How's interviewing going?

[AffectiveScience]

How's interviewing going for everyone?

 

Anything surprising or unexpected coming up?

 

I'm pretty exhausted already and still have three more interviews to get through. Any words of wisdom?

[PsychGirl1]

I'm exhausted and the thought of another interview (I leave tomorrow) makes me want to cry. But I know that somehow I'll show up prepared and somehow I'll get through it :-). After that, I have a nice long week and a half off from interviews before I get started again. Being in grad school while applying for grad school isn't the smartest decision I've ever made...

[veggiez]

I had an interview last weekend that was very casual and not a lot of pressure, and I have one this weekend. I am not loving losing my weekends because the work seems to just keep piling on (I'm still an undergrad), but I know it will all be worth it. Only having 2 interviews so far really puts the pressure on though because this might be all I get.

[DarwinAG]

I'm exhausted and the thought of another interview (I leave tomorrow) makes me want to cry. But I know that somehow I'll show up prepared and somehow I'll get through it :-). After that, I have a nice long week and a half off from interviews before I get started again. Being in grad school while applying for grad school isn't the smartest decision I've ever made...

 

I've had the opposite experience (perhaps opposite is the wrong word). I attended two interview weekends so far, and they have been very enjoyable, stress-free, fun, and very casual. It really just feels like talking to different people about research, which is something that we do in our own labs or colleagues from our own universities. What I find exhausting are the long flights and the going to and from the airport, but the interviews themselves just feels like a hang out session with different scientists. It doesn't help that I am sick and can't seem to shake off this cold, but it hasn't substantially hindered my ability to talk about research.

 

I actually had really good conversations with some of my academic idols and found some of them exceed my expectations.

 

I have a few interviews coming up that are back to back which may be a bit more exhausting. It's really had to recuperate on the plane.

[DarwinAG]

How's interviewing going for everyone?

 

Anything surprising or unexpected coming up?

 

I'm pretty exhausted already and still have three more interviews to get through. Any words of wisdom?

 

We have probably applied to the same programs so we may get a chance to meet each other. I have an interview at Berkeley and Michigan coming up as well as Denver in terms of affective oriented POIs.

 

One of the unexpected and surprising things was how easy it is to talk to some of my academic idols. I thought it would be very stressful, but it really just felt like a casual conversation about psychology and sometimes the publication process.

 

As far as words of wisdom, the best advice that I ever received regarding these interviews is the old adage "be yourself". One of my advisers insight-fully pointed out to me that the point of these interviews is for you and the person you want to work with to get a sense of your "fit" together (personality, working, and research fit). It is a fuzzy construct, but I think you have a better chance of getting a feel for that fit if you're not faking anything.

 

If you don't know something say so; if you disagree with something say so; if you like a particular thing or not like a particular thing say so. I've really taken this advice to heart, and I have just been very candid with people. I have gone as far as saying that "I wish there was more X,Y, and Z in the department", but it was well received. I have had debates on current issues in emotion, emotion regulation, and judgement and decision making. I attended a lab meeting and openly disagreed with a procedure of a person's proposed study. I have proposed different studies.  I have openly admitted my ignorance of certain literature, physiological measures, and statistical knowledge. I have openly admitted the weaknesses in my application. In fact, I'm surprised that no one has asked me the "what are your weaknesses" question and that I sometimes have to volunteer information regarding the weakest parts of my application.

 

I have had good experiences so far. Of course, I expect that there may be programs where I would not have this positive experience in which case the "fit" would not be a good one.

Edited February 6, 2013 by DarwinAG

[veggiez]

We have probably applied to the same programs so we may get a chance to meet each other. I have an interview at Berkeley and Michigan coming up as well as Denver in terms of affective oriented POIs.

 

One of the unexpected and surprising things was how easy it is to talk to some of my academic idols. I thought it would be very stressful, but it really just felt like a casual conversation about psychology and sometimes the publication process.

