Interview Prep

[BiomedicalPHD]

19 minutes ago, Neuro15 said:

Agreed. A few interviews of mine ended up turning into a chalk talk after the PI requested I diagram what I was talking about. These ended up being some of my strongest interviews as it lead to detailed conversation and brainstorming. 

Nothing impresses us more than if you can give a mini-chalk talk during an interview and do it clearly and concisely. I second the "do not bring handouts" sentiment. I do not personally mind, but I know a few PIs who look on this unfavorably.

[Sakashi]

Does anyone have any advice for what to do when one of the profs you're interviewing with is doing research that isn't exactly your cup of tea? I'm more of a biopsych/behavior kind of person. And one of the people I'll be meeting with is like, protein structure and crystallography and receptors and things that kind of fly right over my head. I'm reading up on abstracts, but it feels like it's just in one ear and out the other. When I see the structure and crystallography things my brain basically makes the old dial-up sound, and starts to go, 'ew, this biology seems too close to chemistry'. Is there any polite way to go in and say something along the lines of "I would be really interested to hear more about your work. I haven't had a ton of experience with this sort of stuff, so it's all a bit confusing to me when I just read about it."? Would it look bad to say something like that? Is there any way to prep for not being super excited about their work? I don't want to seem fake, but I also don't want them to basically hear the dial tone coming out of my head. 

Edited January 17, 2018 by Sakashi

[Neuro15]

1 hour ago, Sakashi said:

Does anyone have any advice for what to do when one of the profs you're interviewing with is doing research that isn't exactly your cup of tea? I'm more of a biopsych/behavior kind of person. And one of the people I'll be meeting with is like, protein structure and crystallography and receptors and things that kind of fly right over my head. I'm reading up on abstracts, but it feels like it's just in one ear and out the other. When I see the structure and crystallography things my brain basically makes the old dial-up sound, and starts to go, 'ew, this biology seems too close to chemistry'. Is there any polite way to go in and say something along the lines of "I would be really interested to hear more about your work. I haven't had a ton of experience with this sort of stuff, so it's all a bit confusing to me when I just read about it."? Would it look bad to say something like that? Is there any way to prep for not being super excited about their work? I don't want to seem fake, but I also don't want them to basically hear the dial tone coming out of my head. 

It’s ok to admit you’re not very familiar with a topic, especially if that topic is well outside your past research experiences. I’d imagine that’s a better strategy than to go into the interview and pretend you know what you’re talking about. That’s a recipe for embarrassment. Try to comprehend what you can about the PI’s research, and maybe formulate a question of two (these will likely be very broad) to engage in discussion if the convo turns to the PI’s work. 

[BabyScientist]

8 hours ago, Sakashi said:

Does anyone have any advice for what to do when one of the profs you're interviewing with is doing research that isn't exactly your cup of tea? I'm more of a biopsych/behavior kind of person. And one of the people I'll be meeting with is like, protein structure and crystallography and receptors and things that kind of fly right over my head. I'm reading up on abstracts, but it feels like it's just in one ear and out the other. When I see the structure and crystallography things my brain basically makes the old dial-up sound, and starts to go, 'ew, this biology seems too close to chemistry'. Is there any polite way to go in and say something along the lines of "I would be really interested to hear more about your work. I haven't had a ton of experience with this sort of stuff, so it's all a bit confusing to me when I just read about it."? Would it look bad to say something like that? Is there any way to prep for not being super excited about their work? I don't want to seem fake, but I also don't want them to basically hear the dial tone coming out of my head. 

Definitely go in and say you don't actually know about the field. Then let them explain and just asking clarification questions to make sure you understand should be enough

[synapticcat]

Has anyone had any luck with using the career center type places at your home institution? 

I scheduled an appointment today for next week (first interview next weekend!) at my PI's request, but I'm not sure how useful they'll be as PhD recruitment weekends are rather different from standard job interviews. Either way, I'm hoping they have some good advice!

Also, does anyone have tips for someone who is too chatty/talkative? I'm terrified I'm going to get excited talking about my research and ramble on way too long. Every mock interview I've had, I've gotten very positive feedback, but everyone tells me that I should focus on talking slower and a bit less frequently . The upside, I'm told, is that I come across as very enthusiastic and excited about my work, and if I can tone it down just a *little* it would be just right. However, it's really hard to police your speaking while in the middle of explaining complex science stuff!

[factanonverba]

1 hour ago, synapticcat said:

Has anyone had any luck with using the career center type places at your home institution? 

I scheduled an appointment today for next week (first interview next weekend!) at my PI's request, but I'm not sure how useful they'll be as PhD recruitment weekends are rather different from standard job interviews. Either way, I'm hoping they have some good advice!

Also, does anyone have tips for someone who is too chatty/talkative? I'm terrified I'm going to get excited talking about my research and ramble on way too long. Every mock interview I've had, I've gotten very positive feedback, but everyone tells me that I should focus on talking slower and a bit less frequently . The upside, I'm told, is that I come across as very enthusiastic and excited about my work, and if I can tone it down just a *little* it would be just right. However, it's really hard to police your speaking while in the middle of explaining complex science stuff!

I think it's still definitely worth doing a practice interview with someone at your career center. Most career centers can conduct mock interviews for different situations, and it's likely that they have done them for prospective grad students in the past so they should know all the conventional interview questions and should be able to provide general tips. Not exactly the same, but I have done mock interviews in the past in preparation for research technician positions at my career center and they were quite helpful.

Also, I think if you are passionate about your research, you should probably just let the conversation flow naturally! I don't think you can really come off as too enthusiastic as long as you don't sound crazy haha. I also tend to get carried away when I talk about my research and I have only had positive feedback from faculty interviewers so far. Just my experience though.