Stereotypes: Differences Between Strengths And Weaknesses

Stereotypes are defined as “An individual’s set of beliefs about the characteristics or attributes of a group” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 188). In reference to the case study, there were many negative stereotypes existing. Asking questions in reference to your weaknesses conjure up stress and anxiousness because job applicants want to answer the question to the best of their ability, but we all sometimes have a hard time determining what could be considered as a weakness and not a downfall that could possibly not land us the job either. Many times applicants don't want to come off as cocky by stating that they don't have a weakness but at the same time they sometimes cant factor in what would be an area of that needs improvement. Furthermore, it sometimes takes others to be able to help cypher out our weaknesses.

Moreover, the company planned to reject many
applicants merely based on their response of the question asked “ what is your greatest weakness?” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 202). Many recruiters’ feel the applicants will not answer the question in the manner they feel is sufficient, thus eliminating job applicants from the hiring process. This process of elimination puts a lot of the applicants into the same boat being that If you present an answer that isn't suitable to how the recruiters feel you should answer then that disqualifies and discriminates your chances or moving forward in the screening process or to your goal of getting hired.

My thoughts are how can your weakness be considered as inadequate or wrong when weaknesses are areas or things that are suited towards you the individual.
For instance, maybe my weakness is not necessarily to point out what I do imperfectly but it could be one that shows I am overly dedicated to getting the job done by doing whatever it takes to accomplish it. That along could be a weakness within itself. However in this case study, if you don't present your reply in a manner of pointing out your inadequacy and shortcomings then you are considered ineligible. For instance when candidates are not able facilitate and discuss their weaknesses to the recruiters’ or if the applicant implies in some fashion that alerts the recruiter they are in some form of a perfectionist or can do it all then that the applicant is unable to delegate or point out their weakness, then a red flag of the recruiter goes up and the applicants are deemed as incapable of delegating and or lacked awareness of their weaknesses. Therefore your inability to reply with a correct response inhibits the applicant from going
further.

Another aspect of negative stereotyping that ignited the recruiters’ perceptions is in the case of the candidate from San Francisco. He declared that his weakness was that “No i’m confident I can do it all” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 202) fueled Ms. Klaus perception that, “he lacked awareness of his weakness” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 202). Clearly, based from the recruiter perception the organization was looking for someone that exhibited the main attribute of the organization that was highly expected which was to be able to take critical feedback. However, since the candidate was highly qualified, once the board gave him a second interview, in order for him to shed light on areas of weakness. According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2013, p. 188), “We form expectations of others and interpret their behavior according to our stereotypes.”

The negative aspects are that if you don't exhibit some form of flaw or area that need improvement that you can speak intuitively on then you don't qualify and you are rejected from the interview hiring process.