfortable now, though I still prepare notes before important meetings."

Other reasonable examples: taking on too many commitments, spending too long perfecting details, or limited experience with a particular tool you are now learning.

What to avoid

• Disguised strengths such as "I'm a perfectionist" or "I work too hard." Interviewers have heard these many times and see them as evasive.
• A weakness that is core to the job, for example "I'm not good with numbers" for a finance role or "I don't like site work" for a site engineer role.
• Strengths with no evidence ("I'm a team player and a quick learner").

Common mistake. Giving a list of six adjectives. Two strengths with examples are far more convincing.

Likely follow-up. "Give me another example of that strength," or "How would your friends describe you?" Keep your answers consistent with what you have already said.