Talking to POIs

[beirut]

So I have a question. Yesterday one of my POIs from a program I’ve been accepted to emailed me to set up a phone call for tomorrow. I was wondering if anyone knew what I should generally be expecting from this call or had any advice in terms of talking points/questions to have ready ahead of time (he did mention that he would be glad to answer any questions I might have). I get very anxious about speaking to people over the phone, so I’m trying to be as prepared as possible!

Thanks in advance! 

[Sav]

Just now, beirut said:

So I have a question. Yesterday one of my POIs from a program I’ve been accepted to emailed me to set up a phone call for tomorrow. I was wondering if anyone knew what I should generally be expecting from this call or had any advice in terms of talking points/questions to have ready ahead of time (he did mention that he would be glad to answer any questions I might have). I get very anxious about speaking to people over the phone, so I’m trying to be as prepared as possible!

Thanks in advance! 

In my experience, they have just wanted to personally say congratulations and tell me a little bit about the program. I did look around the department web site and at my letter (if I'd received one at the time) and come up with some questions (2-3) to ask. It depends on the program, but I asked about summer research opportunities and how teaching works (in relation to job placement) on one call, as an example. I'm thinking asking about the area in which the school is located would be a good question as well. I'm also awkward on the phone but they weren't too bad!  

[beirut]

@Sav thank you so much!! There are definitely some questions I have about the program in general (and I’d love to get some info about the area too), but I didn’t know if those would be appropriate in this situation—so this makes me feel so much better. 

*deep breath in, deep breath out*

[Sav]

9 minutes ago, beirut said:

@Sav thank you so much!! There are definitely some questions I have about the program in general (and I’d love to get some info about the area too), but I didn’t know if those would be appropriate in this situation—so this makes me feel so much better. 

*deep breath in, deep breath out*

Good luck!! 

[amphilanthus]

chiming in: I was also super nervous about a similar call and it ended up being a wonderful experience. I was very anxious about coming up with questions, wanting to sound impressive, etc (I felt like I was prepping for a job interview). but in hindsight, I definitely wasted a lot of time stressing about it. after all, they want to sell you on their program right now – you have less to worry about than they do! 

any general questions you have are perfect, but you can also probably expect them to take the lead in the conversation, so there’s not too much weight on your shoulders here: expect congratulations, probably some (very validating) interest in or excitement about your work, and a bit of a sales pitch for the program. 

I’m sure it’ll go great and you’ll finish the call feeling excited and encouraged. good luck!

[beirut]

2 hours ago, amphilanthus said:

chiming in: I was also super nervous about a similar call and it ended up being a wonderful experience. I was very anxious about coming up with questions, wanting to sound impressive, etc (I felt like I was prepping for a job interview). but in hindsight, I definitely wasted a lot of time stressing about it. after all, they want to sell you on their program right now – you have less to worry about than they do! 

any general questions you have are perfect, but you can also probably expect them to take the lead in the conversation, so there’s not too much weight on your shoulders here: expect congratulations, probably some (very validating) interest in or excitement about your work, and a bit of a sales pitch for the program. 

I’m sure it’ll go great and you’ll finish the call feeling excited and encouraged. good luck!

Wow, that’s such a relief! I’m having to remind myself “you’re already accepted, this isn’t an interview” over and over again. Most of my anxiety does come from the fear that I’ll be incredibly awkward and have nothing to say, so this makes me feel a lot better about it. I hope it’ll be a good call, because I truly am excited about the program and about being in communication with a scholar who’s done such great work in my field. Thank you for the validation!!