Interviewing with 16 Faculty Members over 2 Days???

[ACM88]

How do you prepare for something like this? I've had a few interviews so far, but at most I've only had to meet with 4-5 people. I understand that many of these individuals are not interviewing me because of similar interests, but to assess my qualifications as an applicant and because many of them are on the admissions committee. Even so, 16 faculty meetings feels like quite a bit (not including the meetings I have with 5 current students)... I don't know that I can read abstracts and papers in enough detail for each of them to have a solid grasp on their background.

 

Any advice out there? I hope I'm not the only one going through marathon interviews!

[Cookie]

I just looked at my visit schedule for this weekend, 8 profs, 30 minutes each... I feel you!  This is what Im gonna do: the ones that I really like (good research fit, and I have contacted), I read representative papers and recent papers, and whatever on the website.  I just read the research interests for the rest of them.  Good luck to both of us!

[Angua]

This is going to sound like totally lame advice, I'm afraid, but: try to have fun with it!  If I were scheduled for that many faculty meetings, I'd do as heartshapedcookie suggests and just look over the work of those that are close matches for you (you probably already know who those people are).  For the rest, think of it like a conference instead of an interview.  You're meeting people in your field (roughly), and you're being given the chance to ask them what they're working on, and tell them what your interests are.  Any halfway-realistic professor is going to realize that you are meeting a ton of people, and if they aren't close research matches with you, they shouldn't expect you to be well-versed in their research or their interests.  What they're (probably) going to be looking for is whether you seem like a smart person that is able to discuss your own work and work in the department coherently and pleasantly.  In other words: are you someone they want to be a part of the department, even if they aren't going to be doing much work directly with you?  You, conversely, are looking to seek if you want these people to be your colleagues for the next 5-6 years.  So try to have fun! Good luck & congrats!

 

Edited to add: Don't forget that the students you meet have been through this process or a similar one, so they can also tell you what to expect!  I've chatted with a few current students who've said things like "Professor X will ask you about your research, and probably offer you candy" or "Professor Y will probably talk sports and anything but research."

Edited February 20, 2013 by Angua

[cherubie]

I'm not sure if you already had your interview, but I just got back from a 2-day interview with 12 faculty total. My strategy consists of the following:

 

1) You don't have to memorize 16 different bios. The faculty that I met with (other than my POI) did not even mention their research, and clearly did not expected me to know it either. I was actually the one to bring up questions about their studies. They didn't quiz me on their methods or anything at all. So you don't have to worry about memorizing all 16 bios. With that said, I did walked in having SOME idea of what they do. This not only makes you feel more confident, but if you get tired of getting asked all the questions, you can turn the table and ask THEM about their research. The faculty whose research someone matched my POI's, I did read a paper or two and asked questions pointed to that topic. But again, from my experience, they definitely do not expect you to memorize their research as long as it is not in your field.

 

2) Know YOUR stuff. A lot (if not all) of the faculty I met with really just wanted to see how much of a fit I would be with my POI. They are all colleagues, and they may know things about your POI that you don't. This may include research, personality, working style, etc. They just want to see whether you will be a good fit given their knowledge. In doing this, half the faculty asked very pointed and specific questions about my research. One even asked me what my hypothesis is or what I expect to find on a certain topic based on what I said I wanted to research. So if you want to study the effect of X on Z, it would be wise to have at least a running hypothesis based on the current literature. My answer wasn't field changing or ground shattering, but I was able to say something along the lines of "based on the current trend/XYZ results, my hypothesis/guess would be I would find...". Know every poster/paper/experience you have on your CV. One faculty "grilled" me on a very specific method and challenged it (in a friendly way) because she was interested in incorporating it into her work. 

 

3) Many questions will be similar. While it seemed like each faculty I met with assessed me from a different angle, a lot of the questions were very similar. One asked how am I a fit with the POI and what can I bring to the table...pretty typical question to expect, but you should also have a good answer. So even though I met with 10+ people over 2 days, it wasn't like each interview was so vastly different that I had to prepare for each of them in entirely different ways. 

