During interview, said I was bad at speaking and leading... advice??

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jessejude

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I recently had an interview and I think it went well mostly, but the interviewer did ask what some good traits/bad traits were. For good traits, I said how I'm good at working with others (gave examples), motivated etc...
Then for bad traits...I said I don't express myself as well as I want to sometimes and that I lack leadership and public speaking skills...BUT that I'm constantly trying to improve this by being active in organizations, practicing etc...

Do you think it was bad to say that my weaknesses are my leadership AND speaking abilities?? I don't know.

My stats aren't that good so I think I really need to do well on interviews and I'm just worried again.
I have been preparing to be a reapplicant though. My GPA is not good (3.4) so I am going to try do better on the MCAT.
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Ugh, terrible answer. The answer to the 'negative traits' question are things you can spin into positives... you are a perfectionist, you sometimes care too much, you sometimes take on too much work because you are just a complete workaholic, etc...
 
jessejude said:
I recently had an interview and I think it went well mostly, but the interviewer did ask what some good traits/bad traits were. For good traits, I said how I'm good at working with others (gave examples), motivated etc...
Then for bad traits...I said I don't express myself as well as I want to sometimes and that I lack leadership and public speaking skills...BUT that I'm constantly trying to improve this by being active in organizations, practicing etc...

Do you think it was bad to say that my weaknesses are my leadership AND speaking abilities?? I don't know.

My stats aren't that good so I think I really need to do well on interviews and I'm just worried again.
I have been preparing to be a reapplicant though. My GPA is not good (3.4) so I am going to try do better on the MCAT.
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How is your MCAT??
 
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Ruhroh said:
Ugh, terrible answer. The answer to the 'negative traits' question are things you can spin into positives... you are a perfectionist, you sometimes care too much, you sometimes take on too much work because you are just a complete workaholic, etc...
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Not sure if kidding, but I always thought you wanted to avoid those cliches.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ruhroh said:
Ugh, terrible answer. The answer to the 'negative traits' question are things you can spin into positives... you are a perfectionist, you sometimes care too much, you sometimes take on too much work because you are just a complete workaholic, etc...
Click to expand...
From the office:

Michael: Why don't I tell you what my greatest weaknesses are? I work too hard. I care too much. And sometimes I can be too invested in my job.
David: Okay. And your strengths?
Michael: Well, my weaknesses are actually... strengths.

You don't want to sound like a clown and turn your weaknesses into strengths as suggested above. However, lacking leadership is something I wouldn't admit if I were you--what about spinning it as "being too reserved from time to time?"
 
Well it's possible that the interviewer will look at your answers as honest mature answers. As long as you gave examples of how you're trying to improve your weaknesses, then I wouldn't have a problem with it. However I am not a med school interviewer, so unfortunately I can't help you out lol. How did the interviewer respond to your answers?
 
I, too, like OP's response. I don't think the public speaking thing matters.
 
OP, I think you need to be told the truth, and the truth is that you're right, your answer was bad. There's no need for anyone to sugar coat it. You basically told the school,

"Hey, I am not good at communicating nor do I possess any kind of leadership qualities. It's okay though because while my head will be in the books for the next 2 years, I'll somehow develop these essential communication skills that will probably come in handy later. Oh and about the leadership stuff, ehh you guys aren't looking for the future leaders in medicine, right? It's cool if I just want to bow my head and become a clinician? Thanks"

While there's nothing wrong with this, per se, it's not something you want to highlight during your interviews. It's equivalent of telling an interviewer you want to make at least $200k when they ask you why you want to become a doctor. While this may be true, it's just not something you should make mention of.

How you chose to follow up with that might have saved you or it might have not. But your choice in weaknesses was bad and I recommend you not bring those up again.
 
orangeblossom said:
I, too, like OP's response. I don't think the public speaking thing matters.
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Actually public speaking is important, and it is something that admissions committees will take note of. Being able to communicate (with patients, other doctors, etc.) is a quality that you will need to develop. Public speaking is related to confidence. No one wants to be treated or work with someone who can't stand up for their convictions when questioned or goes completely AWOL when the **** hits the fan.
 
Thanks for all your responses guys! I see..I guess it could have been a REALLY bad or decent response depending on how I followed up.

I said I have a strong desire to continue improving my leadership and speaking traits. Hopefully, the adcom will read that and see some of my activities listed on amcas.. I'm an officer in various clubs, peer mentor for freshmen, and have some presentations listed, one where I received an award.

I just wanted to be honest. I don't think I come off as a bad speaker..and I think some may even say I'm a decent leader.. I just feel nervous a lot and have to prepare extra hard, but I'm very motivated to continue working at it until it becomes more natural and my heart stops speeding up lol.

The interviewer said something like "well it's good you're working to improve these traits"...and then we moved on to the next question.

.....so I hope it was okay. There were two interviewers by the way. The first interview seemed to go a lot better.. she said at the end that she hoped to work with me later this year and that "we need more physicians like you". Regardless if it was just a line she told all her interviewees, I think the first interview was solid and it went over time a bit. The second interview, it was just a series of questions (where I talked about the weakness thing as well) and it ended about 5 minutes early. He did most of the talking as well.


It was my first interview this season since I'm a lower stat applicant.. Anyway, I really do appreciate every response I've gotten! Thank you!
 
It is good to acknowledge that you have weaknesses and are willing to work towards bettering them to make them strengths.....but IMO you should not have said that you lack something or aren't proficient in something that they are clearly looking for in an applicant (leadership).
 
Ruhroh said:
Ugh, terrible answer. The answer to the 'negative traits' question are things you can spin into positives... you are a perfectionist, you sometimes care too much, you sometimes take on too much work because you are just a complete workaholic, etc...
Click to expand...

I would laugh if someone said that to me in an interview. Everyone has weaknesses, and if "caring too much" is your biggest weakness, then you're lying.

OP, I wouldn't worry too much about it. In any case, it's done, and the best you can do is work on your response for next time. The way you spin it around and talk about how you are improving on these weaknesses is what will make the difference. Try next time to have very specific examples of how exactly you are working on it. Just saying that you are being more active in organizations isn't specific enough. Say that you lead X meeting or planned X event (if that's true...if not true, make it happen!) and talk about how it helped you improve.
 
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cubssox2000 said:
Actually public speaking is important, and it is something that admissions committees will take note of. Being able to communicate (with patients, other doctors, etc.) is a quality that you will need to develop. Public speaking is related to confidence. No one wants to be treated or work with someone who can't stand up for their convictions when questioned or goes completely AWOL when the **** hits the fan.
Click to expand...

Yes, I too think it's VERY important and related to confidence. I do think I have the confidence...it's just that I'm quite reserved. This is why I was worried about my response.. I didn't mean to say that I was BAD at speaking or being a good leader.. I meant to say that I feel nervous/unsure at times but I've improved a lot... I try EXTRA hard to make myself more of a natural.

I don't know if it came off this way. Again, my activities listed deal a lot with leading/speaking so hopefully the adcom will realize that I'm not a bad leader or speaker...and that I'll continue to improve and become a natural (which is my goal).
 
cubssox2000 said:
Actually public speaking is important, and it is something that admissions committees will take note of. Being able to communicate (with patients, other doctors, etc.) is a quality that you will need to develop. Public speaking is related to confidence. No one wants to be treated or work with someone who can't stand up for their convictions when questioned or goes completely AWOL when the **** hits the fan.
Click to expand...

You are talking about two different things. Being able to speak to patients is not public speaking. Public speaking requires an audience (think lecture or presentation) and is a skill that comes with practice. IMO public speaking is perfectly fine answer to that question.
 
jessejude said:
Yes, I too think it's VERY important and related to confidence. I do think I have the confidence...it's just that I'm quite reserved. This is why I was worried about my response.. I didn't mean to say that I was BAD at speaking or being a good leader.. I meant to say that I feel nervous/unsure at times but I've improved a lot... I try EXTRA hard to make myself more of a natural.

I don't know if it came off this way. Again, my activities listed deal a lot with leading/speaking so hopefully the adcom will realize that I'm not a bad leader or speaker...and that I'll continue to improve and become a natural (which is my goal).
Click to expand...

One of my weaknesses that I said was that I am pretty shy/reserved in new situations or around strangers. Most interviewers said they never would have guessed, because I didn't come off that way in the interview, and that would lead into how I have been working to improve.

Don't worry about it 👍

Lucidity said:
You are talking about two different things. Being able to speak to patients is not public speaking. Public speaking requires an audience (think lecture or presentation) and is a skill that comes with practice. IMO public speaking is perfectly fine answer to that question.
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+1. I hate speaking in front of an audience, but I've been able to talk to patients perfectly fine.
 
neuro nephrons said:
it is good to acknowledge that you have weaknesses and are willing to work towards bettering them to make them strengths.....but imo you should not have said that you lack something or aren't proficient in something that they are clearly looking for in an applicant (leadership).
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+1.
 
Swartzlehman said:
OP, your response was good. Likely it more genuine than those presented above. It shows character and courage that you can reflect on on your true weaknesses, yet you don't give up and write those weaknesses off as something that will remain. You WORK at them. There's nothing to worry about with that response.
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I sincerely hope this is how they took it! That was my intent..
Thanks for your response! 🙂
 
The answer to the weakness question is to use a real weakness, and show how you have attempted to correct it. Answers like 'I'm a perfectionistic workaholic!' won't fly-- they sound too rehearsed and fake. Take a personal flaw and show how you have been fixing it.

For example, you have a public speaking weakness-- that works. After all, a lot of people struggle with stage fright-- using a true answer increases your credibility with your interviewer. But don't leave it at that-- go on to explain how you understand that it is a weakness, that you have taken classes on public speaking, gotten involved with a debate group, sought out public speaking opportunities to improve your public speaking skills, etc. Conclude how you have improved your public speaking skills. In this situation, you have shown honesty, self-understanding, and determination.

But what do I know? My interviews went terribly.
 
I personally would not have said that just because leadership is a big part of being a physician. Saying you aren't the best public speaker is understandable but even if I was not good at being a leader I just wouldn't bring that one up. If this was a mid tier that's one thing, but if it was a top tier where their mission is to make leaders then yes I can see that hurting you.

However I doubt that saying what you said would make or break your chances either. As another poster said, you explained how you are always working to improve those weaknesses so you're probably okay.
 
I should have said that I was shy/reserved instead of the way I said it.
And yes, I'm able to speak with patients perfectly fine as well.. it's just the large research group presentations where I'll be asked questions by researchers OR addressing a whole club that I'll become really nervous about... but I've done talks on a weekly basis now and it's not so bad. One of my LOR writers is an extremely kind, well spoken professor/first research PI and he told me how he even fainted once in the middle of a presentation and that he was told his face got as red as a tomato... he is an amazing speaker now and was a great PI. When I first started giving presentations, he advised me a lot and I hope to become a natural like him one day.

Huh...I should have mentioned that I guess.. 😕



Ismet said:
One of my weaknesses that I said was that I am pretty shy/reserved in new situations or around strangers. Most interviewers said they never would have guessed, because I didn't come off that way in the interview, and that would lead into how I have been working to improve.

Don't worry about it 👍



+1. I hate speaking in front of an audience, but I've been able to talk to patients perfectly fine.
Click to expand...
 
Those are too broad. It's easier to recover from a weakness if it's specific. I have problems correcting people when I'm acting as a leader. I wouldn't say "I'm a poor leader" or anything in general about being a leader, I would say that I have problems confronting people when they're doing something incorrectly because I don't enjoy confrontation. My recovery is then explaining the specifics ways in which I overcome the problem.
 
jessejude said:
I should have said that I was shy/reserved instead of the way I said it.
And yes, I'm able to speak with patients perfectly fine as well.. it's just the large research group presentations where I'll be asked questions by researchers OR addressing a whole club that I'll become really nervous about... but I've done talks on a weekly basis now and it's not so bad. One of my LOR writers is an extremely kind, well spoken professor/first research PI and he told me how he even fainted once in the middle of a presentation and that he was told his face got as red as a tomato... he is an amazing speaker now and was a great PI. When I first started giving presentations, he advised me a lot and I hope to become a natural like him one day.

Huh...I should have mentioned that I guess.. 😕
Click to expand...

Just live and learn and say it next time 🙂
 
It's actually a newer school (under 6 years old) so not sure if it's even ranked. I'm OOS and it was surprising to get an invite because my stats are so low...I got it scheduled within a week when they called and booked an expensive flight over right away... I guess they do like research (I have a lot) and I worked pretty hard on the essays.
But considering it is a state school, a LOT was depending on my interview I believe.






Lollygag said:
I personally would not have said that just because leadership is a big part of being a physician. Saying you aren't the best public speaker is understandable but even if I was not good at being a leader I just wouldn't bring that one up. If this was a mid tier that's one thing, but if it was a top tier where their mission is to make leaders then yes I can see that hurting you.

However I doubt that saying what you said would make or break your chances either. As another poster said, you explained how you are always working to improve those weaknesses so you're probably okay.
Click to expand...
 
Lucidity said:
You are talking about two different things. Being able to speak to patients is not public speaking. Public speaking requires an audience (think lecture or presentation) and is a skill that comes with practice. IMO public speaking is perfectly fine answer to that question.
Click to expand...

I think you missed the point of my statement which was that public speaking is related to confidence. When I hear that someone has trouble speaking in public, I immediately think that they are not confident. Also, even if it is just a one on one conversation with a patient, you need to be able to stand up for what you believe in. Many patients will not listen to you, or question you, or bring in research that shows something contrary to what you are telling them. You need to have the confidence to tell them why you think what you want is better for them. If you shy away from conflict and are not confident in your decisions, you will get into a lot of issues in medicine.

Also, if you want to go into medicine, you will almost certainly come across situations where you will be required to speak in public. In medical school you will have to give presentations, especially during 3rd and 4th year. If you have trouble speaking in public, try giving a 20 minute presentation to a group consisting of you attending(s), residents and the other students on your rotation. Many rotations will have these presentations count as 10% or more of your grade. Residency can be even worse. In residency you will have to give M&M, grand rounds and presentations. If you can't talk with confidence, you will get torn apart (regardless of your specialty). Once you complete residency, you will have to sit for oral boards. That test is pretty much you being bombarded with questions by a panel of old doctors. They don't grade you solely on your answers, but much more importantly about HOW you answer. If you don't have confidence by this point, you will fail the boards. Lastly, if you want to do anything academic you will need to give presentations regarding your research and clinical work. Public speaking is just a matter of fact in medicine.

OP - the good news is that you know that public speaking is an issue for you. It is definitely something that you can practice, get more comfortable with and improve upon.
 
Not the best answer OP. although honest, you could have answered the question in 100000 other ways which wouldnt have looked as bad. When I was asked what my weaknesses were, I didnt talk about personality traits, or anything to do with me. I talked about weaknesses in my application like a lack of hospital volunteering. I did counteract that weakness with all of my paid clinical experience. Whatever you say, make sure you can spin it in a positive direction.
 
Not a good answer, but not a bad answer either. It shows you are a humble person.

I hear WAY too many "I am a perfectionist, I work too hard, I am TOO caring...etc etc." Those type of answers would raise a red flag.
 
SilverCat said:
The answer to the weakness question is to use a real weakness, and show how you have attempted to correct it. Answers like 'I'm a perfectionistic workaholic!' won't fly-- they sound too rehearsed and fake. Take a personal flaw and show how you have been fixing it.
Click to expand...

i agree with this advice. the mistake you made OP was to rattle off a whole bunch of weaknesses. when asked this question i suggest you only volunteer one (or two if you are giving one personality weakness and one academic weakness) and be sure to follow up each one with how you've been working to improve as many others have mentioned. in your case i would use public speaking as the weakness and have a good example of how you've worked on it. then stop. if the interviewer asks for something else then give another. i would stay away from very broad things like "leadership" and "communication" and go with more specific and less serious flaws, again saying how you've worked on improving.
 
cubssox2000 said:
I think you missed the point of my statement which was that public speaking is related to confidence. When I hear that someone has trouble speaking in public, I immediately think that they are not confident. Also, even if it is just a one on one conversation with a patient, you need to be able to stand up for what you believe in. Many patients will not listen to you, or question you, or bring in research that shows something contrary to what you are telling them. You need to have the confidence to tell them why you think what you want is better for them. If you shy away from conflict and are not confident in your decisions, you will get into a lot of issues in medicine.
Click to expand...

Poor public speaking =/= lack of confidence. Public speaking is a skill honed with practice. Stating that a person lacking public speaking skills could not articulate their reasoning to a patient or stand up when questioned is a joke. Also stating that the OP would shy away from conflict is again assuming too much from a statement that they are a poor public speaker. They are simply stating that they do not have this skill and it is a weakness they are working to improve. I do agree that confidence can help when presenting to an audience however practicing the material trumps confidence.
 
skinMD said:
i agree with this advice. the mistake you made OP was to rattle off a whole bunch of weaknesses. when asked this question i suggest you only volunteer one (or two if you are giving one personality weakness and one academic weakness) and be sure to follow up each one with how you've been working to improve as many others have mentioned. in your case i would use public speaking as the weakness and have a good example of how you've worked on it. then stop. if the interviewer asks for something else then give another. i would stay away from very broad things like "leadership" and "communication" and go with more specific and less serious flaws, again saying how you've worked on improving.
Click to expand...

+1. Live and learn OP.
 
Tip: This where you address actual weaknesses in your app and talk about how you've overcome whatever caused that weakness. Boom, your app was just boosted.
 
sliceofbread136 said:
Tip: This where you address actual weaknesses in your app and talk about how you've overcome whatever caused that weakness. Boom, your app was just boosted.
Click to expand...

if you think you're going to get away with saying "i got a B in orgo 1 but got an A- in orgo 2 because i learned from my mistake and worked harder" then you're absolutely wrong. everyone can see through that and if i was the interviewer i would laugh and tell u to try again.

in the same vein you don't want to make it seem like the weak MCAT or GPA defines you as a person. if you're at the interview it means you've made it past the numbers screen and if they want to ask you specifically about those things then they will bring them up.
 
sliceofbread136 said:
Tip: This where you address actual weaknesses in your app and talk about how you've overcome whatever caused that weakness. Boom, your app was just boosted.
Click to expand...

No, this is not the time to talk about application weaknesses. This is a time to reflect on personal weaknesses and how you are improving on them.
 
Ruhroh said:
Ugh, terrible answer. The answer to the 'negative traits' question are things you can spin into positives... you are a perfectionist, you sometimes care too much, you sometimes take on too much work because you are just a complete workaholic, etc...
Click to expand...

No...don't do this. Ever. If you say some garbage like "I work too much," you come off as arrogant, disingenuous, evasive, and unwilling to accept criticism. Bad traits in a physician.

Answer with an actual weakness, but one that you worked to address, hopefully through a significant extracurricular activity. For example, let's say that you're an introspective, shy person by nature, but doing Teach For America helped you deal with that. Tell them about that.
 
HughMyron said:
No...don't do this. Ever. If you say some garbage like "I work too much," you come off as arrogant, disingenuous, evasive, and unwilling to accept criticism. Bad traits in a physician.

Answer with an actual weakness, but one that you worked to address, hopefully through a significant extracurricular activity. For example, let's say that you're an introspective, shy person by nature, but doing Teach For America helped you deal with that. Tell them about that.
Click to expand...

This is good.
 
Ismet said:
No, this is not the time to talk about application weaknesses. This is a time to reflect on personal weaknesses and how you are improving on them.
Click to expand...

Nope. You use a weakness and relate it to a weakness in your app. You then talk about how that weakness that cause the app weakness is overcome. Perfect defense.

Example: I was light on ECs first two years. So my "weakness" was that I had a tendency to stay too focused on one thing. I resolved that during my second two years and am determined to make sure I branch out during the rest of my life. Boom, boosted my app.
 
skinMD said:
if you think you're going to get away with saying "i got a B in orgo 1 but got an A- in orgo 2 because i learned from my mistake and worked harder" then you're absolutely wrong. everyone can see through that and if i was the interviewer i would laugh and tell u to try again.

in the same vein you don't want to make it seem like the weak MCAT or GPA defines you as a person. if you're at the interview it means you've made it past the numbers screen and if they want to ask you specifically about those things then they will bring them up.
Click to expand...

I'm more refering to EC weaknesses. I don't really know how to handle MCAT or GPA weaknesses during an interview (as I thankfully didn't have that problem), but I am of the opinion that they would need to be addressed during an interview
 
sliceofbread136 said:
Nope. You use a weakness and relate it to a weakness in your app. You then talk about how that weakness that cause the app weakness is overcome. Perfect defense.

Example: I was light on ECs first two years. So my "weakness" was that I had a tendency to stay too focused on one thing. I resolved that during my second two years and am determined to make sure I branch out during the rest of my life. Boom, boosted my app.
Click to expand...

This is perfect. Exactly what I did in one of my interviews when I was asked about weaknesses.
 
sliceofbread136 said:
Nope. You use a weakness and relate it to a weakness in your app. You then talk about how that weakness that cause the app weakness is overcome. Perfect defense.

Example: I was light on ECs first two years. So my "weakness" was that I had a tendency to stay too focused on one thing. I resolved that during my second two years and am determined to make sure I branch out during the rest of my life. Boom, boosted my app.
Click to expand...

That might be fine if your interview is open file, but if it's closed file you run the risk of bringing up a second weakness (the EC) in addition to the personal weakness.
 
Ruhroh said:
Ugh, terrible answer. The answer to the 'negative traits' question are things you can spin into positives... you are a perfectionist, you sometimes care too much, you sometimes take on too much work because you are just a complete workaholic, etc...
Click to expand...

I hope you're kidding. I have been to exactly 3 medical school interviews, and every time, somebody does this. They construe their "biggest weakness" into a positive, and I want to sink through the floorboards out of embarrassment for them.

Oh? Your biggest weakness is actually a strength? Do you also pee lemonade?

When you are inevitably asked this question, answer with a weakness. A real weakness. But one that is not alarming (like, you make voodoo dolls of people you hate) or unlikely to be rectified (like, you consistently faint in high pressure situations.)
 
Last edited:
Ismet said:
That might be fine if your interview is open file, but if it's closed file you run the risk of bringing up a second weakness (the EC) in addition to the personal weakness.
Click to expand...

No, the weakness is already there whether the interviewer knows it or not. It will be discussed by the application committee. I like to think of the interviewer as your "defender". Doing this successfully gives your interviewer some great material to defend that application weakness. If done right and successfully you can turn one of your apps weakness into a strength.
 
sliceofbread136 said:
No, the weakness is already there whether the interviewer knows it or not. It will be discussed by the application committee. I like to think of the interviewer as your "defender". Doing this successfully gives your interviewer some great material to defend that application weakness. If done right and successfully you can turn one of your apps weakness into a strength.
Click to expand...

Not all schools have the interviewers sit in on an application decision. Some just have the interviewer submit a form that asks a few questions about the interview.

I'm not saying you're wrong, as what you're describing is fine, I'm saying that it might not work in all situations. But that's just IMO
 
Ismet said:
Not all schools have the interviewers sit in on an application decision. Some just have the interviewer submit a form that asks a few questions about the interview.

I'm not saying you're wrong, as what you're describing is fine, I'm saying that it might not work in all situations. But that's just IMO
Click to expand...

But the interviewer will write it on the form. It will still be a "defense"
 
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