Hi guys,

I have just got a call from a university, inviting me for an interview. I am so nervous. To prepare well for the interview, I am reading my proposal again to get myself familiar with the theories and concepts covered in the proposal. What else should I do to prepare well? Could you please give me some advice? Thank you for your help.

Hi Dotdottung,

Firstly, congratulations!

Secondly, you did not state what discipline you are in, but it sounds like you have the right idea. Make sure you know the field in which you have an interest and, of course, what YOU have written and want to do. Be clear WHY you want to do a PhD. And it sounds like common sense, but treat it like any other [job] interview, i.e. dress smart, be punctual, polite to everyone, etc.

Thirdly, do not forget that any interview is a two-way process. Hopefully, you'll get a tour, in which case take any opportunity you can to speak to other PhD students in the school and most especially, those supervised by your proposed supervisor. I have just finished my PhD (subject to minor corrections), but one thing I read on these sorts of sites four-odd years ago was make sure you get as much information on quality of supervisor as you can. THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING! I got it wrong and have spent much of the last few years suffering as a result.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Don't feel nervous that you must perform very well in order to achieve your goal...
Perhaps you should also check whether this supervisor had any experience guiding PhD students...
Or get to know some of his PhD students...

Thanksa lot,Simonand MeaningfulLife. I am in the English Language Studies field specializing in (critical) discourse analysis. It seems hard for me to talk to any student supervised by my potential supervisor Coz no relevant info can be found on the dept website. I am afraid they will ask me difficult questions that I cannot answer well at all. What should I do to cope with such questions? Thanks again!

Make sure you read up about different research areas in the dept, as well as the things your potential supervisors work on. They like to see that you have done your homework.

A bit of enthusiasm goes a long way too.

If they ask you questions that you can't answer, which they probably will, just say you are not quite sure but based on xxx you think yyy. If you really can't come up with something, just say you don't know. As long as you have only say you don't know to a few questions, that's ok.

Treat it like a normal interview and be prepared for scenario-based questions like 'tell us about a time when you were stressed, how did you cope?' etc.