Speaker 1 (00:00): What is your greatest weakness?
Now, this is a question you can absolutely expect to hear in a law firm interview and
one that law students, as hard-working overachieving type a personalities tend to have a really
difficult time answering, because we don't want to admit that we have a weakness, much
less elaborate on it.
And so in today's video, we're going to go through the step-by-step approach as to how
to answer this law firm interview question, Hey guys, if you're new here, my name is Angela
Vorpahl of angelavorpahl.com And the law school network on Facebook.
And I help law students dominate law school and land their dream legal job after graduation.
So if you guys want the secrets and the strategies to having an amazing law school career and
building that life that you want, then be sure to hit subscribe and tap that notification
bell so that you don't miss any new videos and be sure to stay till the end so that you
guys can download a free copy of the best questions to ask in a law firm interview guide
that will be available at the end of this video.
Speaker 1 (00:56): So if you guys are excited to jump in, then
smash that like button, and let's go a couple of things to keep in mind about this question.
The reason that you're being asked this question at all is because the interviewer wants to
see how self-aware you are.
They also want to see how you relate to your work.
And they also want to see if you can answer somewhat of a personal or difficult question
on your feet.
The other thing to keep in mind is that this question could take several different forms.
So it could be what is your greatest weakness?
It could be tell me about a time that you failed, or it could be what would a supervisor
tell you that you need work on?
So, however, it's framed, we're still going to answer it the same way using this three
part formula.
So the three part framework that we're going to use to answer this question is one to choose
a specific context to in the past and three that has been improved upon or continues to
be improved upon.
Speaker 1 (01:49): So for number one, choosing a specific context,
we want to indicate that this happened one time or in a very particular situation, and
doesn't happen on an ongoing basis.
Number two, in the past, we want to show that this was something that happened before that
this is not something that is happening ongoing in real time.
And number three, we want to indicate and show that we've taken initiative to improve
this perceived weakness and that we have corrected it.
And that we have taken the steps to overcome what may have been a weakness in the past,
in a particular context, once we have these three elements identified, we're going to
create a story around it.
So here are three examples of some of my personal favorites.
Number one, the weakness is focusing so intently on details that I lose sight of the big picture
of purpose.
Speaker 1 (02:40): So I would say when I was assigned a particularly
large scale project in the past, my starting point was always to lay out the step-by-step
action items that needed to be accomplished in order to successfully complete the project.
This detail oriented approach has been really effective for making sure that every aspect
is considered and nothing falls through the cracks.
But what I noticed happened in one situation is that being in the minutia of the project
caused me to lose focus of the big picture purpose the project was actually being used
for.
So now I've implemented a step where at the beginning of each project, and several times
throughout, I asked myself, how is this being used?
What is the end game rule for this work product so that I can be sure to incorporate the high
level strategy into the project as well.
And this next example, the weakness I identified was getting so caught up in the work that
I forgot to maintain communication with my supervisor as to the status of a project.
Speaker 1 (03:36): So my answer to the interview question would
look like in the context of one particular project, I had a supervisor communicate that
they were unsure of how a project I had been assigned was coming along because I hadn't
sent them continuous updates.
And so it caused some stress on their end because they weren't aware that I was making
progress or that I didn't have any questions.
So in every project thereafter, I made a point to set reminders to myself, to keep whoever
assigned me the project updated and in the loop to not only make sure that they were
informed, but also give them an Avenue to let me know of any new developments to keep
in mind.
And this last example, the weakness that I identified was trying to figure out everything
on my own without asking for help.
And so in an interview, I might say, I really value being independent and self-sufficient,
which is a good thing in a lot of circumstances.
Speaker 1 (04:26): But in one instance, in which I was assigned
to draft a complaint for a case after putting in a few hours of work, the assigning attorney
told me that there was in fact, a template that was always used in these types of cases.
And so there turned out to be a much more efficient path to completing the project.
And so now I always make sure to ask as part of any assignment, if there's a template or
a sample of this type of project that has been done before, or if the assigning attorney
has any thoughts on where they'd like me to begin so that I can always make sure to take
the most direct route to completing the project effectively and it choosing your own weaknesses,
be sure to steer clear of these three categories.
Number one is, do not pick a weakness that is a personality trait, meaning something
that is innate, inherent, natural to you, like being shy or getting frustrated quickly,
or being impatient or getting overwhelmed easily.
Speaker 1 (05:17): We do not want your weakness to be anything
that is not fixable, because if it is a personality trait, the assumption is that there's nothing
you can do to change it or overcome it.
So steer clear of weaknesses that are personality traits, the second type of weakness that you
do not want to talk about is anything that is an overused strength in disguise.
And so there's some really popular candidates for this.
Like I'm a perfectionist or I work too hard or I care too much.
Those come across as really disingenuous and rehearsed.
And so we want to dig deeper into a particular weakness that happened in a particular situation
that we can tell a story about.
We don't want it to look like we really just grabbed whatever was at the top of the bag
and went with that.
And so really still steer clear of any of those weaknesses that are truly strengths
in disguise.
Speaker 1 (06:05): And third don't make your weakness a highly
sought after strength in the legal community.
So specifically don't say that your weakness is a lack of attention to detail or a difficulty
in managing multiple projects simultaneously, or a hard time working with clients or team
members, because those are skills that any legal employer, any law firm is going to highly
value.
So we want to steer clear of those types of characteristics that a law firm is looking
for when you're choosing your weakness.
All right, guys, I hope that was helpful.
Let me know what weakness you chose in the comment section below, and don't forget to
download your free copy of the best questions to ask any law firm interview guide, which
you can download at the link below this video.
I wish you guys the best of luck in your interviews.
Let me know how they go and I'll see you guys next.