🌍Q2: “What Are Your Strengths?” — Ace That Job Interview!

Welcome back to our blog series on answering job interview questions in English with confidence. In Part 1, we explored the most common questions you might face. Now, in Part 2, we’re going to focus on another interview classic:

💬 Question 2: What are your strengths?

It sounds straightforward — but giving the right sort of answer takes a little planning. Let’s get started!

🎯 What Are Interviewers Looking For?

When they ask about your strengths, the interviewer wants to know:

What you’re good at professionally
How your skills are relevant to the role
Whether you can describe yourself confidently but realistically

This isn’t the time to talk about personal hobbies like cooking or music (unless they’re somehow related to the job!). Keep the focus on work-related skills.

✅ How to Structure Your Answer

Follow this simple Choose + Explain + Example structure:

Choose 2–3 strengths that are relevant to the role
Explain each one briefly
Give an example for at least one (using the STAR method, if you can)

🧠 The STAR method helps you structure your examples clearly by describing the Situation, Task, Action, and Result. It’s a simple way to keep your answers organised and professional, even when you feel nervous. Think about strengths such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, organisation, leadership, creativity, technical skills, or languages — whichever best suits the role you’re applying for.

💡 Top Tips

Tailor your answer to the job. Focus on strengths that are valuable for this particular position.
Sound positive but modest: Be confident without coming across as arrogant.
Use real examples: Evidence makes your answer much stronger.
Online tip: In a video interview, smile and maintain good posture when speaking about your strengths. It shows confidence.

📝 Useful Phrases

Here are some good ways to structure your answer:

Choosing Strengths:

“One of my key strengths is ___.”
“I’m particularly strong when it comes to ___.”
“I have a natural ability for ___.”

Explaining and Giving Examples:

“For example, in my last role, I ___.”
“This skill helped me when ___.”
“A good example of this would be ___”

✏️ Your Task

Make a few notes to help you answer this question. Think about:

Which 2–3 strengths you want to highlight
A real example where you demonstrated each strength
How these strengths are relevant to the job you're applying for

Practise saying your answer aloud — or record yourself for extra practice.

📖 Case Study:

👤 Meet Mariana Silva

Mariana Silva is a 32-year-old marketing specialist from São Paulo, Brazil. After studying Communications at the University of São Paulo, she developed a strong career in digital marketing, brand management, and international campaigns. Mariana is passionate about creative problem-solving, cross-cultural communication, and helping brands grow in global markets. She’s now applying for a marketing role at an international retail company.

💼 Job Interview Role Play – "What Are Your Strengths?"

Interviewer: Can you tell me about some of your strengths?

Mariana: Of course. One of my key strengths is creative problem-solving. I enjoy finding new ways to reach different audiences, especially when budgets are tight or deadlines are challenging.

For example, in my previous role at BrightWave Marketing, I led a small team to redesign our social media strategy using more user-generated content. This helped us to boost engagement by 40% without increasing the budget.

Another strength is communication. I’m very comfortable working across cultures, which has been extremely useful in international campaigns. I’ve collaborated closely with teams across Europe, Asia, and the United States, adapting our marketing messages to suit different audiences.

Finally, I’m highly organised. In my current role, I manage multiple projects at once, and I make sure deadlines are always met without compromising creativity. I use project management tools like Asana and Monday.com to keep everything running smoothly.

I believe these strengths fit well with the requirements of this role, especially the emphasis on creativity, teamwork, and international experience.

✅ What’s Next?

Now it’s your turn!

Choose 2–3 strengths that match the role you’re aiming for
Think of a real example to support each one
Practise speaking naturally — don’t memorise a script!

In the next blog post, we’ll tackle another classic interview question: “What is your biggest weakness?” and show you how to answer it with confidence.

Remember: every time you practise, you’re building stronger skills and more confidence.

Keep going. You’re doing brilliantly!

Want more practice? Download the worksheet here!