Interview Questions-Weakness

[johnaddams]

What are some good weakness in becoming a doctor to improve on? Basically what should I say? Time management is one of my real weakness but i don't want to get rejected if I say this, since time management is essential in meds.

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[dextor2003]

Each person will have his/her own weaknesses; there's no one perfect answer. While time management is crucial in medicine, if you explain/provide concrete examples on how you've been improving upon it, I think you should be okay. This last part is the most significant part of your response. It might also be a good idea to have more than one weakness in case you get asked for multiple.

 

[Ismet]

What are some good weakness in becoming a doctor to improve on?

😕 No.

Be truthful, don't make up a weakness just to sound good in an interview, because you'll most likely sound rehearsed and fake. Time management can absolutely be brought up as your weakness, but you need to spin it to a more positive light and talk about how you're taking steps to improve. Most people struggle with time management, so it's something relatable, and it's definitely not an exclusion criterium for medical school.

 

[Frazier]

Don't make one up.
Example: ????

Don't use a real one that would be foolish.
Example: "I'm not really a people person. They always annoy me."

Don't use a eye-roll-worthy cliche.
Example: "I'm a perfectionist and care too much."

 

[carnelian]

Just be honest; they mainly want to see what steps you've taken to overcome the weakness. (As long as it's not something completely ridiculous...)

 

[BABSstudent]

😕 No.

Be truthful, don't make up a weakness just to sound good in an interview, because you'll most likely sound rehearsed and fake. Time management can absolutely be brought up as your weakness, but you need to spin it to a more positive light and talk about how you're taking steps to improve. Most people struggle with time management, so it's something relatable, and it's definitely not an exclusion criterium for medical school.

I hate when people say something like, "My weakness is that I strive to get an A in everything." Why do I hate it so much? Because this question isn't about identifying your weakness so much as it is identifying how you rectify a problem. If your weakness is something like I said above, then you fix the problem by trying not to get an A? Just do enough to get by?

What about, "My weakness is that I am a perfectionist." So to fix it, what are you going to do? Not pay attention to details or leave out certain things?

Instead, I answer it truthfully. I did use the time management answer in one of my interviews. I stated that I had a problem with time management all throughout college, but I have recently begun to fix the problem. I then identified my weakness in my app through my GPA my freshman and sophomore year, followed by the sharp increase in the more difficult classes. I also highlighted my decent MCAT score saying that I had to study hard and keep to a schedule to balance having a relationship with my fiancee, work and the MCAT. I finish it off by saying that I still haven't perfected time management, but those points should be noted to show that I have been working to fix the problem.

I think that makes the answer the most complete and shows that the problem is being fixed.

 

[Mel Belle]

I'd like to ask about a weakness. I'm not quite to the point of interviewing yet in my pre-med journey, but it helps to know what I'm getting into, right?

Weakness: Getting overwhelmed
Reason: Not really being able to say "no" to requests (people swarm anyone good at chemistry to be "study buddies" when I just become a second teacher) or having trouble with coursework organization
How I'm Fixing It: Taking my Sunday mornings before church to organize my week with all that I plan to get done and actually doing it. I don't think it's necessarily accurate to say I'm a procrastinator, because I don't intentionally put things off, just sometimes things slip through the cracks or I just "tend" to study an easier subject more because it's so easy. (I know that's bad, haha.) But I'm trying to improve myself to where I have everything organized well enough AND I definitely find a way to get everything done when I say I will. I've only really been overwhelmed this semester so I can't really report any progress yet.

I haven't gotten any bad grades from being overwhelmed, but I don't think it's healthy to be overly stressed out. I mean, some huge responsibility could suddenly fall upon me which could hinder my grades if I'm not calm and organized.

With the perfectionist thing, I think that applies to me, for sure. One thing I would say in order to improve on it is to stop taking the trivial so seriously and focus on being a perfectionist when it comes to the most important things instead. Reduce the stress associated with perfectionism. It's not a weakness unless you're doing it wrong. Or perhaps more accurately, it can be classified as a weakness, but you can also improve it in a way that makes it not a weakness anymore.

Is not knowing how to have fun a weakness? What about not knowing how to relax? Because those things I am working on...

 

[cbarne01]

I read somewhere to think as a person that doesn't like you and identify what they might think are your weaknesses.

 

[bluestreaks]

What they all said. I would suggest planning it out in advance, along with a short anecdote that illustrates it, too. Appear sincere and genuine, acknowledge it confidently, and show that you've taken steps to improve. If you can, carefully use a little humor to prevent the mood from getting too heavy!

 

[Mel Belle]

I read somewhere to think as a person that doesn't like you and identify what they might think are your weaknesses.

👍 Simple idea, but also a great idea.

I mean, if you have the balls to ask someone that hates you, though... That may or may not give you more accurate results.

 

[SunsFun]

I am bumping this.

I had hard time thinking about a weakness that I have. So I though that I could say that I am not great at giving myself an honest feedback, but then I decided it was kind of a terrible answer. I don't want to come across as too self-absorbed to notice my own flaws.

Another weakness I though to mention was time management and tendency to procrastinate but after reading this thread it seems like every premed out there has it so I don't want to sound cliche.

Would saying that sometimes I get impatient working with other people and end up putting unnecessary pressure on them to do stuff on time and/or properly be bad? I feel like physician should be pretty patient with his or her colleagues.

 

[freakingoutabit]

I tell interviewers that I'm a control freak, but that I realize how harmful that can be when working with a group of people so I consciously try to delegate and make a point of appreciating other people's work.

 

[Lya]

http://studentdoctor.net/2013/07/what-is-your-weakness/


http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=755589

 

[sworzeh]

They always want 3, so I begin by saying that I can be overconfident. Then I say that I hate exercising and eat a lot of fast food for the last two

I guess a fourth could be that I'm bad at coming up with weaknesses.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I hate when people say something like, "My weakness is that I strive to get an A in everything." Why do I hate it so much? Because this question isn't about identifying your weakness so much as it is identifying how you rectify a problem. If your weakness is something like I said above, then you fix the problem by trying not to get an A? Just do enough to get by?

What about, "My weakness is that I am a perfectionist." So to fix it, what are you going to do? Not pay attention to details or leave out certain things?

Instead, I answer it truthfully. I did use the time management answer in one of my interviews. I stated that I had a problem with time management all throughout college, but I have recently begun to fix the problem. I then identified my weakness in my app through my GPA my freshman and sophomore year, followed by the sharp increase in the more difficult classes. I also highlighted my decent MCAT score saying that I had to study hard and keep to a schedule to balance having a relationship with my fiancee, work and the MCAT. I finish it off by saying that I still haven't perfected time management, but those points should be noted to show that I have been working to fix the problem.

I think that makes the answer the most complete and shows that the problem is being fixed.

"I'd say my biggest weakness is that I'm a perfectionist. It might sound like a good thing, but in some cases I find that I spend way too much time getting things done and can get frustrated when even minor things go wrong. Recently I've been working on that problem by learning to just move on when something is reasonably finished, and to just accept that most things can't be perfect and to roll with what happens. I have to say that now I'm a lot happier and my work has actually improved as a result".

 

[slopes23]

"I'd say my biggest weakness is that I'm a perfectionist. It might sound like a good thing, but in some cases I find that I spend way too much time getting things done and can get frustrated when even minor things go wrong. Recently I've been working on that problem by learning to just move on when something is reasonably finished, and to just accept that most things can't be perfect and to roll with what happens. I have to say that now I'm a lot happier and my work has actually improved as a result".

Not this again....

 

[Lya]

not this again....

+1