Greatest weakness

Last week I had my second of two interviews for my upcoming internship through my MSW program. As often happens in an interview, the interviewer asked the classic interview question: "What do you consider your greatest weakness?"

Of course, there are many ways to answer this question, but generally you want to pick something that could be perceived as a strength. After all this is an interview and you're trying to market yourself for the job. If you start ticking off a long list of faults, you're likely not to get hired. Duh.

In my early interview days, I thought this was the trickiest question and would rehearse my answer over and over in preparation. When I was in high school I used to bat my eyes and say:
"I think my biggest weakness is that...well...I just care too much! tehehe!"

And in college, I would say something along the lines of:
"Sometimes I think I work too hard. I guess I'd say my greatest weakness is that I am a perfectionist."

These answers aren't particularly awful. After all, I did exactly what I was supposed to do-- I provided a weakness that was really a strength in disguise. The problem was, though, that there was no disguise!

More often than not I would get the job/scholarship/position/etc. But it was all so cliche. I felt like I was just memorizing and reciting interview catch phrases--that I was essentially absent from the whole equation. It was all so mechanical.

I've been more cognizant of this lately, especially after completing many interviews for jobs earlier this summer and now again for my grad school internship. My general goal has been to be more genuine, more memorable; to be less predictable; to be myself. And in an interview process, that includes coming up with some more original answers to the classic interview questions.

So in my most recent internship interview, when I was asked about my greatest weakness, I answered honestly: "I take things personally. If something goes wrong or I fail at a task, I tend to really internalize that."

One reason this particular weakness came to mind (because I certainly have more than one weakness!) was a very difficult day at the House of Peace last week, just one day prior to my internship interview. The work shift consisted of two problematic residents getting very upset over something considerably trivial. Due to their behavior, the women were eventually 'departed' (or asked to leave) shelter. In the hours leading up to their departure, I absorbed a lot of obscenities, intimidating gestures, and overall hostility from the women. I knew that they were upset about their circumstances, but it sure did feel personal when they were aiming those outbursts in my direction. It was a really tough situation, and my stomach was in knots even after I had arrived home for the evening.

And perhaps worst of all, I felt like I had failed these two women. Most of the residents who come through our doors get back on track. They find permanent housing, get connected to counseling and other general resources. They move forward. So when these two residents weren't accomplishing that, I took it personally. I was unnecessarily assuming responsibility for their unruly, inappropriate behavior, and neglecting to see their role in the situation.

I ended up telling this story in my interview to better demonstrate my point. But I didn't just leave it at that. I explained that this is something I'm working on by reaching out to coworkers and superiors to process and improve upon my experiences, and to stay grounded in reality. And if the day is just super overwhelming, as some days in social work inevitably are, I am learning to utilize better coping skills to decompress and move forward. Last week when I got home, I took a shower, changed into pajamas, and crawled under the covers. I just needed a quiet place to breathe and relax for a while, and after a half an hour or so, I was recharged and ready to enjoy the rest of my evening.

I really don't know how my interview answer was perceived. I'm hoping that because it was personal and real, that it was also memorable in a good way. Every social worker has bad days, and hopefully my response was something my interviewers could relate to. I guess I'll find out tomorrow when I'm offered the internship or not! We shall see.

Anyone else out in the blogosphere have a "greatest weakness" they'd like to share? I mean, really, how DO you answer that question?!