Interview Advice

[JoyJoy]

 

1 hour ago, paraent said:

I had an interview last weekend for a cog psych/neuro program and it was far less intense and way more fun than I thought it might be. Don't get me wrong - it was exhausting (I spent all day meeting for 30 minutes each with different people), but in general I didn't feel like I was being looked at under a microscope or anything. The goal was just to have a good conversation with each professor and I just ran with that. I feel like the framework that we're going to be asked a bunch of job interview-esque questions is problematic, or at least not universally applicable. As long as you're ready to talk about your projects/experience and understand enough about your interviewer's work to ask interesting/well-informed questions about it, you're probably quite well-prepared for the interview.

I have a feeling I'm over-prepared for my clinical psych interview this coming Tuesday. I read about 8 articles of my POI and 3 for each of the other two profs who will interview me. I also want to read graduate students' pubs, but I feel like that may not be necessary... I'm just gonna spend tomorrow to prepare questions... Then I'm done.. really hope this process will end soon. 

[ResilientDreams]

20 minutes ago, JoyJoy said:

 

I have a feeling I'm over-prepared for my clinical psych interview this coming Tuesday. I read about 8 articles of my POI and 3 for each of the other two profs who will interview me. I also want to read graduate students' pubs, but I feel like that may not be necessary... I'm just gonna spend tomorrow to prepare questions... Then I'm done.. really hope this process will end soon. 

Whoa. I definitely did not do that....I feel like you'll be fine.

[Psyhopeful]

3 hours ago, paraent said:

I had an interview last weekend for a cog psych/neuro program and it was far less intense and way more fun than I thought it might be. Don't get me wrong - it was exhausting (I spent all day meeting for 30 minutes each with different people), but in general I didn't feel like I was being looked at under a microscope or anything. The goal was just to have a good conversation with each professor and I just ran with that. I feel like the framework that we're going to be asked a bunch of job interview-esque questions is problematic, or at least not universally applicable. As long as you're ready to talk about your projects/experience and understand enough about your interviewer's work to ask interesting/well-informed questions about it, you're probably quite well-prepared for the interview.

I had a similar experience in my interview last week.

[ItPhBeLikeThatSometimes]

On 2/6/2019 at 10:27 PM, ItPhBeLikeThatSometimes said:

What should I expect from a 45 minute in-person interview with the faculty I already skyped with in December? I.e., since we already discussed both of our research interests, mentor/mentee style fit, etc., will the in-person interview be redundant? Or will it be more casual...or will they expect me to have grown impeccably in the two months since we last spoke and completely blow them away with new information??

My interview is in two days and I'm just now starting to worry about this HELP

 

Update, in case anyone is having similar anxieties:

They pretty much just said "We've already talked about research, so do you have any questions for me?" and I pulled out my notebook list of questions like a fuckin dweeb (hopefully having a list didn't hurt me...I just knew I would forget to ask something important) and the first question I asked turned into a free-flowing, actually enjoyable conversation. I *hate* interviews and it was a genuine pleasure. Have fun and good luck yall!!

[JoyJoy]

Could someone share about group meeting experience? In my schedule, there is a group orientation about the program, it doesn't sound like an interview because it is labeled as orientation. So I'm wondering whether I should be active and ask questions during the orientation, or it doesn't matter?

[paraent]

Mostly they present you an overview of the program and the department's assets. Ask questions if you're genuinely curious about something, though avoid negativity; they'll appreciate a good questions and would be probably annoyed by poor ones asked just for the sake of asking.

[huskypsych]

Just now, paraent said:

Mostly they present you an overview of the program and the department's assets. Ask questions if you're genuinely curious about something, though avoid negativity; they'll appreciate a good questions and would be probably annoyed by poor ones asked just for the sake of asking.

100% agree! I was once at an overview where someone was literally reading off Mitch Prinstein's list of questions in order word for word - don't do that

[paraent]

Just now, buckeyepsych said:

100% agree! I was once at an overview where someone was literally reading off Mitch Prinstein's list of questions in order word for word - don't do that

oof

[sassyyetclassy]

question: I am doing a series of skype interviews with a school in place of an in person interview and one of the faculty members never responded to me last week after I responded to her email requesting times that I was available. she wanted to interview me before 2/16 so do i send her a follow-up email asking her which of the times i suggested work for her or do i wait until the middle of the week to do so?

[xChrisx]

21 minutes ago, sassyyetclassy said:

question: I am doing a series of skype interviews with a school in place of an in person interview and one of the faculty members never responded to me last week after I responded to her email requesting times that I was available. she wanted to interview me before 2/16 so do i send her a follow-up email asking her which of the times i suggested work for her or do i wait until the middle of the week to do so?

I'd say send her a follow up. Sometimes they get so many emails, it might be lost in the shuffle. It might be good to follow up, especially since she wants to interview before 2/16.

[philopsych]

I have an interview this week (woo!), so I've been prepping obsessively. I've been reading tons of articles, so I can have a good research proposal and have thoughtful questions to ask the professors. I'm starting to worry that I'll seem too "scripted" with all this preparation. I am genuinely interested in everything I'm going to bring up; but, because I've been studying my ass off for this interview, it doesn't feel like it will seem genuine anymore (it still is genuine, but I'm worried it won't come across that way). Has anyone else felt like they'll sound scripted/dispassionate even though you're not dispassionate? How did you overcome that? 

[Keyz]

1 minute ago, philopsych said:

I have an interview this week (woo!), so I've been prepping obsessively. I've been reading tons of articles, so I can have a good research proposal and have thoughtful questions to ask the professors. I'm starting to worry that I'll seem too "scripted" with all this preparation. I am genuinely interested in everything I'm going to bring up; but, because I've been studying my ass off for this interview, it doesn't feel like it will seem genuine anymore (it still is genuine, but I'm worried it won't come across that way). Has anyone else felt like they'll sound scripted/dispassionate even though you're not dispassionate? How did you overcome that? 

So I actually had prepped a WHOLE bunch of stuff for my interviews and in my most recent one, applicants who were too "scripted" got called out for not being genuine and asked to show more of themselves than just to basically regurgitate what they know or have read. So when it came time to interview with those professors, I made sure to just be super chill and keep it relevant but fun, which seemed to go well. Now, with all that said, it also depends on the program and the atmosphere of the faculty, which you will have to get a feel for.