Biggest Weakness Question

[ksgirl]

This might be a really stupid question, but what is a good answer for the "what's your biggest weakness" question? I’ve thought and thought about this question and everything I really feel are my weaknesses are things that I would never tell an admission committee about. Is anyone else having this problem?

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[dyachei]

This might be a really stupid question, but what is a good answer for the "what's your biggest weakness" question? I’ve thought and thought about this question and everything I really feel are my weaknesses are things that I would never tell an admission committee about. Is anyone else having this problem?

best advice i can give you is to think of a weakness you have and tell the admissions committee how you're working on fixing that weakness (if you are - don't lie). if at all possible, choose a weakness that may have a strength attached. Like maybe you aren't very outspoken, but because of that you think through things more carefully or something. If you choose any one of your weaknesses and try to find a positive to it, I think you'll be ok.

 

[banditalfi]

best advice i can give you is to think of a weakness you have and tell the admissions committee how you're working on fixing that weakness (if you are - don't lie). if at all possible, choose a weakness that may have a strength attached. Like maybe you aren't very outspoken, but because of that you think through things more carefully or something. If you choose any one of your weaknesses and try to find a positive to it, I think you'll be ok.

Exactly. For me I tend to dwell on and get upset/frustrated with things that are out of my control. This has to do both with things at work - nice animals coming in in critical conditions with ailments that could have easily been prevented - and in school - when an exam is unfair or when I just don't like how a professor is teaching the course. I used to just get caught up on what upset me about these situations, but I have realized that doesn't do anything - now I take my time to think about the situation I am currently in, while realizing that I can't change it, to think about what I can do to make it better.

 

[168135]

I'm not sure what my weakness is either!

Well, my mom gave me the "perfectionist" gene.

And I prefer to work alone than with others... but that is getting better. I used to be really anti-social, and now I'm not so much anymore, and I am getting better!

I sometimes get upset like dyachei. I just hate it when people are stupid. "Oh I didn't know that a dog is not supposed to do that... oh, all of my dogs have been doing that and there hasn't been a problem... oh, other-vet didn't say that doing this was wrong..." It gets me pretty riled up.

 

[critterfixer]

I used to do human resources, and one thing I want to stress is do NOT say "perfectionism." Everyone and their mother uses that one and even if it is true, the interviewer will see it as an unwillingness to look deeper inside oneself. I could tell who read the books about how to answer interview questions versus the ones who showed they were introspective enough to have some insight about themselves.

Everyone has weakness. No one expects that you have a perfect personality. Just really think about what you wish you could change about yourself or what causes you to stumble and then frame it in terms that show you recognize this in yourself and this is how you either overcome the tendency or use it to your advantage--because almost all weaknesses can be strengths in certain situations.

That said, I was not asked that question at my interviews. I was asked, however, to describe a situation in which I had interpersonal problems and then describe what I did about it. That was for Illinois.

 

[chris03333]

The worst answers I have heard as an interviewer is:
"I do not have one" and
"I can't think of any"


Come on now people, this is one question you will be asked 9 of 10 interviews you go on (even if it is not for vet school). You can think of something

 

[polo vet]

i've thought about the weakness question too. The way to identify a weekness is ask what your firends would say your weakness was. For me it is very obvious... no social filter bc i am ADD (i am very truthful and unabashed which can lead to akward situations). now is this a quality that I can really reveal in an interview? what do yall think...

 

[RockStarKDub]

That's my problem too. I can identify a couple of weaknesses, but to talk about them in an interview? I'm not sure.

 

[VAgirl]

Well, I've been thinking about this for myself, and at this point I think I could talk about one or two weaknesses that I've identified recently that I've really been working on. So that's what I'd go with. Because I can talk about how I'm working to improve them. But at the same time, I think most traits are 2 sided (i.e. both a strength and a weakness) depending upon how you use them. Think about it. Maybe you'll disagree, but just for fun see if you can't think up a good and bad side to a variety of different traits. I'll bet you can.

Oh, just to get us going...for the no filter thing, that can be that you're honest and you speak your mind. Vet med is full of tough issues, and someone who is capable of not BSing is great. Vets need to be able to not sugar coat things at times. Like the fact that someone is doing something harmful to their pet...it's uncomfortable, but the vet needs to be able to convey that message to them. I personally might have a hard time with that, and would have to practice it. But that particular skill would come much more easily to you.

 

[bakaduin]

I've heard from an AdCom person that the WORST way you can answer this question is saying: "My weakness is Im a perfectionist". He said for them its cliche and they know that everyone has weaknesses so saying this just makes you look like your skirting the question.

 

[Angelo84]

I was asked this question in several interviews. My answer was that it is hard for me to delegate. I know if I do it I'll do it right. If I have someone else do it that might not happen. Or it will be done faster if I do it then someone else. Hopefully I'll have well trained staff when I graduate so that I can trust them to do their jobs!

