Weakness

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Senior007

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I a lot of people get this question in all types of interviews. What are you strengths and weakness?

I always have trouble coming up with a weakness, while at the same time trying to overcome that weakness.

What is a good weakness to say without it hurting you in your interview?

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I think I would have to know you to tell you a weakness you have, that you could mention in an interview. If you are going to just make things up, then I guess you could say: procrastination for example.

Best to be sincere though and mention one of your true weaknesses and tell them how you are trying to overcome it. I told them I have a temper and can be short with my friends and family. Then I mentioned how I am trying to fix it and how I told the people i am short with to confront me out about when it happens.
 
It's a funny scenario to describe your weaknesses.

The best route is to think about it beforehand, but most people try to come up with a characteristic that even though a "weakness" comes off as a strongpoint.

For example I'm too competitive, Impatient, etc.

Don't make up a weakness that you don't have solely for interview purposes.
Because then you'd have a real weakness, and that's called lying.
 
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I think I would have to know you to tell you a weakness you have, that you could mention in an interview. If you are going to just make things up, then I guess you could say: procrastination for example.

Best to be sincere though and mention one of your true weaknesses and tell them how you are trying to overcome it. I told them I have a temper and can be short with my friends and family. Then I mentioned how I am trying to fix it and how I told the people i am short with to confront me out about when it happens.

Procrastination is the last thing you want to say. Same thing with having a hot temper. You're going into pharmacy and will have to deal with a variety of situations and people. If you can't stay calm in stressful situations, then its a huge negative for you. Even if you're working on it, you've already given a negative impression about your personality and there are aspects of our personalities that can't change with effort alone.

You have to learn how to work your way around the tricky questions. The question is asking for a weakness but you have to find a characterisitc that might serve as a positive as a pharmacist. Basically name a positive trait, find the negatives of that trait, then turn it around and make it back to a postive. :D

There are interview books on how to go about answering this question without being completely dishonest.
 
I am a "perfectionist"..works every time, just like clockwork.
 
I was asked at an interview, "If I talked to your friends, what would they tell me is something they wouldn't go to you for...or they would say, 'ya, that'd be her weakness.'" Basically the weakness question put into different words.

As much as I should have expected this question, I stumbled on it a little. They gave me a couple seconds to think about it, and I answered that my friends know that I'm not someone to do things quickly or on a whim. I'm not the spontaneous type. I probably sounded slower than I actually am :p haha, but it's all I could think of and didn't explain myself too much. I really do work fine in fast-paced environments and can get things done efficiently, but I think things through more or less (probably due to my engineering background). It worked for me I guess because I got a quick acceptance from that school :)
 
I was asked at an interview, "If I talked to your friends, what would they tell me is something they wouldn't go to you for...


I would have said, "my friends would most definitely not come to me for money...I'm too broke" :D
 
I was asked at an interview, "If I talked to your friends, what would they tell me is something they wouldn't go to you for...or they would say, 'ya, that'd be her weakness.'" Basically the weakness question put into different words.

As much as I should have expected this question, I stumbled on it a little. They gave me a couple seconds to think about it, and I answered that my friends know that I'm not someone to do things quickly or on a whim. I'm not the spontaneous type. I probably sounded slower than I actually am :p haha, but it's all I could think of and didn't explain myself too much. I really do work fine in fast-paced environments and can get things done efficiently, but I think things through more or less (probably due to my engineering background). It worked for me I guess because I got a quick acceptance from that school :)

I actually like this one. I'd say it lets them know you think before acting. Good when rushed while doing drug calcs, or insurance verification with an uspet customer at the counter. Cool under fire:cool: .
 
1. i eat a lot but good thing about it is that i have not gained any wt.
2. i am multi tasking and ppl have negative impression that i am not focused on anything because they see me doing everything.
3. My hand writing is very bad. To improve it i write two pages everyday.

Howz it guys???
 
3. My hand writing is very bad. To improve it i write two pages everyday.

I guess that's why they have us TYPE the personal statements now :p
 
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what about public speaking? or would that look bad:confused:
 
LOL
Is anybody being honest to express their weakness???? lol
We all are conscious human being thats why we can not be honest. Those ppl tend to abuse the word honesty the more who are extra vocal about honesty.

I am disorganized but i have always mananged to get things in time.
I am not sure if i am introvert or extrovert. But, i am very sure that i speak when i feel that i need to talk.

The reality: I look for answers how interview books suggest me to answer. Picking positive trait and picking out its negative side to justify it as weakness do not seem like being honest.

Just look at how sdsu29 has put multitasking as a part of her/her weakness. To be very honest. If it is your genuine reason then you should pick something different from the interview books coz it doesnt seem to convience many people. If it is a fake reason then try to find those fake reason that appears more genuine.

There is no rules for interviewers ... but we have to follow every hypothetical guidelines.

PS: thats my personal comment and apologize if it sounds rude (at least my apology is genuine).

LOL
 
When the pharmacist at Walgreens called me in for an interview. I was out shopping, wearing my summer clothes with sandals. She told me to come in anyway for an interview. I was not dressed for an interview and was not prepared for one. She asked me for my weakness and I told her that I am not a multitasking person, even though I am and that is probably one of my strongest point. I don't even know why I said that, but she told me that when you work in a pharmacy, you need to be able to multitask. She hired me anyway.

My weakness is probably being disorganized. I always get things in on time, but I feel like I never put all my effort into it and the product is never "perfect", but yet, I keep doing that. I don't know where I got this habit from because my parents are the complete opposite.

