Weakness Interview Question

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IMO, the "weakness that is not a weakness" responses are cheesy. For example, "I work too much <laugh>" is hella cheesy. Go for something that's a moderate yet genuine weakness, and then address how you've taken steps to resolving it. Like, "In groups I usually want to take charge and be in control, but as part of my job this year I've needed to learn how to cooperate and accept someone else's solution to a problem for the good of the team." Interviewers don't really want to hear about how you're an awful (or perfect) person, they want to see that you're a self-reflective person who is interested in improving his/herself.
 
Evergrey said:
IMO, the "weakness that is not a weakness" responses are cheesy. For example, "I work too much <laugh>" is hella cheesy. Go for something that's a moderate yet genuine weakness, and then address how you've taken steps to resolving it. Like, "In groups I usually want to take charge and be in control, but as part of my job this year I've needed to learn how to cooperate and accept someone else's solution to a problem for the good of the team." Interviewers don't really want to hear about how you're an awful (or perfect) person, they want to see that you're a self-reflective person who is interested in improving his/herself.
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In one word?
 
premedmind said:
If you had to answer this question in one word, as in "Describe one word for a weakness you might have" what would you say?
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'Tendon.' The one behind my right foot to be specific. You can use it in interviews, but don't tell ANYONE from Troy.
 
this question bugged me before my interviews as well. I settled on saying, "lack of patience" is my biggest weakness. Subsequently, they asked me, what have you been doing to improve your patience and so on. But, like someone already said it, do not say my weakness is that I work too much. Honestly, that is not a weakness but a strength because in medical school all you will be doing is work.
 
This is a tricky question. I gave a moderate weakness answer, and they pressed me for another one. So I gave them something else I hadn't thought of before - which is along the lines of overworking, although not in those words. The first thing someone said is, "Yeah, that is a problem." Another interviewer then said that it is difficult to maintain balance in medical school and not just do schoolwork all the time, but it is necessary.

This is to say that I didn't intend to do overworking as my weakness, but I don't think it's necessarily a "weakness that is not a weakness." The interviewers certainly didn't see it that way.
 
premedmind said:
That's not a weakness, and I'm pretty sure the interviewers would scoff at you if you answered in that way.
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As one word it doesn't work, but when explained, it does quite well. Perfectionistic tendencies can make a person hesitant to make decisions for fear of doing something wrong, or can make the person less independent by always relying on instruction from superiors.
 
Anita817 said:
As one word it doesn't work, but when explained, it does quite well. Perfectionistic tendencies can make a person hesitant to make decisions for fear of doing something wrong, or can make the person less independent by always relying on instruction from superiors.
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When you explain it, it does sound better. I still question the legitimacy of that answer, though.
 
in my kcom interview i said i rely on myself too much and that i had only recently begun to learn how to rely on others....they found this agreeable and thanked me for my honest answer. they also said they were sick of hearing responses like, "i work too hard," etc.
 
iatros said:
in my kcom interview i said i rely on myself too much and that i had only recently begun to learn how to rely on others....they found this agreeable and thanked me for my honest answer. they also said they were sick of hearing responses like, "i work too hard," etc.
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Even that isn't a weakness. I don't see how they agreed with your answer....geez...anybody here say an actual weakness?
 
premedmind said:
Even that isn't a weakness. I don't see how they agreed with your answer....geez...anybody here say an actual weakness?
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pretty sure they dont really care what your "weaknesses" are. pretty sure they're really asking if you know yourself....a sign of maturity.

i doubt anyone has ever responded with "i'm addicted to diet pills and porn and i hate people."
 
Being addicted to porn is not a weakness. Porn can be a means of studying anatomy, kind of like OMM, but more entertaining...
 
iatros said:
i doubt anyone has ever responded with "i'm addicted to diet pills and porn and i hate people."
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:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

right out loud........
I have used something similar to yours......in that I say I am too independent, which can be a strength, but has actually gotten me into trouble on more than one occasion. I just don't like relying on others and/or asking anyone else for help. So.....I'm working on it......
 
