Interviews

Every time I recall my first round of graduate school interviews, I cringe. It was a terrible, terrible experience, which ended with me wanting to jump into a hole and die.

By the way, yes, I interviewed twice, and I am tempted to blame my first rejection on my utter lack of preparedness for my interviews.

I am ashamed to say that my 18 year old self was a hundred times more prepared for my scholarship interviews than I was for graduate school.

Apparently “Wise men learn by other men’s mistakes, fools by their own”, so here are some of the mistakes I made:

• Overconfidence: People were telling me that once you get invited to a school’s interview weekend, chances are you’ll get in unless you’re an axe murderer, are super weird, or ask stupid questions like “how little work can I do and still get a PhD”? THIS IS FALSE. I recently learned that at least in my department, a large pool of applicants was cut down to small pool of invitees (10% of applicants), who will be competing for an even smaller number of spots (>50% invited, not quite the ~90% people led me to believe). This varies from school to school, but my advice now would be to always assume the worst. Sure, schools will wine and dine you, leading you to think that you are a hotshot whom they need to impress, but do not be fooled! I will say now that this false sense of security led me to under-prepare for my interview, with disastrous consequences.
• Dress code: Many interview invites will say that the dress code is casual. FALSE. In an effort to out-impress each other, many of the interviewees I was with were in formal attire, blazer, tie and all. And there I was in my undergraduate hoodie. Afraid of over-doing it? It’s better to come over-prepared than under-prepared. Bring a tie in your luggage, even if you think you won’t need it. Iron your shirts/skirts. Comb your hair/acquire hair gel. Bring deodorant, freshen your breath. Dress smartly, appear neat. You are interviewing for a job, not attending a frat party!
• Replying to invites late: being an international student, it was hard to schedule interviews such that I’d only need to fly to the US once, and not take excessive amounts of leave from my job. Because of this, I waited for multiple schools to get back to me about interviews before replying to any one school. Big mistake. I pissed off the schools that invited me early, and received several angry, pestering emails, wondering if I would condescend to accept their humble invitation to their lowly school (cos in hindsight, that’s the impression I gave off by not replying immediately). The moment you receive an invite, reply immediately, with unbridled enthusiasm.
• Who are you talking to? Most of my invites came from admin staff like course coordinators. One day this guy emails me with an invite and I naturally assume it’s another of those admin guys. I reply in an informal tone and address him by first name. Guess who he was? He was the freaking department chair! Either google stalk and find out who you’re corresponding with, or play it safe.
• Current students: The existing students in the department may look like their only concern is taking you out and having fun, but amidst the partying and tours, they are silently judging you. If they find you are no fun, or weird, or stupid, they have a say in rejecting you.
• Follow up: As soon as you can after the interview, thank via email the faculty members / students you interviewed or interacted with. Remind them about yourself, and why you are the best candidate for the program. Flattery helps. e.g. “Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. I really enjoyed our discussion about _____. I hope to work with you on ___________ and look forward to being able to contribute (insert awesome skills).”

Things you’ll likely discuss in the interview:

• If you’re applying for a position in someone’s lab, read up on that lab’s background. Spin your own experience so that it sounds like you will bring useful skills to the lab, and really fit in.
• Most departments are looking for students who will be able to contribute soon after they start. Describe how you will do so. Do you have ideas for a project, even before starting? Rehearse describing it.
• Look over your application, and make sure you know what you said on it so you don’t contradict yourself in person.
• Look over your resume, and be prepared to describe in detail your old job responsibilities and past projects.

• Prepare stock answers to common questions, like “what are your strengths/weaknesses?”, “why should we accept you?”, “what other schools are you applying to?”, “why did you apply to our program?”.