I've been looking for a phd for a while now, and yesterday I e-mailed a few potential supervisors to gage any interest before shelling out the $$$ for each application... within about an hour I got a response from one saying he's very interested and would like to talk further on the phone about what i want to do... my problem is, in the past, i've really screwed up on phone interviews (for jobs)... i have a tendency of saying something stupid, and not realizing what i've just done... so basically, i'm interested in doing some preparation... what usually happens in these interviews, what should i look out for? and am i right to think things are looking up?

Was the email you sent this prof a generic one, or one where you'd researched their interests well and tailored it accordingly. If its the latter, your task is done, just have some points from all of this ready at hand.

If it was a generic email, now use some time to read up on this profs interests and why you would be a good fit for them, and then have some points ready.

The PhD you see is more a question of the 'fit' between two things, the sup and the student. If your topic is of interest to the sup, or dovetails really well with their work, there are some clear advantages. Not saying that other situations are bad, its just that this one is a good situation to be in.

Good luck and sorry for the brief response (down and out with fever!)

Thanks for that reply. I actually contacted him through looking at some of his interests as listed on his website, it seems that there would be considerable overlap between his interests and my project. I still have to somehow get a hand on his articles, but not having access to academic journals makes that a bit more difficult. Hopefully I'll be able to read up on his works a bit before we talk. Thanks for the advice.

well I had the interview, 30 minutes... asked a few questions, don't think i said anything too stupid... i do have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth when speaking to anyone with authority, the rebelliousness just slips out... he informed me, he's willing to let students make mistakes and learn from them and gives a lot of latitude, which was great to here... i may have been too honest about my needs for funding though... but it seemed alright in general...

now i have to decide what i do with the other supervisor, who said he thinks my project is great and he's willing to work with me... we're corresponding by e-mail, but i'm not sure if i should respond every time, as he doesn't necessarily always want a response, but leaves it open for one... i don't want to annoy him too much this early on...

i just hope that having found potential supervisors, who are excited about my projects, will give me a step up compared to other applicants...