 

[RockStarKDub]

I was asked this question in several interviews. My answer was that it is hard for me to delegate. I know if I do it I'll do it right. If I have someone else do it that might not happen. Or it will be done faster if I do it then someone else. Hopefully I'll have well trained staff when I graduate so that I can trust them to do their jobs!

Did you turn it into a strength somehow in your interview? Or did you just say you hope you have a well trained staff? lol

 

[nyanko]

I agree with the fact that many personality traits are double sided - it can be your biggest strength and your biggest weakness at the same time. At interviews I always answer this way. They ask what my biggest strength is, and I tell them truthfully, I'm persistent/determined/stubborn/pigheaded. I won't stop until I get what I am aiming to get. Obviously this is worked into my biggest weakness as well - sometimes I'm inflexible. But I'm working on it, and I try to emphasize how I've been working on it, as previously mentioned.

Just be consistent with what you say and don't lie about it and it will come to you easily. I don't really think there are "right" or "wrong" answers as long as you are honest.

 

[168135]

I can't remember who said it to me, but someone said that when asked your weakness, say something like "I work too hard." Now that is BS.

But I can see how a weakness can also be a strength. Like me, prefering to be by myself than with others. That has made me more independent and responsible. On the other hand, I sometimes feel awkward when placed in social situations. My first job, which was at a fast food restaurant really brought me out of my shell. Everybody got along with everybody... it was fun! But the clinic I volunteered at... it was so segregated and took me a long time to find my place... and still, the receptionists don't even look at the volunteers, and two of the six vets only speak to you when they need you for something. I hate that! It makes me feel awkward, and when I feel awkward, I feel like I did something wrong and I withdraw. I'm working on it... baby steps... saying hello, asking them how they are doing... ask them how their pets are doing... ask them if they mind if I turn the vacuum on

 

[lailanni]

But the clinic I volunteered at... it was so segregated and took me a long time to find my place... and still, the receptionists don't even look at the volunteers, and two of the six vets only speak to you when they need you for something. I hate that! It makes me feel awkward, and when I feel awkward, I feel like I did something wrong and I withdraw. I'm working on it... baby steps... saying hello, asking them how they are doing... ask them how their pets are doing... ask them if they mind if I turn the vacuum on

Sorry to hear that your volunteer experience isn't too friendly, especially with the vets not talking to you! That's just rude!

Sometimes I felt the same way too when I started volunteering. When I was brand new, I didn't know what anything was, where anything was, or how to do anything. I felt rather useless and kind of left out, and on busy days no one has time to explain things.

I hope in time things get better for you, as it did for me. After I stuck around long enough I got to be part of the family and everyone is very kind, they just took a while to warm up. Probably helped that I'm an excellet baker and brought yummies to work : )

-- And as to my weakness, I'm probably on the quiet side. Mostly because I think before I speak....

 

[sofficat]

But the clinic I volunteered at... it was so segregated and took me a long time to find my place... and still, the receptionists don't even look at the volunteers, and two of the six vets only speak to you when they need you for something. I hate that! It makes me feel awkward, and when I feel awkward, I feel like I did something wrong and I withdraw. I'm working on it... baby steps... saying hello, asking them how they are doing... ask them how their pets are doing... ask them if they mind if I turn the vacuum on

the good thing about crappy experiences like this is when you do 'climb up the latter' (at this place or others) you know what the newbies feel like and you can do what you can to keep them from going thru what you did.

 

[JerseyisCutest]

.

 

[david594]

Would I be totally shooting myself in the foot to say my weakness is getting motivation to do things? Its the single thing I find hardest of anything. I have managed to overcome it to some degree in finding a clinic to volunteer at and to take an incredibly low paying job so I would have the time to go back to school and finish up all my pre-vet coursework(with good grades).

 

[sofficat]

The exact sort of things have happened to me. I worked at restaurants and as a paralegal before I volunteered at my first clinic. My previous jobs were at places where people all talked and got along for the most part; we typically even hung out outside of work. But then I went to the clinic, and I felt like lailanni did.........I had no idea what things where, where anything was, what exactly was going on........and I could feel several techs rolling their eyes behind my back and even going so far as to say stuff to each other about me. It was like they did not remember what it was like to first start work in a clinic.....and I know they've been in that position before obviously. I felt awkward much of the time. I loved going there when I first started. Then I realized that several people just looked at me as a joke. It doesn't help that I'm sometimes quiet when I first meet people that I'm going to be around a lot. I really felt like that used that to their advantage. I'm now at an emergency clinic, and the people there are much nicer, friendlier, and more helpful.

