How to overcome interview weekend stress....???

[leagueGirl]

I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by stress about this coming interview weekend... Will be flying to San Francisco for the first time... Will wearing suit be too hot? What about at night? Will be hosted by a grad student for two nights, interviews go on from Friday morning till Saturday night... I could only imagine this to be quite overwhelming for introverts like myself...

So any advice for relieving stress before and during the interviews other than taking deep breaths?

Thanks! Any advice is appreciated.

[Mowgli]

Congrats on your upcoming interview! While I can't speak to the specifics of where you're traveling to, I'd say try to look at the interview as an opportunity to really show your future colleagues* why you're passionate about your intended research/field and how you could see yourself fitting in with their department. They already think you're pretty awesome by inviting you to interview, so perhaps practice saying that to yourself while doing a power pose in front of the mirror everyday leading up to and including the day of the interview (see https://www.ted.com/speakers/amy_cuddy).

I'm also introverted, but I found that having the chance to "nerd it out" with people who understand and care about the same things I do to be a lot of fun.

Best of luck!

*whether you end up at this school or someone else, you'll be seeing these people at conferences, etc., for the rest of your career, so this is also a fantastic opportunity to network)

[JoePianist]

I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by stress about this coming interview weekend... Will be flying to San Francisco for the first time... Will wearing suit be too hot? What about at night? Will be hosted by a grad student for two nights, interviews go on from Friday morning till Saturday night... I could only imagine this to be quite overwhelming for introverts like myself...

So any advice for relieving stress before and during the interviews other than taking deep breaths?

Thanks! Any advice is appreciated.

 

Hi LeagueGirl -- as a fellow introvert, I feel your pain :-< I just returned home from an interview weekend with a program in Arizona, and I shared many of the same worries as you (flying to the west coast for the first time, heavily interacting with faculty and current graduate students for an extended number of days, etc). Despite being an introvert myself, I ended up enjoying the weekend very much and had many high-level conversations about psychology with like-minded students, professors, and fellow candidates. But it was certainly draining for me to force myself to mingle and socialize so much when I'm not used to those types of situations.

 

When I had a break in my busy interview weekend schedule, I would occasionally call or text my support network of friends and family -- I felt that contacting people I already knew greatly helped me calm down. Also, while it is important to make sure you socialize during group activities, don't feel like you need to talk all the time. If you're starting to feel a bit tired, you can just mingle by joining a group conversation and listen. Also, I'm sure your graduate student host will be very accommodating to your needs -- if you need time to de-compress and relax at their home after a long day, they should be very understanding. It seemed that a lot of the graduate students I talked to had empathized with interview weekend being a very stressful and draining event, so it made me feel at ease that they would acknowledge this.

 

I'm not really sure about the outfit wear, but it was pretty warm in Arizona (around 70-80 degrees F). Perhaps you can contact your student host by email and ask them for advice? If they haven't emailed you already, they should email you soon about your interview weekend.

 

I hope this helps a bit. Good luck, and keep us updated! :-)

[leagueGirl]

Thank you so much for your advice, Mowgli & JoePianist! It's very nice to know that I'm not alone in this :-) 

 

Please let me know if you happened to think of other ways of relieving stress, I will do the same too! What I am doing right now is trying to take the perspective of this event being an opportunity for me to evaluate their program as well, rather than me being the only one evaluated. I think that helps a little... 

 

Good luck with your interviews!

[nuih]

Thank you so much for your advice, Mowgli & JoePianist! It's very nice to know that I'm not alone in this :-) 

 

Please let me know if you happened to think of other ways of relieving stress, I will do the same too! What I am doing right now is trying to take the perspective of this event being an opportunity for me to evaluate their program as well, rather than me being the only one evaluated. I think that helps a little... 

 

Good luck with your interviews!

 

That's my main strategy!! When I keep reminding myself of this, I eventually look forward to the 'interview' haha.

[EastCoasting]

I was really stressed. I am usually really stressed. There was a nice article on stress a while back in the NYT, that spoke about how stress can be a great motivator for preparedness. I just tried to channel the stress to feel more prepared. Because of stress I woke up really really early every interview weekend, and just used the time to read more about the faculty. I didn't actually need to know nearly that much for the interviews, but it did make me feel more confident. I got into most of the programs I interviewed at.

Give your stress meaning, if you can. At least part of the weekend will be enjoyable, so try and make the most of that.

Good luck!

[JoePianist]

I was really stressed. I am usually really stressed. There was a nice article on stress a while back in the NYT, that spoke about how stress can be a great motivator for preparedness. I just tried to channel the stress to feel more prepared. Because of stress I woke up really really early every interview weekend, and just used the time to read more about the faculty. I didn't actually need to know nearly that much for the interviews, but it did make me feel more confident. I got into most of the programs I interviewed at.

Give your stress meaning, if you can. At least part of the weekend will be enjoyable, so try and make the most of that.

Good luck!

 

Yes, I did the exact same thing the morning of my full day of interviews. Make sure you get enough sleep the night before, but be sure to wake up an hour or two early to review notes about (1) Your own research experience (2) Your prospective mentor's research (3) Reasons why the program fits what you're looking for. Doing this greatly helped me prepare for all the high-level conversations about psychology that I had with professors and graduate students -- I'm sure that my quality of interviews wouldn't have been as good if I hadn't studied and reviewed.

 

A healthy dose of preparation beforehand should help calm your nerves, but make sure you also balance that preparation with adequate rest so your mind can be sharp and focused during discussions.

Edited February 17, 2015 by JoePianist