If I asked your friends, what would they say are your strengths and weaknesses?

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
How to Answer
Answer Example
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You will likely talk about your strengths and weaknesses throughout your Cardiology Fellowship interview. This question is unique because they request that you answer from the perspective of your friends, rather than your current resident colleagues or the attending physicians you've worked with in the past.

Give a strength that is unique to you and applies to the field of medicine. It is a common strategy to offer a weakness that is actually a strength (e.g., "My weakness is that I work too hard"). The interviewers will recognize this as a transparent tactic. For this reason, you must provide an example of a legitimate weakness that you have worked to improve. You should not offer more weaknesses than strengths in your answer.

"If you were to ask my core group of close friends, they would tell you that my strengths are my communication and motivational skills. I have an infectious spirit that is able to connect with any type of personality and help me work well as a team. They would also tell you that my weakness is self-criticism. I frequently reflect on my words and actions and wonder if I should have said or done something different. I have learned to call my patients to provide new information about important issues that I may have neglected to discuss during their appointment."

Anonymous Answer

"I have a unique ability to bring people together. Socially, I seamlessly integrate friends from different parts of my life and help them find common ground with each other. This is useful in the hospital, where having friendly relationships with patients, doctors, nurses, and ancillary staff is key to having a successful team dynamic. In terms of weaknesses, I have a tendency to overcommit. I get excited about new research projects, or teaching opportunities that seem "up my alley" and take them on even when I have a very full plate. I am learning that less can be more. Recently, I decreased my involvement with a research project in the ED so I could focus on my cardiology research more. The result was that I could devote more of my protected research time to the cards project and ended up making enough progress that I was able to submit an abstract to PAS and present a poster at the conference this spring."

Jaymie's Feedback

Great job! Your strengths are all ones the interviewer will find valuable in a candidate. Your weakness is a common one in the workplace, and would not be a deal breaker. You did a great job sharing ways you are growing in this area and gave specific examples!

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Anonymous Answer

"Regarding my strengths, I strongly believe that people who know me will tell you that I am structured, efficient, and always smiling.
Regarding my weaknesses, I believe that if you asked people close to me they would tell you that I am hard on myself and that it is hard for me to forgive past versions of myself."

Jaymie's Feedback

Being friendly, structured, and efficient are all good qualities and skills that will be valuable in this role. As for your weakness, that's a reasonable one to share and shouldn't be a red flag to the interviewer as long as you discuss strategies you're using to grow and develop in this area and can demonstrate that you won't dwell on the negative moments and let it impact your work.

Anonymous Answer

"Honestly, my friends would say that I am great at bringing people together. I have a very infectious spirit that makes me create an environment that is fun and happy. I love bringing people together and creating safe spaces for everyone. My biggest weakness they would say is that I am a perfectionist and sometimes put a lot of pressure on myself. I have learned that it is important to take a step back and sometimes take a deep breath and triage on important things so I don't get overwhelmed."

Jaymie's Feedback

These qualities, traits, and characteristics will align well with the program!

Anonymous Answer

"One of my friends would say that one of my strengths is my ability to quickly be able to triage medical situations and recognize which patients need immediate/emergent care. A weakness of mine would be at times what I call "decision paralysis". This stems from difficulty dealing with uncertainty. I have worked on making well-thought-out decisions and going forward with them in a timely manner."

Jaymie's Feedback

That is a great strength to share with the interviewer! If you can, spend a little more time on specific strategies or examples of how you've improved in your area of weakness or how you plan to continue improving in the future.

Anonymous Answer

"My friends and coworkers say that I am someone who likes challenges. I thrive in challenging environments with successful results. For example, I was the only resident who went to away electives, with writing assignments, presented 2 posters at AHA, and wrote 1 case study for JACC case reports. I enjoy talking about the latest advancements and research findings during reports."

Jaymie's Feedback

This is a great strength to share with the interviewer, and you did a nice job by providing an example to back up your answer. Don't forget to answer the last part of the question, share a weakness, and then provide ways that you're working on overcoming that area of weakness.