PhD interviews

p.pete

I have my first phd interview coming up this week, so I'm very excited! I've done plenty of job-related interviews, so I'm reasonably composed in interview type situations but I'm not entirely sure what to expect from an academic interview.

The timing of the interview is really bad - the first (cognitive neuropsychology) of my final degree exams is the following day (Friday). This PhD is something that I'm really interested in, and really want however, so I haven't requested a reschedule.

I have one or two insecurities - obviously they are interested in me to short list me, but I feel if I'm up against anyone who is finishing a Masters they would have an obvious advantage. I'll be emphasising the fact that my uni (Cardiff) has a strong research orientation, and being a Russel group uni it's of a good standard. Hopefully I can sell myself on that point but any suggestions on how to promote myself are appreciated.

Another one is age - I'm about to turn 30! I've shown the commitment to get through 3 years of full-time uni so far, and I'm fully commited to this, so hopefully convincing them of that part is easy.

Other then that, I have a lack of preparation time, largely due to exams. I'm reading through one or two related papers, but won't have specific studies in my head that I plan to run. I get the impression the supervisor has a good idea of the direction the phd will go in but obviously the main contributer to it has to be me. As it's my first interview I'm not too sure what kind of questions they are likely to ask.

Any advice or suggestions for preparation are very welcome. I can make a note as to how I get on after (maybe not until after my exams though).

<edit>

I didn't mention the area of the research (for anyone interested ). It's in the area of goal related behaviors, so motivational area. Specifically related to weight loss goals.

yapster

one piece of advice that I found helpful was to be familiar with the studies that your supervisor has published recently. It will give you an idea of how your supervisor has tackled the subject matter previously.

Odysseus

Well I can't be of much help with the interview, I want to do a PhD in time. However, I'm having too much fun in other areas of my life at the moment to take on such a significant piece of work. So just want to say best of luck with the interview.