May 1, 2025 • 9 mins
Most interview questions are easy to prepare for — but this one trips up even seasoned executives, VPs, and top salespeople.
In this episode, Matthew reveals the deceptively simple interview question designed to uncover dangerous red flags — and how you can ace it to stand out in today's ultra-competitive job market.
You’ll learn:
- The exact question top recruiters use to test your humility and self-awareness
- Why failure to answer this one question signals major red flags to hiring managers
- How to craft a smart, professional answer that shows you're coachable and growth-minded
- Why even highly successful candidates freeze — and how you can avoid it
- Real-world examples of good vs bad answers that either win offers or ruin interviews
- How mastering this one response can immediately boost your chances of landing high-level roles
Big opportunities are rare — don't lose yours over an answer you can prepare today.
https://moveupcareers.com/strategycall
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-job-interview-experience/id1538223546
https://moveupcareers.com/survey
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Do you want to hear theinterview question I've used
that I created to tie up?
Even the best candidates.
This seems to screw withexecutives as much as seasoned
salespeople to entry level andeverything in between.
I don't like trick interviewquestions.
(00:20):
I think it's goofy.
However, there are somequestions like this one that are
important to ask because youwant to find out if people have
serious red flags for thisquestion, I want to know.
A little bit about theirhumility, their self-awareness.
I'm gonna give you the questionand then I'm gonna explain
what's behind it, and you canuse this and be ready for this
(00:41):
in your interview, whether theyask this exact question, which
they probably won't, but thiswill make you ready for every
variation of it.
The question I would ask is, ifyou could change one thing about
your working style, what wouldyou improve?
Or if you could improve onething about your working style,
what would you change?
(01:03):
And some people could tell mesomething right away.
A lot of top candidates, somehad to sit and think and think.
the reasoning, the thoughtprocess behind this question is
to find out if they areself-aware.
They're humble, if they canrecognize.
Anything about them that needsto change or improve, and you
might be surprised.
(01:24):
Some of you listening might bethis person.
Some of you, hopefully not many.
You might be surprised how manypeople could not think of one
thing.
That they would change orimprove about themselves, their
working style, what they do dayto day, their skillset.
I'm not trying to trap them.
I actually want to hearsomething.
And this goes back to the rootof what's your weakness.
(01:44):
And people think that thatquestion exists so that you tell
the interviewer something badabout you, so they don't hire
you.
It's not that at all.
It never has been.
What that question is about iswhether you, have that
self-awareness, see room forimprovement, or if you think
you've made it, you've got itall.
Very few people think that, butagain, I've run into person
(02:06):
after person who, if I ask,what's your top weakness?
Or If you could change one thingabout yourself, what would you
improve?
They can't answer.
Those people are incrediblydangerous to hire.
The pattern I've seen is if youhire someone like that and say
they mess up, they do somethingsmall or big or in between,
that's wrong and their managercomes to them and says, Hey,
(02:28):
let's chat.
You did this this way.
The better way is to do this.
Let's train you up on how to dothis or just don't do it that
way again, whatever else.
Those types of people will bestandoffish.
They won't take feedback.
They won't make a plan toimprove'cause they think they've
already got it.
And to them, that manager isdumb.
That manager doesn't do thingsthe right way or doesn't have
(02:50):
the vision or doesn't understandwhat they were thinking.
So when you're presented withthis question, you're probably
being tested on your humility,your tact, your self-awareness,
how well you work with others,and take feedback.
Having a weakness is normal.
We all have weaknesses.
(03:11):
Wanting to change somethingabout yourself is admirable.
Wanting to improve somethingthat's the type of employee we
all want to have.
What's the opposite of someonewho wants to change and wants to
improve?
To keep it simple, it's someonewho won't.
And think of it that way.
When you have an employee,everyone needs to improve.
And maybe it's not just onfeedback.
Maybe it's not just that someonedid something they shouldn't and
(03:33):
they got in trouble.
Maybe it's just, Hey, we allneed to step up our AI game this
month so that we can competewith a, b, C company.
And one person goes, I don'tneed to use that AI stuff to
stay competitive.
It's all up here in my head.
Clients love me just the way Iam.
Be careful when you run intoquestions like this.
(03:55):
First off, be humble.
If you're not, this podcastprobably isn't for you, but be
humble and answer in a waythat's humble and smart to me.
The best way to do this, whetheryou're asked a weaknesses
question or the way I word it,if you could change one thing
about yourself, what would youimprove?
Is to talk about something, aweakness that is real.
(04:18):
And professional, right?
You don't wanna get weird, realdoes not interfere with their
job.
And you have a game plan on howto fix it.
So an example might be, if youwanna get really real you could
say, I've been late to get to mybaseball team's practice.
