interview fears

[CoyoteBlue]

Are any of you guys terrified of the interview process? I had a professor friend of mine do a mock interview with me last night, it went well, but the amount of very specific questions kind of terrified me. I am very well studied up on the place I'm interviewing with this week, not so much other colleges.... I hope it will all be okay. 

[GeorgeC07]

=。=Never had an interview. Don't even know for sure what kind of questions the professors are gonna ask. And last weekend my friend blew an interview with a professor from UMich, so I'm kinda terrified now that you mention it. Then again, it's not that impending for me, since I haven't heard back from the schools. 

[CoyoteBlue]

1 hour ago, GeorgeC07 said:

=。=Never had an interview. Don't even know for sure what kind of questions the professors are gonna ask. And last weekend my friend blew an interview with a professor from UMich, so I'm kinda terrified now that you mention it. Then again, it's not that impending for me, since I haven't heard back from the schools. 

How'd he blow it?

[GeorgeC07]

It's Chinese new year and we're on vacation. He'd been away from research for some time and didn't answer the questions very well. At least that was how he felt. Anxiously waiting for results since then.

[eternalwait]

I had an interview 2 weeks ago. I was completely terrified. The interview went great, though. I had practiced many questions, of course, but they only asked about my research, my future and if I had any questions (be sure to have some). Overall, it was a great experience, and I'm very happy it went very well. 

Overall, it's good to be prepared, but the key I think it's to relax and have confidence in yourself. Being selected for an interview is a huge accomplishment, so that means you've already caused a good impression. Just act natural . Good luck!

[rheya19]

I've also been terrified thinking about interviews, but then I remembered the advice a friend gave me when writing my SoPs. I think it could serve useful when interviewing, too.

How to apply.tiff

[BlueNahlchee]

For Skype interviews, I am always terrified about sudden power outage or WiFi disconnection that will throw me off the track and make me stumble the rest of the way.

[growly]

Call me unprepared, but I wasn't aware interviews were even a potential part of the process. I applied having worked in industry for 6 years, and am a little out of touch. I think that was obvious in the interviews, actually - my question was basically "I have no idea how this works, I'm out of touch, how do you even". I had an interview with Berkeley and MIT. The professors in both cases asked similar questions, but I felt one interview went quite well and the other very much did not. It was enlightening and tragic.

I'm mostly posting because:

48 minutes ago, BlueNahlchee said:

For Skype interviews, I am always terrified about sudden power outage or WiFi disconnection that will throw me off the track and make me stumble the rest of the way.

This actually happened in my Berkeley interview. Twice. I was in Canberra, Australia and it was a 40 C day, so the router at home kept having a fit. In the end the professor just called me on my mobile and we completed the interview over the phone. The next day I put a fan next to the router. But I was made an offer, so it didn't matter in the end. That's not something you need to worry about!

 

[BlueNahlchee]

12 hours ago, growly said:

Call me unprepared, but I wasn't aware interviews were even a potential part of the process. I applied having worked in industry for 6 years, and am a little out of touch. I think that was obvious in the interviews, actually - my question was basically "I have no idea how this works, I'm out of touch, how do you even". I had an interview with Berkeley and MIT. The professors in both cases asked similar questions, but I felt one interview went quite well and the other very much did not. It was enlightening and tragic.

I'm mostly posting because:

This actually happened in my Berkeley interview. Twice. I was in Canberra, Australia and it was a 40 C day, so the router at home kept having a fit. In the end the professor just called me on my mobile and we completed the interview over the phone. The next day I put a fan next to the router. But I was made an offer, so it didn't matter in the end. That's not something you need to worry about!

 

Wow, congrats!! That's awesome. But man, 40 deg. Celsius is super hot...