Hello everybody.

I am new here and do not really know how things work, but I was hoping you could perhaps give me some advice regarding my upcoming probation review.
I am about to finish my first year and in order to proceed with my PhD I need to pass a probation review. I have submitted a report to the panel and I will be having an interview in a couple of weeks. Although everybody keeps saying to me that it will be a friendly process, I am a bit freaked out about it. I was therefore wondering if any of you are in the same place right now and if anyone who just went through this process has any advice for me in regards to what I should expect to be asked in the interview.

Thank you all in advance for your help. Looking forward to hear from you :D

Different uni has different processes. Some will require that you present your project outline, lit review and whatever results you have. Others, a chit chat with no docs or ppt slides. The process aims to spot major project issues eg. supervisory issues or technical issues as early as possible. It is also the best time to share with your interviewers any problem or help you need, after the supervisor has left the room for you to have your confidential meeting at some stage with your interviewers. Check your process with your uni.

It is not in the interest of the university to fail you, just remember that.

I am in a similar position were I have to submit a 6000 word summary of my work so far and then do a mini viva/interview. Haven't don't the interview yet but from what I hear is that they want to know;

a) have you done some work or have a plan to do some work
b) actually understand what you have done/written -
c) give you some experience in this situation as you will have to defend your work one day.

They aren't looking to fail you but just give you a friendly challenge so that you can improve. I know in my uni it is like a 90%+ pass rate. So just relax and be confident!

Thank you so much, both of you. I know I should be more relaxed about the whole process but my anxiety is always there. I have written a report myself and I am preparing the best I can for what they might ask me. Did any of you prepare or plan to prepare a list of possible questions and their answers or did you/plan on choosing another less structured way of preparing for the interview? I was advised to do so since English is not my first language, but I am having second thoughts (mainly in regards to the fact that I might freeze if I am not able to remember how exactly I phrased an answer in my notes).

Trying to answer the possible questions beforehand is a good idea but you don't need to memorize them. This isn't a test but you just need to seem confident and have an idea what you want to say. You don't want them to ask a question that you had never thought about before. Your answers don't need to be perfect

The anxiety will always be there but the interviewers will be nice and try and calm you. If you get lost for words just ask if you can have a moment and drink some water. It is an easy trick to calm your nerves and regain composure.

You're gonna be fine. I've never known anyone fail. It is a formality. :-)

Hi there,

I just came out of the other side of this last month, and I was also very very nervous. I had to submit a 10,000 word report and have a chat about it with two internal examiners. It was fine, they basically just started on the title page of my report and went through it with comments and some criticisms. The whole thing took about two hours, including a period of 20 minutes where I left the room for them to write their report.

The only way I prepared was a list of the things that have changed in my project since the very beginning, with a justification for every change. Then when they asked me about a certain change I had something to point to. I also had a highlighted/commented copy of my report - I just went through it and highlighted mistakes/typos I'd found and anything I would change.

My supervisor also gave me a very good tip - to take two or three important papers in with you. You can then refer to the papers (highlight the important sections with comments) - this served as a good prompt for me and gave me a moment to think.

It is relatively rare for anyone in my department to fail as well - I have heard of one person having to do extra work but from what I remember she had been ill and on leave for well over a month.

Hi everybody and thank you for sharing your experiences with me and for encouraging me. I like the idea of writing down the changes and justification for them. I will also make sure to take with me a couple of key articles that might become handy. Thank you kenziebob. Those are actually really handy tips :D