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"What's your greatest weakness"


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I am working on finishing my PA supplemental while also preparing for interviews (just in case I get called for the schools I have submitted) and i must admit I am having trouble with this question. Because I can do one of two things

  1. Turn one of my strengths into a weakness
    1. Problem is I feel that PA schools will see right through that and the biggest advice I've gotten is to be authentic in a PA school interview
  2. Actually use one of weakness 
    1. I am tempted to do this option and then turn it into a positive but I'm afraid that one of my actual weakness can actually break my interviews.

Does anyone have any thoughts/examples on how to best answer this question so that it's authentic but won't kill your chances? 

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Everyone has weaknesses. The question is to see if you're introspective enough to understand yours and to compensate for them. (And being overly rehearsed might be one of them!)

For example, if you are overly work-driven, sure that's a positive for your employer (at least for a while, until you inevitably crash and burn.) More importantly is what do you do -- in this hypothetical case -- to avoid burnout? Maybe you've tuned in to your feelings and have worked to sense when it's about to happen. And then you take an evening off, see a friend, have a bubble bath, go running, etc.

My point is not to let an unaddressed weakness like excessive work -- or excessive worry -- become too much of a "strength." It's great that you can go the extra mile, but how do your detect when your boiler is about to blow and what do you do about it?

Hope this helps.

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Use a real weakness.  Nobody on the committee expects you to be perfect.  I was actually asked this question at a residency interview a few months ago, except it was about my weaknesses as a soon-to-be PA, not just in general.  My nervous answer (as someone who was still a student at that point) was that I think I do well with history-taking and physical exam skills, but my difficulty is to take the information I get and and come down to a logical diagnosis.  That's something I'm still not very good at, and it's one reason I'm applying to the residency--to learn and gain more confidence in my diagnostic skills.

The committee's response?  "That's very insightful for you to recognize that.  Many students are the same way but don't know it, and their confidence can get them in trouble."  I think they appreciated the honesty and the desire to improve.

I know that's just one person's example, but maybe it will be helpful.

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This is a question that I dread as well. I think it is important that you use a real weakness. As an older applicant, I have had to answer this question more than once over the course of my life and to be honest I don't think I have ever answered it as well as I could have or should have, though I don't know if it has cost me a potential job. 

I am a first-time applicant with no interviews yet, so I cannot speak to what the admission committee specifically wants to hear but I would expect it would be similar to a potential employer. I would encourage you to be thoughtful and honest. Everyone has weaknesses.

In your answer, emphasize how you deal with the weakness and what you are doing to improve upon it, using a real life example. It is an opportunity to show self-awareness, self-motivation and maturity. 

If it is an interview question, practice your reply and be confident when you speak. I think what could hurt you in the interview is not being able to identify a way to manage the weakness and work on it. The way that you answer the question is important. Of course you don't want to raise a red flag, so make sure the weakness isn't a critical skill needed to be a PA.  

Good luck! 

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On 8/2/2020 at 1:27 AM, JBcst2 said:

This is a question that I dread as well. I think it is important that you use a real weakness. As an older applicant, I have had to answer this question more than once over the course of my life and to be honest I don't think I have ever answered it as well as I could have or should have, though I don't know if it has cost me a potential job. 

I am a first-time applicant with no interviews yet, so I cannot speak to what the admission committee specifically wants to hear but I would expect it would be similar to a potential employer. I would encourage you to be thoughtful and honest. Everyone has weaknesses.

In your answer, emphasize how you deal with the weakness and what you are doing to improve upon it, using a real life example. It is an opportunity to show self-awareness, self-motivation and maturity. 

If it is an interview question, practice your reply and be confident when you speak. I think what could hurt you in the interview is not being able to identify a way to manage the weakness and work on it. The way that you answer the question is important. Of course you don't want to raise a red flag, so make sure the weakness isn't a critical skill needed to be a PA.  

Good luck! 

Know a weakness and what you re doing about it. Don't rehearse the words though; it interferes with sounding natural.

Interviewers have weaknesses too and most of them probably know it! 

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