Unofficial Interview

[surprise_quiche]

So I had contacted one of my POIs separately to arrange a meeting to discuss some interests in the department. They just emailed me back confirming their interest and we set something up for next week. This is one of my top choices, and I'm wondering if anyone else has done this, or any other suggestions for meeting with a POI. Thanks!

[MaeN]

I've done this with a few of my POIs and have another one tomorrow. Make sure you know about what research they've been working on (look at topics of recently published papers). Prep both questions and answers. There are some great posts elsewhere that go into more details about what to say/ask in interviews, but at minimum think about what you'll say to: "Tell me about yourself." and "Do you have any questions?" I've been asked both of those in each informal interview. I found it also helped me to decide ahead of time what I wanted to get out of it, which for me was gauging the POI's advising style and what daily life would be like there. You want to make sure the conversation is more than just introducing yourself to each other, in my opinion. Best of luck!

[surprise_quiche]

17 minutes ago, MaeN said:

I've done this with a few of my POIs and have another one tomorrow. Make sure you know about what research they've been working on (look at topics of recently published papers). Prep both questions and answers. There are some great posts elsewhere that go into more details about what to say/ask in interviews, but at minimum think about what you'll say to: "Tell me about yourself." and "Do you have any questions?" I've been asked both of those in each informal interview. I found it also helped me to decide ahead of time what I wanted to get out of it, which for me was gauging the POI's advising style and what daily life would be like there. You want to make sure the conversation is more than just introducing yourself to each other, in my opinion. Best of luck!

Thank you! That's really helpful, especially thinking what I want to get out of it.