(04:40):
And it's been noticed and I'venoticed that what.
Is getting in the way is thisthing and this thing.
So what I did is I actuallystarted setting my clock five
minutes earlier and routed outthe route to the new baseball
field, which is further away, itturns out than the old one.
Because of that plan that I putinto place, I've been two
minutes early for every practiceand haven't run into that issue
(05:03):
again.
Something along those lines.
So identify it, say it out loud,something that's real, not
something that's stupid like,oh, I care too much, or I work
too hard, I work too many hours.
Get out there in the open andtalk about your plan to fix it.
What's interesting to me is thefurther along people are in
(05:24):
their career, it seems the morethat they struggle with this
question.
This podcast, the listener baseis professionals that are
further along in their career.
Many are director level, VPC-suite.
Paid, interviewed.
However, when it comes totalking about themselves or
yourself, that seems to be whenthey struggle most.
(05:47):
It's probably when you strugglemost.
If I ask you about your hardskills, how you did this with a
spreadsheet, how you lead teams,your vision for this thing or
that thing.
It's probably a lot clearer.
You're probably able to speakabout that in a much more
meaningful way that's understoodby a recruiter, a hiring
manager, a CEO, A panel, whoeveryou're talking to.
(06:08):
However, when it comes to thesesoft skills for whatever reason,
a lot of times the further alongsomeone is I.
The more progress they are intheir career, the more they
struggle with a question, justlike this.
Questions about motivations andmany other things.
So look out.
This question is one of a fewred flags I had.
(06:28):
If someone couldn't answer thisquestion, if someone had to
think for 20 seconds on this, 10seconds, whatever, and say, just
nothing comes to mind right now.
This is one of the fewquestions.
That I wouldn't hire that personbecause of that.
That's right.
You heard me right.
And it's not because I needed aperfect answer, it's just I have
(06:50):
witnessed too much, seen toomuch hired people.
I shouldn't have worked withhiring managers or managers that
we hired people together and weignored this red flag, and it
tends to work out the exact sameway every time.
So first thing to do isobviously reflect, be humble.
You can improve.
I guarantee it.
(07:10):
And the next is work on ananswer to this.
It could be about something inyour job, something small that
you're working on improving.
One thing that you would change,it could be I talk a little bit
too much in client meetings, soI've actually been reading a
book on active listening, eyecontact, and pauses after people
finish.
It's actually been noticed andrecognized not only by clients,
(07:33):
but by my team and just throughthis small change, digging into
this book and practicing it, Ithink I've become a better
person to talk to professionallyand personally.
There you go.
Or maybe you don't talk enoughand your answer would be
different.
Either way, look out for thisone.
Prepare for it, and make sureyou put your best foot forward
because big opportunities arerare, and I want you to show up
(07:56):
for yours.
Thanks for listening to the MoveUp Podcast, formally known as
the job interview experience.
Do you want to hear theinterview question I've used
that I created to tie up?
Even the best candidates.
This seems to screw withexecutives as much as seasoned
salespeople to entry level andeverything in between.
I don't like trick interviewquestions.
(00:20):
I think it's goofy.
However, there are somequestions like this one that are
important to ask because youwant to find out if people have
serious red flags for thisquestion, I want to know.
A little bit about theirhumility, their self-awareness.
I'm gonna give you the questionand then I'm gonna explain
what's behind it, and you canuse this and be ready for this
(00:41):
in your interview, whether theyask this exact question, which
they probably won't, but thiswill make you ready for every
variation of it.
The question I would ask is, ifyou could change one thing about
your working style, what wouldyou improve?
Or if you could improve onething about your working style,
what would you change?
(01:03):
And some people could tell mesomething right away.
A lot of top candidates, somehad to sit and think and think.
the reasoning, the thoughtprocess behind this question is
to find out if they areself-aware.
They're humble, if they canrecognize.
Anything about them that needsto change or improve, and you
might be surprised.
(01:24):
Some of you listening might bethis person.
Some of you, hopefully not many.
You might be surprised how manypeople could not think of one
thing.
That they would change orimprove about themselves, their
working style, what they do dayto day, their skillset.
I'm not trying to trap them.
I actually want to hearsomething.
And this goes back to the rootof what's your weakness.
(01:44):
And people think that thatquestion exists so that you tell
the interviewer something badabout you, so they don't hire
you.
It's not that at all.
It never has been.
What that question is about iswhether you, have that
self-awareness, see room forimprovement, or if you think
you've made it, you've got itall.
Very few people think that, butagain, I've run into person
(02:06):
after person who, if I ask,what's your top weakness?
Or If you could change one thingabout yourself, what would you
improve?
They can't answer.
Those people are incrediblydangerous to hire.