If forgot to add that it made me feel a little better to know that I wasn't alone.....

i worked at a clinic for 3 months. the people there were so negative and non friendly. i felt like they never considered me a fellow tech (i had 4 yrs experience at that point- more than 1/2 of the techs there!). there was even an instance when one of the techs couldn't hit a jugular- i was standing right above her and she called for another tech to try who was busy across the room. i was fed up at that point so i said 'how about i try since i'm standing right here.' she looked very surprised and said, 'oh.. ok' of course i hit the jug beautifully... and quit about a week later. i can't work in an atmosphere with people like that. as a vet i will always be conscious about the techs and how they treat each other.

 

[chloeny]

funny, i can totally relate. imagine working, running your own company, at the top of your game, and then walking into a situation where tech's almost half your age with less education are looking at you like you're a joke. Sure, I didn't know anything as I was sweeping floors at for $10 an hour, but it was by choice. Still feels odd. Hard to get over, very humbling experience.

Biggest weakness without a doubt, overly emotional. No room for emotions in medicine, right?

 

[Angelo84]

Did you turn it into a strength somehow in your interview? Or did you just say you hope you have a well trained staff? lol

I don't think I turned it into a strength. I'm not even sure how I would. I believe I just said something along the lines of I am trying to delegate more. Of course it would be easier to delegate at work if I was sure that the people I asked to do things would do them but somehow that often isn't true at the moment! Ergg...

 

[168135]

If forgot to add that it made me feel a little better to know that I wasn't alone.....

I was there for almost a year. When I went in on my own time to volunteer for surgeries, things were different. The techs let me watch and I joked around with them. The doctors rambled on and on about what they were doing and why they were doing it.

When I go home for Christmas break, I'm going to go back and observe some surgies if there is any. I am also going to go during the summer and job shadow. I'm going to ask to volunteer/job-shadow at another vet clinic in the area that I heard was good, I'm going to go volunteer at the animal shelter and walk the dogs, my mom is going to help me find a farm to volunteer on, and I'm going back to my old job because I love it to death.

It is really nice to know that other people went through the same thing that I went through. That makes me feel a lot better. It is a shame that it is like that. During my vet tech interview, I told them that the people who work in clinics are like a family... everybody gets along and everybody works together... and I want to be a part of that family. I think I was the odd one out because I was the newest, the kennel attendent that I worked with didn't have a good reputation as the other ones, and, unlike everybody else, besides volunteering at the shelter, this was my first real experience in working with animals. All of the other kennel attends/volunteers were in 4H at some point, were into large animal veterinary medicine and lived on a farm. Me? I have a cat. She is my first pet. Our family has had her for five years. Up until two years ago, I hadn't even seen the inside of a vets' office because my parents had this attitude that "Oh, if she is healthy, she doesn't have to go." But I changed that... she gets yearly check-ups and is healthy.

 

[lailanni]

Up until two years ago, I hadn't even seen the inside of a vets' office because my parents had this attitude that "Oh, if she is healthy, she doesn't have to go." But I changed that... she gets yearly check-ups and is healthy.

Same boat here, sort of. My parents didn't like vets, and told me they were fake doctors who just charged a lot of money. No one in my family really is into animals.... I'm kind of a mutant : ) I had to use my own money and take my animals to the vet myself. I'd never been to a vet office until I was 16.

Now that I'm on my way to being a vet, they're semi supportive -- in that they don't openly oppose me. But I'm constantly getting asked if that what I really want to do, or if I'm sure ...blah blah blah... I can only imagine how much they'll nag at me if I don't get accepted this year : (

 

[thereservoirdog]

When I'm asked what my biggest weakness is, I want to be honest and say that I'm very shy. But at the same time, to be a vet I guess your supposed to have good people skills so I'm still not sure what they would think about that answer.

Also, I'm glad too see I'm not the only person who had trouble starting out. When I shadowed my first vet, he barely talked to me, sometimes I'd be following him to an exam room and he'd shut the door right in my face without saying anything.

 

[168135]

Same boat here, sort of. My parents didn't like vets, and told me they were fake doctors who just charged a lot of money. No one in my family really is into animals.... I'm kind of a mutant : ) I had to use my own money and take my animals to the vet myself. I'd never been to a vet office until I was 16.

Now that I'm on my way to being a vet, they're semi supportive -- in that they don't openly oppose me. But I'm constantly getting asked if that what I really want to do, or if I'm sure ...blah blah blah... I can only imagine how much they'll nag at me if I don't get accepted this year : (

I think my parents learned their lesson. My cat had had lost some teeth in the past before we got her and a week or two after I persuaded her to book Susie's first appointment, we found part of one of her teeth on the carpet. Her teeth were so bad that she ended up having five of them pulled, which ended up costing us a lot of money, and my mom hated seeing my cat like that. She got a call a month ago from the vet... they wanted her to come in for a dental... my mom asked my advice on it, and since her teeth were perfect in August, I said that it probably wasn't necessary.