 

Some things I did that i think helped me (I received an offer shortly after, so I think my strategy helped...somewhat

-C.O.N.F.I.D.E.N.C.E.! I was nervous before the interview, my heart was racing and I had no idea what to expect. A lot of the feedback I got from grad students about what to expect from each faculty was vague and didn't settle my nerves (in fact, it made it worse even though they all mean well). But once I sat down on the "hot seat" I felt like I'd be able to handle any question they throw at me. In fact, on multiple occasions  as I talked about my own research/ideas, I told them straight out that if they have ANY questions, ask me at any time. To me, this shows I am ready to handle their questions and that I'm not just yapping on to waste time.

-DETAILS. Most of my answers were very detailed and I tried my best to show that I did my research on the school, and I know more about my own background than just the surface. It's good to spit out a bunch of smart words and jargons, but can you back it up? 

-Everyone is human. Faculty is not god, they are not magical beings in some realm of magic science. They are human. They have personalities. They may be rude, nice, tired, uninterested, etc. Imagine interviewing 20+ applicants over a span of 2 days! That's a lot of work! So don't analyze every blink of an eye, every twitch in their seat, every time they check their email while you're talking. Just be yourself and know that they have been through this before as well.

 

BTW, I found that a lot of professors/people I met with didn't care much for talking about their research. They usually turn the question around at ME. I think what helped me is that I had specific questions about their research...or questions related to the field I'm applying for. For example, if someone works on cancer research, it's one thing to say "I understand you're working on the ABC transcription factor in hyperproliferating cells (just made up that word), can you elaborate on it"...BUT I also feel it's very important to follow up with "what do you think about this process in the transcription process, how does a muted allele for XYZ RNA affect the proliferation of cells". Obviously, I made this up...but the point is, if you're going to talk to them about their research, make sure it's not just you getting them to talk so you don't have to.

 

Okay GOOD LUCK!

[rising_star]

cherubie has given some sage advice. Basically, just read what they have on their departmental website and be prepared to ask them more general questions about the department, the facilities, the funding, the courses they plan to teach, etc. I assume you're already doing this but take a portfolio and make yourself a cheatsheet on every single person you'll be meeting with. Then, you can pull that out and take notes on it during the meeting.

 

But really, RELAX. They aren't expecting you to understand the model they used in detail in that one paper and never again and they aren't going to reject you for not knowing some random detail like that.

[ion_exchanger]

I've never had that many interviews, but what I do for each interview is to put in my portfolio the names of my interviewers and a short sentence overview of their research. I never remember exactly everything that they work on, but if I at least know the overall area, thats fine. They usually end up telling you again anyway.

Dr. Ion_exchanger researches the structure of protein kinases and their relation to whatever. Glance at it quickly before that talk, and be prepared to talk about your own research. Good luck!

[cherubie]

Another thing is the questions you ask about the schools should NOT be A) on the website and too superficial. A LOT of the questions i had came in with were answered within 10 minutes of the program orientation. OOF...now what? I had several pages (for multiple faculty, of course) but didn't ask any of them. All my questions were building on top of what was said at the orientation. Take notes during that time, it shows that you were listening and you're not just coming in memorizing questions for the sake of having questions. 

[St Andrews Lynx]

Get a good night's sleep the night before. Eat a filling breakfast with lots of fibre & carbs. Bring a waterbottle with you and keep hydrated. Wear comfortable shoes. Don't drink too much coffee.

 

The biggest challenge of a schedule like that will be keeping your energy levels up!

[ACM88]

Hi everyone,

 

Thank you so much for your responses! I just got back from my interview marathon yesterday and it wasn't nearly as nerve-wracking as I thought it would be. Many of the faculty members I met with were primarily interested in hearing about why I was interested in the department, what some of my current and previous research experiences were, and whether or not I had any questions (I always did). Reading these comments were really helpful though. I have another interview session this week, but it should be far less intensive relative to the one I just experienced (16 interviews is just way too much!).

 

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all for the support. Knowing these kinds of things can really do wonders for confidence and I think that comes across in interviews. Good luck to the rest of you who may be going through the same!