The pattern I've seen is if youhire someone like that and say
they mess up, they do somethingsmall or big or in between,
that's wrong and their managercomes to them and says, Hey,
(02:28):
let's chat.
You did this this way.
The better way is to do this.
Let's train you up on how to dothis or just don't do it that
way again, whatever else.
Those types of people will bestandoffish.
They won't take feedback.
They won't make a plan toimprove'cause they think they've
already got it.
And to them, that manager isdumb.
That manager doesn't do thingsthe right way or doesn't have
(02:50):
the vision or doesn't understandwhat they were thinking.
So when you're presented withthis question, you're probably
being tested on your humility,your tact, your self-awareness,
how well you work with others,and take feedback.
Having a weakness is normal.
We all have weaknesses.
(03:11):
Wanting to change somethingabout yourself is admirable.
Wanting to improve somethingthat's the type of employee we
all want to have.
What's the opposite of someonewho wants to change and wants to
improve?
To keep it simple, it's someonewho won't.
And think of it that way.
When you have an employee,everyone needs to improve.
And maybe it's not just onfeedback.
Maybe it's not just that someonedid something they shouldn't and
(03:33):
they got in trouble.
Maybe it's just, Hey, we allneed to step up our AI game this
month so that we can competewith a, b, C company.
And one person goes, I don'tneed to use that AI stuff to
stay competitive.
It's all up here in my head.
Clients love me just the way Iam.
Be careful when you run intoquestions like this.
(03:55):
First off, be humble.
If you're not, this podcastprobably isn't for you, but be
humble and answer in a waythat's humble and smart to me.
The best way to do this, whetheryou're asked a weaknesses
question or the way I word it,if you could change one thing
about yourself, what would youimprove?
Is to talk about something, aweakness that is real.
(04:18):
And professional, right?
You don't wanna get weird, realdoes not interfere with their
job.
And you have a game plan on howto fix it.
So an example might be, if youwanna get really real you could
say, I've been late to get to mybaseball team's practice.
(04:40):
And it's been noticed and I'venoticed that what.
Is getting in the way is thisthing and this thing.
So what I did is I actuallystarted setting my clock five
minutes earlier and routed outthe route to the new baseball
field, which is further away, itturns out than the old one.
Because of that plan that I putinto place, I've been two
minutes early for every practiceand haven't run into that issue
(05:03):
again.
Something along those lines.
So identify it, say it out loud,something that's real, not
something that's stupid like,oh, I care too much, or I work
too hard, I work too many hours.
Get out there in the open andtalk about your plan to fix it.
What's interesting to me is thefurther along people are in
(05:24):
their career, it seems the morethat they struggle with this
question.
This podcast, the listener baseis professionals that are
further along in their career.
Many are director level, VPC-suite.
Paid, interviewed.
However, when it comes totalking about themselves or
yourself, that seems to be whenthey struggle most.
(05:47):
It's probably when you strugglemost.
If I ask you about your hardskills, how you did this with a
spreadsheet, how you lead teams,your vision for this thing or
that thing.
It's probably a lot clearer.
You're probably able to speakabout that in a much more
meaningful way that's understoodby a recruiter, a hiring
manager, a CEO, A panel, whoeveryou're talking to.
(06:08):
However, when it comes to thesesoft skills for whatever reason,
a lot of times the further alongsomeone is I.
The more progress they are intheir career, the more they
struggle with a question, justlike this.
Questions about motivations andmany other things.
So look out.
This question is one of a fewred flags I had.
(06:28):
If someone couldn't answer thisquestion, if someone had to
think for 20 seconds on this, 10seconds, whatever, and say, just
nothing comes to mind right now.
This is one of the fewquestions.
That I wouldn't hire that personbecause of that.
That's right.
You heard me right.
And it's not because I needed aperfect answer, it's just I have
(06:50):
witnessed too much, seen toomuch hired people.
I shouldn't have worked withhiring managers or managers that
we hired people together and weignored this red flag, and it
tends to work out the exact sameway every time.
So first thing to do isobviously reflect, be humble.
You can improve.
I guarantee it.
(07:10):
And the next is work on ananswer to this.
It could be about something inyour job, something small that
you're working on improving.
One thing that you would change,it could be I talk a little bit
too much in client meetings, soI've actually been reading a
book on active listening, eyecontact, and pauses after people
finish.
It's actually been noticed andrecognized not only by clients,
(07:33):
but by my team and just throughthis small change, digging into
this book and practicing it, Ithink I've become a better
person to talk to professionallyand personally.
There you go.
Or maybe you don't talk enoughand your answer would be
different.
Either way, look out for thisone.
Prepare for it, and make sureyou put your best foot forward
because big opportunities arerare, and I want you to show up
(07:56):
for yours.
Thanks for listening to the MoveUp Podcast, formally known as
the job interview experience.
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