How to prepare to talk about my current/previous research experience when it isn't related to my chosen PhD topic?

[pataka]

Hey all,

I know it's too early to stress about interviews since I just submitted applications, but here I am anyway - I'm sure you all know how it is. I've been lurking this forum, and a topic I've seen come up quite often is that it's common for an applicant to be asked about their own research during an interview. Even though I've gained valuable research skills through my work over the last few years, and I'm passionate about my work for the time-being and think it's really exciting and innovative, it isn't related to my proposed topic of study at all. So now I'm freaking out about what I'll say if/when I'm asked to talk about my work during an interview. Any advice? I'm happy to provide more detail if it's needed.

[TheScienceHoney]

I've thought about this a lot too, because my proposed area of study for PhD is only very slightly related to my undergrad and post-bacc work. I don't know how it is in psychology, but after chatting with other grad students and people in my lab, I gather that a lot of places may not care quite as much. Having research experience gives you skills beyond just the technical ones that anyone can learn with practice. You learn to critically think about problems, come up with creative solutions, design experiments and determine what controls are appropriate, and many more. I plan on talking about the aspects of my research experience that apply across fields, and framing the conversation in such a way that I am still talking about the details and what I know about my exact projects, but really focusing on the ways it has prepared me to be a scientist rather than "oh I did xyz experiment and got this result". 

Something to think about for sure. Good luck!

[Sigaba]

26 minutes ago, pataka said:

Hey all,

I know it's too early to stress about interviews since I just submitted applications, but here I am anyway - I'm sure you all know how it is. I've been lurking this forum, and a topic I've seen come up quite often is that it's common for an applicant to be asked about their own research during an interview. Even though I've gained valuable research skills through my work over the last few years, and I'm passionate about my work for the time-being and think it's really exciting and innovative, it isn't related to my proposed topic of study at all. So now I'm freaking out about what I'll say if/when I'm asked to talk about my work during an interview. Any advice? I'm happy to provide more detail if it's needed.

Were I in your position, I would invest time learning about the research you may end up doing as a graduate student in your new field. I would find works relevant to your interests (and ideally written by individuals with whom you want to work) and "reverse engineer" the citations and go from there. And/or I would find biographical/autobiographical works that discuss how certain individuals and groups performed research on relevant topics.

I would then spend time seeing to what degree your previous research experience has helped you to develop skills that have a measure of cross-transferability. (I think I'm watching too much football. Analysts use "-ability" as a suffix.) However, I would not spend time in the interview making the case that Skill A is x% of Skill B.

[pataka]

5 minutes ago, TheScienceHoney said:

Having research experience gives you skills beyond just the technical ones that anyone can learn with practice. You learn to critically think about problems, come up with creative solutions, design experiments and determine what controls are appropriate, and many more.

I agree! This is what gave me the courage to apply to my field of interest anyway, despite the mismatch between experience and field of interest, and it's what I wrote in my statement of purpose.

6 minutes ago, TheScienceHoney said:

I plan on talking about the aspects of my research experience that apply across fields, and framing the conversation in such a way that I am still talking about the details and what I know about my exact projects, but really focusing on the ways it has prepared me to be a scientist

This is an excellent idea, and gives me a lot to think about. Thank you and good luck to you as well!

[pataka]

10 minutes ago, Sigaba said:

I would then spend time seeing to what degree your previous research experience has helped you to develop skills that have a measure of cross-transferability.

Thinking about my skills and their applicability to my proposed area of study, instead of my specific research experience (because that doesn't exactly transfer); thanks! I'll definitely be looking up papers in my field of interest, so I'll keep this in mind when I'm reading.

[01sonal]

For what it's worth, I wasn't asked at all about my past research experiences beyond restating what was on my CV/resume (i.e., what my role in the project(s) was)

[songofgallifrey]

I've been working at a job for the past two years that is completely unrelated to what I want to study, so I've had this same question for myself.

My interviewers have mostly wanted to know about my honors thesis and other lab work as an undergraduate and haven't asked very much about my job, so only saying a sentence or two on the subject has sufficed. I've just framed it as a growth opportunity: I decided to work outside of academe after graduating in order to gain clarity on my career path, and now I can enter a PhD program with full confidence in my decision. And then I've talked a little bit about what shaped my research interests in particular.

That's all to say, don't freak out, just have a couple of lines about why your research interests are in a field that's different from where you're working now, and you'll do great!

Edited December 19, 2017 by songofgallifrey