Interview question- biggest weakness

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twisteroats

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Hey so i've been trying to do some practice interview questions and i have come up with this answer to my biggest weakness ... but I'm not sure if it is too truthful / comes out as complete BS. any feedback is welcome.

I feel like my biggest weakness is the wall I have built around me making it hard for me to let people in. However, I believe that because of this I am able to empathize and better care for others becasue I am almost 100% focused on them and their emotions.

too honest?!
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Honesty is a good thing. That said, don't try and spin it as a complete positive; they want a weakness, not a strength. However, I do think its good of you to say that while it may make long-term patient relationships difficult because they won't see many of your true feelings, it won't affect your ability to provide care to them.
 
Maybe add that you're working on breaking down that wall a little bit, with some brief anecdote? Spin your weakness the best you can into something that isn't a red flag. I also might avoid calling it "a wall around you..." maybe introduce your weakness as being calm and somewhat reserved or something.

Hope that helps, OP
 
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just use the cliche answer that your biggest weakness is that sometimes you try too hard yada yada yada.
 
PremedGunner said:
just use the cliche answer that your biggest weakness is that sometimes you try too hard yada yada yada.
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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.
 
Just answer with "your eyes" and move your hand to touch theirs ever-so-slightly.
 
gettheleadout said:
Honesty is a good thing. That said, don't try and spin it as a complete positive; they want a weakness, not a strength. However, I do think its good of you to say that while it may make long-term patient relationships difficult because they won't see many of your true feelings, it won't affect your ability to provide care to them.
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Agreed.

You say; "blah blah blah my weakness is actually a strength."
They hear; "I'm so ****ing sweet that my weaknesses are actually strengths."
They say; "Yeah, lets pass on this guy. He seems like an arrogant ***"

Maybe say something real IS a weakness, but that can pretty easily be improved on? Maybe you've been chronically late all your life, but you've been becoming more and more punctual? or something along those lines, where it IS a real weakness, but it can be improved and you have been working towards it. Thats just my $0.02 though...


Whatever you say, don't talk about your lifelong addiction to alcohol and prescription pills. :D
 
zer0crew said:
Agreed.

You say; "blah blah blah my weakness is actually a strength."
They hear; "I'm so ****ing sweet that my weaknesses are actually strengths."
They say; "Yeah, lets pass on this guy. He seems like an arrogant ***"

Maybe say something real IS a weakness, but that can pretty easily be improved on? Maybe you've been chronically late all your life, but you've been becoming more and more punctual? or something along those lines, where it IS a real weakness, but it can be improved and you have been working towards it. Thats just my $0.02 though...


Whatever you say, don't talk about your lifelong addiction to alcohol and prescription pills. :D
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agree with this. be wary of spinning negatives into positives to try to come off as an ideal applicant. that is counterintuitive. they want someone who has the ability to self-reflect and self-evaluate in a mature, honest, and productive manner. they need people who can stop and find true weaknesses so they can progress and develop as a person in their career.
 
Probably been said before, saying again for your own good:

It's really in your best interest in life that you be aware of your own weaknesses or shortcomings. If you haven't found out what your weaknesses are by now, you probably need more challenging and varied life experiences so you can find out what you're not good at. Something needs to really push you to your limit so you can fail a little bit and know where you stand.

On the assumption that this hasn't happened yet in your life, let me tell you - the realization of your own faults, flaws and shortcomings will completely revolutionize your existence. It's an amazing experience that I'd recommend for anybody.
 
Hookers and blow which is why you have to rock step 1 and match into derm
 
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seelee said:
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.
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Thank you so much! I hate how these guys' shows only ever last one season :mad:
 
Whatever you do, don't say you're a perfectionist. It's lame and BS.
 
My weakness = time management.

I figure if any LORs mention a weakness, it's going to be time management, and I would rather not have it sound like an issue by acknowledging it up front and discussing the steps I've done to improve my skills.

Also, what physician hasn't battled with time management issues?

My recommendation though is trying to figure out what your recommenders could have wrote that was negative about you. They might not have written anything bad... but who knows. If you think that all of them wrote that you are extremely quiet/introvert/shy (because you built a wall around yourself), use that as your weakness because you have a hard time opening up and it could be an issue working with your peers/colleagues.
 
I don't think putting forth a major weakness is going to look too good either. It's probably best to mention a minor weakness that won't adversely affect you as a doctor too much.
 
I've changed my mind - say porn addiction. It's your one chance to really throw off your interviewer and make them uncomfortable
 
Web MD said:
I've changed my mind - say porn addiction. It's your one chance to really throw off your interviewer and make them uncomfortable
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Let me know how that goes for you. :laugh:

On a more serious note, I'm going for time management or shyness. Both of which I've made significant strides on but still need improvement. I won't spin them into positives, just give examples of how I've been working on improving them and how I want to continue working on it.
 
I'm controlling in a group. Because I'm fairly smart, it's easy for me to dominate the group and want my ideas to be the ones to use (well, because my ideas kick ass :D ). I have work actively to allow everyone to contribute sometimes.
 
Why not: "I'm sorry, if I told you that I'd have to kill you."
 
This is such a BS question. They want a weakness, but not a real one. They don't want to hear, 'I don't work well in a team', and they don't want to hear 'I'm a perfectionist.'

They want the sort of BS that can pass for the truth if you don't look too closely.

I really want to answer, "The fact that I'm about to answer this ******ed question as if it was an actual query about me. So I would say my real weakness is that sometimes I can't stand the *****s who ask me stupid questions. Goodbye. "
 
That whole "work too hard" thing is an instant-reject if I hear it. It's disingenuous and shows poor self-insight.

What we really want to hear is something that was a real weakness but you've recognized, taken steps to correct, and is on the way to becoming a strength. Time management is a good one.
 
The 3 weaknesses, 3 strengths question is such a load of crap and they use it during EVERY interview for EVERYTHING.

One of these day's I'm just going to snap and say I can wear all armor types and wield most weapons, can mix melee attacks with Frost and Shadow ranged spells, and my rune system means virtually unlimited energy. However I can't use shields or ranged weapons, am more dependent on abilities than passive defense for survivability, and am also dependent on rune cooldowns and runic power generation.
 
LuciusVorenus said:
The 3 weaknesses, 3 strengths question is such a load of crap and they use it during EVERY interview for EVERYTHING.
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Yea. Same with the "Who would you want to have as a dinner guest?"

I hope I don't get the dinner guest question because I personally find it to be a lame question.
 
LuciusVorenus said:
One of these day's I'm just going to snap and say I can wear all armor types and wield most weapons, can mix melee attacks with Frost and Shadow ranged spells, and my rune system means virtually unlimited energy. However I can't use shields or ranged weapons, am more dependent on abilities than passive defense for survivability, and am also dependent on rune cooldowns and runic power generation.
Click to expand...

Haha, it would be nuts if the interviewer played the game too. Then you guys would make a connection
 
I have always been told that you should take a weakness and make it positive. Your response seems a bit too negative. I would try something like "I'm extremely organized and consider myself to be somewhat of a perfectionist and sometimes I need to just realize that perfection isn't always what's most important."
 
Be honest, not cliched.

I honestly had trouble with public speaking, so I discussed how one of the EC's I did put me in the spotlight and was helping me overcome said fear.

Everyone says something along the lines of "perfectionist" or "too devoted a worker" ad infinitum. Don't be stooge.
 
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