Hi all,

Just seeking some advice as to my interview I hd recently for a funded PhD in Sweden in the subject area of Anthropology. There were 65 applicants, which they reduced to 24, and then offered interviews, to I'm guessing 3-8 candidates.

I think it went ok, and the head of doctoral studies at the department interviewed me with another professor from the department and the human resources coordinator. It was a Skype interview as I am in Canada and this position is in Sweden. At the end tof the interview they told me that they would be seeking references (I had given two references) and they contacted ONE of my references, asking for a reference, and she has until April 19th to give a reference to them. At the end of the interview they told me that there would be a ranking system in place and they would offer the person at the top of the list the position and then down the list if the person at the top refuses and so on. The next day after my interview I got an email from a current doctoral student who told me she has been asked to contact me and offer me the chance to speak with her about life as a PhD student at this University, which I obviously accepted. Apparently this part is not part of the assessment process, I was told.

So how does this all sound to people? Does it sound like I'm in with a shot? I imagine if they really wanted to grab me they would offer sooner than later, right? General thoughts and feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks guys.

Hi! First of all, it sounds like your interview went well (by the lack of negative comments about how you feel about it!). I think that what they said to you in the interview would be standard, about how students are ranked etc. And the part about being contacted by a current PhD student too, I would guess... because if they are only interviewing say 6 candidates, then even one at the bottom of the list could theoretically end up being offered the position, if for whatever reason the other let's say 5 didn't accept... Probably all who had an interview are the cream of the crop kind of thing. So, I don't think anything can be read into at this stage, other than you have done excellently to get there, and it sounds like your interview went well, so you are probably in with a good chance! You should hear something within the next few weeks. You could hypothesise that the longer it takes to hear from them, the less likely you are to get it, since they would contact the first choice first, etc... but it isn't really certain... they may be busy and have other commitments which slows them down. As you can tell, I am well seasoned in reasoning about these things! Just sit tight and fingers crossed! :)

Hi,

Thanks for the advice and feedback, I really appreciate it. It's hard not obsess over something that you want so badly :) - We will see what happens! Here's hoping. Thanks again.