I said one of my weaknesses is that i tend to double or triple check everything that I do. Aka I am the last one in the test room checking my work or I check if i lock my car like 5 times. I said that this can obviously be seen as a strength is medicine because I am very attentive BUT it can be challenging bc in medicine there is NO TIME to triple check things. I said that working for a doctor for a while now has allowed me to learn to trust my instincts and just get the task done and move on to the next w/o worrying if i did the job right the first time.
 
iatros said:
in my kcom interview i said i rely on myself too much and that i had only recently begun to learn how to rely on others....they found this agreeable and thanked me for my honest answer. they also said they were sick of hearing responses like, "i work too hard," etc.
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premedmind said:
Even that isn't a weakness. I don't see how they agreed with your answer....geez...anybody here say an actual weakness?
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I think that is a real weakness (not a bad one). A lot of delivering health care is a team effort, you have to trust that other members are fulfilling their roles so that you can be focused on your role because no one can do everything.
 
I find that one episode from the Office when Michael was being interviewed for the Corporate position he said that you should always describe a weakness that could be construed as a positive... which of course was supposed to be comedic but has its points. In one of my interviews I said one of my weakness was that I get home sick, but I have been getting better. I pointed out that I havent lived with my parents for three years. This was not a true problem because it showed that I valued family very highly, but wouldnt really affect my med school learning because of my current living situation was away from home. Another weakness I said was that I have always preferred to study alone, and knowing that part of one curriculum required pbl I explained how I have worked in and done well in group study situations, but if given the choice I tend to prefer alone. Again, this is not a weakness that will hurt me as a student and I explained how I was improving upon it. Most importantly show how it wont affect you as a student at their school and how you are working to improve. Explaining your weaknesses can only hurt you in an interview they never really make you that much better. For example if you are too honest and say, "I procrastinate too much." They would feel more at risk to justify defending someone who may have flaws in the application whose weaknesses are something that could make them fail.
 
My weakness is that I always plan ahead and have a tough time adjusting and changing my approach when things don’t go according to plan. I feel like most weaknesses come from or give rise to some kind of strength. While I think it is best to stay away from super transparent and stereotypical responses ie. Perfectionist, work too hard, I still think it is valid to sneak in a backdoor strength.
My issue was a variation of this question. “what would your best friend say is your greatest weakness?” Slight variation but it significantly changes the answer. It can’t be anything too introspective! You almost have to say something social which is surprisingly hard.
 
I answered that I can be obsessive sometimes. To elaborate, when I come across a problem that I don't know the answer to, I will research continuously until I solve it, and I have a hard time letting things like that go. When I get excited about doing something, I will obsess over planning it, perfecting every aspect until I am satisfied (research, buying something big, planning a trip, etc.).

Obsessing like that is a weakness because it is probably somewhat detrimental to my health, and also probably annoying to other people. I have been learning to ask for help more often. Being in leadership positions on sports teams and in school groups has taught me how to delegate and trust in my team to help me solve tough problems, much like I will have to do as a physician.
 
I just answered this question today and answered with someone along the lines of being too hard on myself when I don't meet my personal standards (based on my strength having just been stated as something along the lines of following things through to completion and giving 100% to anything I do). There a million and one answers to this question and I ended up not giving the one I had originally planned on giving, but as long as you don't say something completely ridiculous and you state your answer confidently, it shouldn't be a make or break question.
 
I do not care for this question either. I was asked at every interview I have went to and each time I said something along the same line as "being too hard on myself when I do not score perfectly on an exam," or something along that line. I do not think the interviewers were as interested in what that weakness was but more concerned if I could identify a weakness that I had and if I had or was currently doing something to correct that weakness. That is just my two cents.
 
When the interviewers asked me that question, I told them I had no weakness as I was the offspring of Chuck Norris.

But more seriously, I think they want to know that you know you're not perfect. Something about humility, blah blah blah. Also, do not say that you have a tendency to procrastinate. That is one of the worst answers I think you could give, even if it is completely true.
 
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