I don't like public speaking in a BIG GROUP of people, but I actually like one-on-one. And I think I've gotten better over the years.
 
Words for thought:

Perfectionist is good; you could say that you are overly critical of yourself at times. Also, you tend to overanalyze things.

You do not write this down or say this to the interviewer, but the interviewer wll be aware of the following: (Some people may consider these things as weakness, but to the trained professional, these are traits that actually work well with professions that involve the care of others. You want your doctor to be overly critical of himself, as well as the individual that is going to verify his/her perscriptions to make you feel better.)
 
I dont think perfectionist and overcritical are weaknesses. People might look at you like you're a weirdo, but definitely not weaknesses.

And if you have a 3.0, I don't think you can use perfectionist as a weakness...lol..
 
I'll respectfully disagree. Multitasking as a weakness though... come on. If you can't multitask you will have a tough time getting through any competitive program... as you say...lol.
 
I don't think you read my post carefully. I told the pharmacist that my weakness was not being able to multitask, even though I am a VERY multitasking person. I guess I was just nervous and I just randomly picked that without even thinking. I've never been asked that question before and I've never really thought about it. The pharmacist then told me that when I work in the pharmacy environment, I need to be able to multitask. Being able to multitask is never a weakness unless you get everything mixed up.
 
Sorry if I read that wrong. Keep it real, and keep up the good advice. I know this site has helped me a lot.
 
I was asked that question last week during my LECOM interview and i told him that i tend to get involved in alot of things at a time cos i'm very energetic and i always want to be involved and i told him as he can see from my application that i was volunteering at a lot of places and involved with different organizations and i was also working and taking 18 credit hours, but i said it has taught me about time management and how to prioritize my work efficiently.
Hope that works
 
Hey there,

The student interviewer asked this question in my Texas Tech interview in February (just got accepted, so it was a "good enough" answer for them). I responded with something along the lines of:

"As a weakness, I demand my best effort from myself in nearly everything that I do, and when working in a team, I expect others to perform at the best level that they can. This is something that I have noticed in many of my jobs but have come to a point where I understand that there may be a difference between my expectations and others when it comes to performing certain tasks. In the end, I am ambitious and expect a lot from myself, but I'm practical in a sense that I can make more reasonable expectations for my fellow coworkers and colleagues."
 
I was asked that question last week during my LECOM interview and i told him that i tend to get involved in alot of things at a time cos i'm very energetic and i always want to be involved and i told him as he can see from my application that i was volunteering at a lot of places and involved with different organizations and i was also working and taking 18 credit hours, but i said it has taught me about time management and how to prioritize my work efficiently.
Hope that works

How is it a weakness?? :confused:
 
How is it a weakness?? :confused:

I guess inferring that this person may overextend their self and place an undue amount of stress on ones self. I took 21 hours my first semester of college (as an undeclared first generation college-bound 17 year-old, I was a fool to do it, but I survived). I think that was a pretty good answer. It's a weakness that's able to be addressed and something that is a side-effect of other positive attributes - outgoing, energetic, involved, etc.
 
I guess inferring that this person may overextend their self and place an undue amount of stress on ones self. I took 21 hours my first semester of college (as an undeclared first generation college-bound 17 year-old, I was a fool to do it, but I survived). I think that was a pretty good answer. It's a weakness that's able to be addressed and something that is a side-effect of other positive attributes - outgoing, energetic, involved, etc.

Totally agree…I think an adcom almost expects you to somewhat “dodge” this question. You don’t have to lie and I know everyone says that saying you are a perfectionist or something along those lines is too generic. The main thing is that regardless of what you say you’d be wise to say how you’ve grown or matured because of this weakness. I think you and Bamboo had good answers…in addition you both took the question somewhere else like a conversation, which this interview should be, especially if it’s one-on-one. You mentioned group work and Bamboo brought up time management, both of which are aspects that pharm adcoms want the applicant to be able to handle b/c it reflects how you’ll handle stress and workloads during the program. I mean what are you supposed to say??? “My biggest weakness is chocolate…but I’m working on it.” Or maybe, “I’ve never really been good at addition…”
 
I was just completely honest. I told them for my weakness I had terrible study habits, and I have problems making myself study. For my strength, on the other hand, I somewhat countered this by explaining that my poor study habits were probably due to my ability to quickly and easily learn material. I also mentioned that I expected pharmacy school to be a bit more difficult, and I told them that I have complete faith in my ability to adapt to the workload. Idk, i got in though...I say be honest.
 
I was just completely honest. I told them for my weakness I had terrible study habits, and I have problems making myself study. For my strength, on the other hand, I somewhat countered this by explaining that my poor study habits were probably due to my ability to quickly and easily learn material. I also mentioned that I expected pharmacy school to be a bit more difficult, and I told them that I have complete faith in my ability to adapt to the workload. Idk, i got in though...I say be honest.

Every question posed to you by the interviewer should be treated not as a "land mine", but as another opportunity to shine - both of the previous post(s) show that a question can be flipped (even a somewhat negative one) to highlight why you should be accepted to the program. By turning it around - the interviewer has his negative question turned to a positive response - if done correctly - can seal the deal in any interview - Good Answers!!!

~above~
 
what is/are my weakness(es), id just say chocolate.

but on the other hand some of what were listed could be strong points and weaknesses, it just depends on how it affects others and your work. For me i multitask and it doesnt affect the product which is fine, but if u multitask and then your results arent something to write home about then thats ur weakness.
 
Chocolate huh?
 
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