So, Tell Me About Your Weaknesses

I saw it.   The question was looming in an essay and hiding behind a corner in the brain and/or instruction sheet of my interviewer. â€Å"So Natalie, tell me about your weaknesses and what you did to overcome them†? Gosh, there are so many, I don’t even know where to begin.   Ding! What do you do when you read/hear the weakness question? Schools are assessing how well you self evaluate. Like a business problem, they want to hear your plan of action, your implementation, and your success rate. Prepare the answers in advance. Be honest. If you are let go from a position, you need to discuss the lessons learned from this negative situation and how you overcame the situation. Remain professionally focused. Don’t discuss your cousin’s attraction to arson or your mother-in-law’s conspiratorial behavior. Proactively address the issues. If you have a quantitative weakness, take courses that address the weakness (accounting, statistics). Don’t wait for the admissions committee to ask you to take a course. If you are uncomfortably shy, discuss your involvement with Toastmasters. Avoid clichà ©s. If your weakness is that you work too hard and can’t say no, well, that is not a weakness, that is the life of an MBA. Ask for help. If you need help drafting your essay or framing your answer for your interview, Accepted.com is here to help you. Please contact us for assistance. // By Natalie Grinblatt Epstein, an accomplished Accepted.com consultant/editor (since 2008) and entrepreneur. Natalie is a former MBA Admissions Dean and Director at Ross, Johnson, and Carey.