interview "weakness" question

[MHC]

any thoughts on what is a good response to the "what are your weaknesses" question in interviews?

 

[Scarletbegonias]

any thoughts on what is a good response to the "what are your weaknesses" question in interviews?

Good question. I've been contemplating what I would say on that one too. I think part of the answer depends on what that quality is and the other part depends on how you talk about it, but I really don't know. I hope someone responds.

 

[Fusion]

Mention things that can be viewed as actual strengths. For instance, I once mentioned that I sometimes take on too much responsibility. Be forthcoming, but not self-depricating.

 

[acarson]

In my past life I helped interview people for various positions at my job. The weakness question seemed to come up quite a bit. The guy heading up the interviewing told me that they really were just looking for anything other than, "I can't really think of a weakness", which is always a flat-out lie. Just tell the truth. Just because it's your biggest weakness doesn't necessarily mean that you suck at that skill or task. Honesty will get you a long way in any endeavor in life.

By the way, the one that really used to catch people off guard was "Tell me a joke". I've never seen so many pale faces, as they scoured their minds looking for something clean, smart and funny! Might want to think up something to tuck away for future use!

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

Say that you are stubborn and do not like to give up on things. Mention that this is something that you need to work on, because sometimes in medicine, you have to let people go.


That seemed to work for me.

 

[Doc2B-Finally]

Take one of your strongest qualities and evaluate it sitting on the other side of the fence. Example, say you never give up, you always try till you succeed, and that is your strongest quality. But someone can critic that you lose track of time, and schedule. Working in a team, you have to be conscious of the team goal. You can't put your personal feelings beyond the goal fo the team. So take your strongest point and evaluate it from a critic's perspective.
Good luck.

 

[MasterShakeDO]

How about "creativity"?

 

[The Engineer]

I was actually asked this during my first interview. I told them "my communication skills" and explained it. I don't remember exactly what I said but it was something along the lines that I cannot sugar-coat things and that I "tell it like it is." The interviewer didn't seem to have reservations about me when I said it either.

Hope that helps, best of luck to ya.

 

[futuredo32]

I think (though cliche) that honesty is the best policy. I would tell them what your weakness really is, but also say how you have worked to improve upon this weakness. For me, it was that I am REALLY self-conscious about public speaking and that lead to me being horrible at giving presentations. I then said that I actually went out of my way to find opportunities to speak in public because I knew that physicians are required to give presentations, etc, and with practice, I can now give a decent preesntation.

 

[momo7430]

Like Buckeye and Fusion said, I also talked about things that could really be viewed as attributes in medicine.

For Example:
Being a perfectionist

Being a little obsessive/compulsive (all my interviewers loved that one because they say all doctors are but won't always admit it. LOL)

Being a bit of a control freak, tending to want to do everything yourself...

I think all of these things if just tweaked a little make for a great and caring physician who is going to work their absolute hardest to take good care of his/her patients.

Thats my advice, it has worked well for me.
Best of Luck!

PS- It's all true! Honesty and being yourself are very important.

-Momo

 

[wertyjoe]

Don't turn a negative into a positive. Adcoms have x-ray vision and will see right through you so be yourself and tell them the truth! I told them I was a procrastinator and that sometimes I needed a little push to get me going. They must of liked it because I'm in the class of 2009.

Caveat: Just don't tell them all your nasty little quirks.

 

[MagnumDR]

I think (though cliche) that honesty is the best policy. I would tell them what your weakness really is, but also say how you have worked to improve upon this weakness. For me, it was that I am REALLY self-conscious about public speaking and that lead to me being horrible at giving presentations. I then said that I actually went out of my way to find opportunities to speak in public because I knew that physicians are required to give presentations, etc, and with practice, I can now give a decent preesntation.

This sums it all up I believe. Tell an honest weakness followed up with what you have done to overcome. It shows humility in recognition and courage to face it head on.

 

[Sirius Black]

By the way, the one that really used to catch people off guard was "Tell me a joke". I've never seen so many pale faces, as they scoured their minds looking for something clean, smart and funny! Might want to think up something to tuck away for future use!

I honestly cannot think of a clean joke off the top of my head! In that situation, I'd probably just tell a dirty one and hope for the best!