Last week, I tried to rent out a room in my apartment after my previous roommate left abruptly without notice. I advertised the room on social media a few days ago and had a few people come to see it in person. However, none seemed keen on signing the contract. Despite reposting the advertisement, hoping to finalize things this week. There was no progress by the end of the weekend.
Initially, I thought it would be challenging to find a tenant quickly due to the poor economy. But my hope rose when, on the second day, four groups of people came to view the room, and more than ten added me on Wechat. Sadly, after that, there were no more groups interested in viewing the room or enquiries about it. This situation weighed on my mind, even disrupting my sleep.
I candidly talked with my colleagues, acknowledging that despite knowing the worst-case scenario, I was still nervous. I realized that this anxiety wasn’t isolated to just this incident but a general weakness of mine. Whenever I deeply care about something, I become anxious, which can impact my performance. I believe this trait might have hindered me from achieving better outcomes in the past, despite my efforts.
So, after successfully renting out the room, during my commute, I had a moment of inspiration about writing for several reasons.
I am embarking on a new journey this year and am preparing for an upcoming trip, part of which involves getting ready for an interview next year. Honestly, I struggle with behavioral interview questions. Last Spring Festival, I saw my younger brother, who was prepping for an important interview, facing several of those questions. I admitted to my family that I couldn’t promptly respond to such questions. However, I shared my perspective on interviews, noting that it’s challenging to assess someone accurately through a few conversations alone. Typically, at work, you have time to prepare, unlike in an interview setting where immediate responses are expected. Preparation can involve gathering information to aid in task completion and showcasing your skills before the interview.
Specifically, I plan to prepare for interviews by reviewing common questions and formulating responses. After last year’s thoughts from ChatGPT, I’ve realized the importance of quality over quantity. Hence, I’ll focus on topics that I’ve pondered over and write meaningfully, rather than producing a large volume of content quickly, which ChatGPT could do but would be less meaningful.
Another insight from ChatGPT is the growing importance of candid self-expression. Detailed personal communication is essential for obtaining in-depth assistance from AI. I plan to write more about my daily thoughts to enrich my future interactions with AI assistants, believing that personal exploration is an area where AI cannot outperform human introspection.
I don’t know when this article will be helpful but this is also a good chance for me to explore and recognize myself. Plus, I plan to write the English version only to not only practice my English skills and try to adopt English writing to prepare for the coming academic journey but also could share more sincerity do not need to consider other people’s opinions.
When I reflected on the topic of weaknesses, two points came to mind.
Firstly, no one is perfect, meaning everyone has their weaknesses. “What’s your biggest weakness” can be a terrible question in certain contexts. On closer examination, there’s no definitive answer to questions about weaknesses or any behavioral interview questions. The focus isn’t on the answer itself but on your attitude and analytical process. Hence, if my response leads to rejection, I won’t regret it, as it indicates a fundamental difference in perspective, beneficial for both parties. This reminds me of a quote from Paul Graham’s “How to Do Great Work”:
“And don’t take rejection by committees to heart. The qualities that impress admissions officers and prize committees are quite different from those required to do great work. The decisions of selection committees are only meaningful to the extent that they’re part of a feedback loop, and very few are”
Similarly, Sam Altman in “How To Be Successful” emphasizes playing to your strengths:
“Everyone is better at some things than others. Define yourself by your strengths, not your weaknesses. Acknowledge your weaknesses and figure out how to work around them, but don’t let them stop you from doing what you want to do.”
Secondly, weakness can be seen as the flip side of strength, shaped by your personality and experiences. This concept isn’t straightforward. I gained insight from Steve Jobs in “Make Something Wonderful”, where he discusses his management weakness in the 1990s. His perspective was enlightening: