How would you answer this question?

[estradiol9]

Briefly state what you view as your greatest strengths and your weaknesses relative to becoming a medical student and a physician.

What would you say? I always have a hard time deciding what I would say my weakness was. :]

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[thumbz]

 

[Mithril]

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[gettheleadout]

This thread already exists somewhere/write your own essays, moocher.

 

[Unclipped]

I thought biggest weakness was hard too. I was lucky enough not to get it in any of my interviews though. Whatever you do, DON'T SAY SOMETHING BIG THAT PUTS YOU IN A HOLE YOU CANT GET OUT OF.

Just something small and cute...

Good luck.

 

[VikingLegacy]

My biggest weakness is being from New Jersey.

 

[addo]

I got the weakness question several times, it was annoying. I said "my mom tells me that I am a contrarian, but I tell her that I am not", usually got a chuckle and changed topics.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

My biggest weakness is that I am super awesome and end up making people feel inferior. I hate when I do that!

 

[Catalystik]

If you google 'interview questions and answers' you will find lots of options to choose from and how to give an answer that will forward your chances.

 

[Stronghopeful]

I got the weakness question several times, it was annoying. I said "my mom tells me that I am a contrarian, but I tell her that I am not", usually got a chuckle and changed topics.

this one's good

 

[Kaustikos]

Briefly state what you view as your greatest strengths and your weaknesses relative to becoming a medical student and a physician.

What would you say? I always have a hard time deciding what I would say my weakness was. :]

Ask your friends/family/co-workers. They'd be more than delighted to dispell the myth that you don't have any weaknesses to discuss.

 

[sustentacular]

My biggest weakness is being from New Jersey.

Humm I thought it smelled like Axe body spray and machismo in here.

 

[jm192]

This thread already exists somewhere/write your own essays, moocher.

lol chill brother. Everytime someone posts a thread, they're a troll or they're trying to get us to write their essays. I think the point of coming to SDN is to get input from people that are going through or have been through the process. We're becoming useless from trying to defend so hard against being made a fool.

Everyone says, to give something that you can also interpret as a strength. Don't get too cute. They ask for a weakness, so make sure it's a weakness. Coming off as a bull$hitter is the last thing you want. The question itself doesn't get you in, but it can keep you out. What is your biggest weakness? Oh, you have an irrational temper? And you once punched a guy?

I'm a perfectionist is so cliche, and not even an attempt at answering the question. The point is for you to analyze yourself, and give an honest answer. But NOT so honest that they're going to fear for their safety.
And I procrastinate just confirmed that you went to college.

I have no idea what I told them at this point, but my own weaknesses:

I'm a little stubborn at times, I tend to overanalyze things, and I use the crap out of comma's. (This is what I'd feel comfortablee telling them)

I have my emotional/react without thinking moments. Maybe you can interpret that as a strength? If you're in the ER and someone has a stabwound? But it's also a red flag, if an attending pops off to you, you're going to lose it.

 

[jm192]

Ask your friends/family/co-workers. They'd be more than delighted to dispell the myth that you don't have any weaknesses to discuss.

I think that's actually a great idea. It's harder to analyze yourself. If you'll get people to take the question seriously, and listen to their feedback, you could come up with a good weakness or two.

 

[circulus vitios]

"I really appreciate how much effort you put into this interview with such fresh and insightful questions as 'what is your biggest weakness.'
...
My biggest weakness is intolerance for stupid questions, in case you haven't figured it out by now."

 

[estradiol9]

lol chill brother. Everytime someone posts a thread, they're a troll or they're trying to get us to write their essays. I think the point of coming to SDN is to get input from people that are going through or have been through the process. We're becoming useless from trying to defend so hard against being made a fool.

Everyone says, to give something that you can also interpret as a strength. Don't get too cute. They ask for a weakness, so make sure it's a weakness. Coming off as a bull$hitter is the last thing you want. The question itself doesn't get you in, but it can keep you out. What is your biggest weakness? Oh, you have an irrational temper? And you once punched a guy?

I'm a perfectionist is so cliche, and not even an attempt at answering the question. The point is for you to analyze yourself, and give an honest answer. But NOT so honest that they're going to fear for their safety.
And I procrastinate just confirmed that you went to college.

I have no idea what I told them at this point, but my own weaknesses:

I'm a little stubborn at times, I tend to overanalyze things, and I use the crap out of comma's. (This is what I'd feel comfortablee telling them)

I have my emotional/react without thinking moments. Maybe you can interpret that as a strength? If you're in the ER and someone has a stabwound? But it's also a red flag, if an attending pops off to you, you're going to lose it.

Dammit.. I was hoping to use perfectionist. I mean, realistically, I am a perfectionist.. which sucks sometimes because I won't let other people to do things or I end up frustrated. Do you really think it would be a bad idea to use perfectionist as a weakness?

 

[shopsteward]

Dammit.. I was hoping to use perfectionist. I mean, realistically, I am a perfectionist.. which sucks sometimes because I won't let other people to do things or I end up frustrated. Do you really think it would be a bad idea to use perfectionist as a weakness?

As an example of a weakness, that to me does not say "their weakness is perfectionism" but "their weakness is team working" - which may not be such a good one to admit to.

It's a good idea to ask friends. Don't ask them "what are my weaknesses" if you want to keep them as friends, ask "what do you think I could say was a weakness if I'm asked in an interview".

In the interview it could be a good idea to say what led you to think that something might be a weakness, and then go on to say what you can do to prevent that weakness being a problem in the future.

 

[DoctorPenguin]

Dammit.. I was hoping to use perfectionist. I mean, realistically, I am a perfectionist.. which sucks sometimes because I won't let other people to do things or I end up frustrated. Do you really think it would be a bad idea to use perfectionist as a weakness?

I would say, as a perfectionist myself, that my biggest weakness is trust. It's hard for me to trust other people to carry out the high standards I expect when things need to get done (such as in organizations)... and it's frustrating when people half-@$$ things and don't put in the necessary hard work to make it as perfect as possible. This actually causes me to just do everything... I like to be in control. But this overfills my "plate" with responsibilities I shouldn't have to worry about... even though I do because I want everything done right where it is part of my job or not.

Sorry, kinda vented out there lol. But yeah, for a perfectionist, trusting others is probably the biggest weakness... and in medicine, I would think trust in colleagues is an important team aspect.

 

[dbeast]

If you google 'interview questions and answers' you will find lots of options to choose from and how to give an answer that will forward your chances.

 

[estradiol9]

Grr.. This is getting harder than I thought. I asked a friend and she told me that I trust others too easily, always give second chances, and never really assume that people with bad intentions actually exist. Maybe I can talk about this and how it leads to me being disappointed? And I can discuss how I should tread more carefully in the future, etcetc?

 

[gettheleadout]

lol chill brother. Everytime someone posts a thread, they're a troll or they're trying to get us to write their essays. I think the point of coming to SDN is to get input from people that are going through or have been through the process. We're becoming useless from trying to defend so hard against being made a fool.

Yeah, I was half-kidding, but I agree with you completely. The troll/lazy users really aren't helping the community correct this problem though lol.

 

[ucpremed]

lol chill brother. Everytime someone posts a thread, they're a troll or they're trying to get us to write their essays. I think the point of coming to SDN is to get input from people that are going through or have been through the process. We're becoming useless from trying to defend so hard against being made a fool.

This. It seems like SDN doesn't have very many useful new threads these days. Everyone is so suspicious and irritable here sometimes!

Everyone says, to give something that you can also interpret as a strength. Don't get too cute. They ask for a weakness, so make sure it's a weakness. Coming off as a bull$hitter is the last thing you want. The question itself doesn't get you in, but it can keep you out. What is your biggest weakness? Oh, you have an irrational temper? And you once punched a guy?

I'm a perfectionist is so cliche, and not even an attempt at answering the question. The point is for you to analyze yourself, and give an honest answer. But NOT so honest that they're going to fear for their safety.
And I procrastinate just confirmed that you went to college.

I have no idea what I told them at this point, but my own weaknesses:

I'm a little stubborn at times, I tend to overanalyze things, and I use the crap out of comma's. (This is what I'd feel comfortablee telling them)

I have my emotional/react without thinking moments. Maybe you can interpret that as a strength? If you're in the ER and someone has a stabwound? But it's also a red flag, if an attending pops off to you, you're going to lose it.

I would be careful about talking about temper, emotional instability, neuroticism, etc. Try Googling your question and looking at various hiring managers' opinions. I think you'll learn a lot that way.