And my parents have always been supporitive... I sent my mom information on this internship that I would love to do one of these years and she told me if it is something that I want to do, then go for it. Farm Sanctuary has internships where you can spend a month helping to care for their animals. I'm Canadian, so I'll have to email them about it... I'm trying to come up with creative ways to get experience with animals. My mom said that when I come home this summer, she'll help. I love my parents... they have faith in me.


I was shy up to a point. Once I started working fast food, I was pretty muched forced to be vocal, I guess... that job really got me out of my shell... I used to be nervous around customers and nervous about screwing up, but as you learn more stuff about the job, you gain more confidence, and before you know it, you're listing off what comes in a brownie earthquake and asking little kids if they want sprinkles on their ice cream... sprinkles can totally light a kid up.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I've heard from an AdCom person that the WORST way you can answer this question is saying: "My weakness is Im a perfectionist". He said for them its cliche and they know that everyone has weaknesses so saying this just makes you look like your skirting the question.

Yes yes yes, for goodness sakes don't say "Oh, my greatest weakness is that I am a perfectionist." It makes you come off sounding either a) like you read too many interview prep questions and b) very full of yourself ("oo oo look at me, even my weakness is a strength, aren't I awesome?")

I said that my greatest weakness was that I tend to get frustrated very easily if I do not succeed on the first try. But you should always follow up with a *quick* sentence in how you are working on that, or things that you have experienced that are helping you cope with that.

When they ask you this question, they are looking for honesty! They want to know if you can critically and honestly evaluate yourself. They are NOT going to reject you because of WHAT you answer, thinking "Oh, this is a bad weakness! We can't let him/her in!" They are more interested in honesty and HOW you answer.

 

[VAgirl]

When they ask you this question, they are looking for honesty! They want to know if you can critically and honestly evaluate yourself. They are NOT going to reject you because of WHAT you answer, thinking "Oh, this is a bad weakness! We can't let him/her in!" They are more interested in honesty and HOW you answer.

Just to play devil's advocate, I'm sure there are some things you could say that would make them do a double take. One that comes to mind is something like if you have issues with aggression/rage. Or a substance abuse problem. My point is some weaknesses might give them pause.

 

[alliecat44]

I agree with both points that a) they are looking for your ability to think critically about what you can improve; and b) there ARE some weaknesses that might make them think twice about accepting you. (These weaknesses are pretty rare, though the two VAgirl mentioned are excellent examples.) I would add to try to avoid saying "I have a difficult time working with people" or something to that affect--same principle as not saying "I want to be a vet because I don't like people." The vast majority of your time will be spent with people!

I think my answer to this question was about how I tend to micromanage things and am reluctant to delegate tasks because I want them done correctly the first time. I pointed out, though, that when I became a head technician I actively strove to improve this, and cited several examples of things I had delegated and how enjoyable it was to teach someone complicated tasks and watch them succeed. Again, it's all about emphasizing what you're doing to improve yourself--as a professional, there is a constant need for self-evaluation.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Goodness haha, well I didn't mean things like substance abuse and anger management issues

I mean things like don't be afraid to say "Sometimes I can be arrogant." or "I get overly frustrated when I fail" or "Balancing my time between school and life has sometimes been challenging" or "My greatest weakness is I am very, sometimes overly softhearted" -- things that, taken on their own, may sound like you will need to work extra hard to succeed in the veterinary world - as long as you say how you are working on it and overcoming it. They don't want everyone pretending that they are perfect.

 

[chris03333]

I believe my answer to this question will always be along the lines of:
"I am a very stoic person. I can be really excited and you wouldn't know it. This can be a real problem if you want someone who is super excited, but is to my advantage under stressful situations because I do not get worked up."

I think that's a good way to admit my weakness, but also show how it can be an advantage.

Oh and I do not try to improve this weakness because I would really come off as fake cheerleader if I tried

 

[InfiniVet]

I'll tell ya whats even worse - when they ask you your strengths, and you can't list some because it would reveal your biggest weakness! heh

I thought a huge strength on my application would be the fact that I mentored troubled teenagers for years, was heavily involved in all kinds of different counseling situations, traveled the state giving speeches at High Schools and helped start a rehab clinic all by the time I was 21....I mean cmon thats huge brownie points for commitment to community stuff....buuuuut this would lead to the inevitable "How did you first get involved with that?" Which would bring up my own personal tale of a *cough* "mis-spent youth" that even though lead to great deeds and of course, I did turn my life around, but I would never ever bring that up with a interviewer, boss, etc. outside of that field!
So I left it out of my application entirely.

They asked me what one of my weaknesses was and I replied I was actively working on improving my communication skills (it's true, perfectly vague, and who doesn't need to improve those skills?).