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When applying for your MBA at almost any business school, you will be asked to address your strengths and weaknesses during the essays or the interviews for individual schools. Naturally, many people can identify and articulate their own strengths; it is one’s weaknesses that are more difficult to come to terms with.

The first thing to do is to brainstorm potential strengths and weaknesses you would be happy to share with the admissions officers. Take your time with this exercise; think about your strengths in terms of actions you have taken, ways of thinking, personality traits, achievements, ideologies and so on. Some individuals find it hard to be objective when it comes to reviewing themselves; my advice is to ask colleagues, close friends and family what they believe your key strengths are. You can even go back and look at your past successful projects and performance record at work. Find out what area you have improved the most on in the last couple years.

At the same time, you need to be brainstorming your areas of weakness. Undoubtedly, weaknesses are what make us human. The idea of having to describe your biggest weakness is a concept many MBA applicants dread. In reality, the best MBA applicants are individuals who can openly reveal and discuss genuine weakness areas. This shows the admissions committee you are able to critically self evaluate and make self improvements. Try to be as honest as possible with yourself. A genuine weakness is something you struggle with and are actively trying to improve on. Steer clear of generic weaknesses that are really disguised strengths. The admissions officers can see right through these! Examples of these include stating you are a perfectionist or too hardworking.   Your task is to find a real weakness, state why it is relevant to you as a prospective MBA student, how you are currently addressing the problem and finally how an MBA will help you make it a strength. Good examples include having limited marketing knowledge, difficulty with organization, limited cross-cultural leadership experience or unrefined presentation skills.

Once this brainstorm is complete you can then select the most applicable to write about in your application. With a list of ideas you then have the flexibility to change your strengths in accordance with the preferences of the business school you are applying to. This is very important so that you can show how you fit into their particular program and match your application to what they are looking for.

When reviewing the brainstorm, avoid strengths that could come off as bragging or just showing off! The admissions officers are looking for confidence, not arrogance, and there is a very thin line between the two. Furthermore, make sure your strengths and weaknesses do not clash. For example, if a strength of yours is that you are direct, straightforward and an effective communicator, and your weakness is that you can be too blunt and offend colleagues or team member, then you have a paradox.

In conclusion, to effectively answer questions on your strengths and weaknesses, you must be frank and truthful. Take your time to plan and prepare for these tricky questions. At the end of the day, the admissions officers will be thankful for your honesty.