 

As far as words of wisdom, the best advice that I ever received regarding these interviews is the old adage "be yourself". One of my advisers insight-fully pointed out to me that the point of these interviews is for you and the person you want to work with to get a sense of your "fit" together (personality, working, and research fit). It is a fuzzy construct, but I think you have a better chance of getting a feel for that fit if you're not faking anything.

 

If you don't know something say so; if you disagree with something say so; if you like a particular thing or not like a particular thing say so. I've really taken this advice to heart, and I have just been very candid with people. I have gone as far as saying that "I wish there was more X,Y, and Z in the department", but it was well received. I have had debates on current issues in emotion, emotion regulation, and judgement and decision making. I attended a lab meeting and openly disagreed with a procedure of a person's proposed study. I have proposed different studies.  I have openly admitted my ignorance of certain literature, physiological measures, and statistical knowledge. I have openly admitted the weaknesses in my application. In fact, I'm surprised that no one has asked me the "what are your weaknesses" question and that I sometimes have to volunteer information regarding the weakest parts of my application.

 

I have had good experiences so far. Of course, I expect that there may be programs where I would not have this positive experience in which case the "fit" would not be a good one.

This post has really calmed my nerves a bit about interviews in general. I am a pretty shy/quiet person, so interviews intimidate me, but the idea that you can admit your weaknesses and just treat the whole interview as a conversation is a good thought, especially considering you might be in their lab next year and should have no problem talking to them then.

[PsychGirl1]

We have probably applied to the same programs so we may get a chance to meet each other. I have an interview at Berkeley and Michigan coming up as well as Denver in terms of affective oriented POIs.

 

One of the unexpected and surprising things was how easy it is to talk to some of my academic idols. I thought it would be very stressful, but it really just felt like a casual conversation about psychology and sometimes the publication process.

 

As far as words of wisdom, the best advice that I ever received regarding these interviews is the old adage "be yourself". One of my advisers insight-fully pointed out to me that the point of these interviews is for you and the person you want to work with to get a sense of your "fit" together (personality, working, and research fit). It is a fuzzy construct, but I think you have a better chance of getting a feel for that fit if you're not faking anything.

 

If you don't know something say so; if you disagree with something say so; if you like a particular thing or not like a particular thing say so. I've really taken this advice to heart, and I have just been very candid with people. I have gone as far as saying that "I wish there was more X,Y, and Z in the department", but it was well received. I have had debates on current issues in emotion, emotion regulation, and judgement and decision making. I attended a lab meeting and openly disagreed with a procedure of a person's proposed study. I have proposed different studies.  I have openly admitted my ignorance of certain literature, physiological measures, and statistical knowledge. I have openly admitted the weaknesses in my application. In fact, I'm surprised that no one has asked me the "what are your weaknesses" question and that I sometimes have to volunteer information regarding the weakest parts of my application.

 

I have had good experiences so far. Of course, I expect that there may be programs where I would not have this positive experience in which case the "fit" would not be a good one.

 

True- I agree that you should approach interviews this way. I do think clinical programs put you through the ringer a little bit more than other disciplines, and invite more people per spot. The other applicants are also a bit more intense/competitive than I expected. One girl found out we had a bunch of applications in common and then literally avoided me the rest of the weekend. I sat down next to her at one point and she actually got up and walked away without saying anything (true story).

 

Also, since I applied to programs who took my main research interest and stretched it into different directions, I have to actually do a fairly large amount of prep for each interview day as far as reading their papers, thinking of questions, thinking of potential studies, etc. Add being in grad school (missing classes, trying to run a study staff of 6 on a project from afar, etc.), traveling constantly (tomorrow I leave for my 3rd interview in 1.5 weeks- so that's a total of 7 days in 1.5 weeks that I spent interviewing and/or traveling), and minimal sleep, and I'm just already close to burnt out.

 

But the interviews themselves, as in that face-to-face time, haven't been very stressful, which has been nice.