Hi Pootle,

Thanks a lot for the info and tips. I am gearing up for the interview......its the 1st interview after 3-4 years of
attempts.....

Cheers.

Hi Satchi,

Thanks a lot for the reply. It was comforting me.

Coming to your case, I have lots to share. I will share a bit of many bad experiences....
I did PhD in Europe bet 2006-09. It was like just me and prof. Both of us were new to field.
Everything was rest on my shoulders and I was like a ship with magnetic needle and myself captain.
Landed in trouble and wasn"t awarded the degree at the end. But I learned after 2 years of my PhD,
that I could have done the project in a better way - all I got was confidence. But after returning to my
home country I did not find a job for a year as i have problem with my memories and grades - though
my profile in CV looks good - any interview I faced gave different opinion to the interviewers.

Through God's help and reference I got a job in an Indo-British JV start up company...did not settle well
coz of personal reasons....as I am desired to do PhD....after 3-4 years of attempts, I am going to have 1st
interview for PhD....

May I know your background and types of jobs you are after....I will see whether I can be of any help....

Yup...I am also worried. I had similar rejections for the positions applied through email during last 4 years. Finally I have been called for telephonic interview...which I am scared off. I am not sure what to be prepared for that 20 mins telephonic interview ? I am scared to death! Any tips...pleaseee...

Hi there. I received an email from New Zealand Asst. Professor - calling me to attend 20 mins telephonic interview on Monday.

And, following are my questions;

1. Does attending / call for an interview means anything ?
Can I assume I have been offered the position and this interview is just a small discussion
or still I have to clear the interview to get the position?

2. What do they ask or test ?

3. Can I ask questions to them ?

4. I am bit worried about my GPA as it does not qualify me for PhD but I have very good work experience (3 yrs in academic and 3 yrs in industry) nearly relevant to position. So will I loose the offer if I don't perform well in the interview ?

5. What does New Zealand researchers look for in an interview ?

6. Do they ask anything from the PhD topic / about the group / Univ etc ?

7. How should I address them ?

8. What should I prepare ? any technical stuff that goes in depth or casual discussion or both ?

Any other inputs are most welcome.

Awaiting answers very eagerly

Regards,
Shiva.

Dear friends,

I would like to submit research proposal (for PhD) to the professor. First, I am not sure whether to discuss about the project in generalized format or do I need to write in depth of the whole project ?
Secondly, do I need to include references as we write in manuscripts ? Any more suggestions welcome.

Thanks in advance...

Your field has very good scope. Do you have very good-excellent acadamic record ?

I can imagine your situation. Writing thesis without motivation is something mentally painful. Can you do 'work from home' ?
Probably that can give you some relief !

My PhD has literally been an emotional rollercoaster -- sometimes, I feel like a manic-depressive.
In discussing this idea with other PhD's using a grounded theory approach, and have arrived at four key themes of PhD: depression, guilt, glory, and motivation.These themes are cyclic in nature, and can be extremely severe. Attimes, it can result in "academic suicide" in which someone decides tojust plain quit.

Depression: PhD work is lonely. You're on a path that no one else has travelled, and far too often, it seems like no one cares what you're doing.This may or may not be true, regardless, it feels this way. As a PhDstudent, you invest so much effort, so much energy into your work --and it's really personal energy since it is your work, and not something you don't care about. Often, this work gets rejected("We're sorry to inform you..."). This typically brings on a fresh waveof depression and self-doubt. That depression is accompanied byfeelings of apathy (what's the point?), and distaste (my projectsucks). That meta-realization of these secondary feelings (e.g. ofapathy) translate into more depression. This depression translates intoa slowing of actual PhD work. Output crawls at times to a grinding haltbecause of this emotional low.

Guilt: The offshoot of this"PhD Depression" is guilt. You feel like you're wasting your own time,the time of people around you, and the money of those around you. This crushing guilt is debilitating-- it makes you feel more depressed, which means that you do even lesswork. The consequence of low output is feeling extremely guilty. It'shard to feel good about oneself in this situation. One's own self-worthalways seems in question.

Glory: Sometimes, justsometimes, submitted work gets accepted ("We're happy to informyou..."). This outcome is often accompanied by ecstacy, chest thumping,fists in the air, and random shouts of elation. This energy is amazing but short-lived:after telling all of your closest friends and your family, getting theobligatory, "Congratulations," you realize that: (1) the world has(amazingly) not changed, and (2) still no one seems to care what you're doing. And so, you cycle back into that depression that we talked about earlier.Motivation:This emotional rollercoaster known as the PhD then has a significantimpact on motivation. Essentially what it means is that when you'reriding a big high, you need to use that high and just drain it to theutmost degree, squeezing the very last possible piece of productivityout of it while you can.
There are upsides to PhD's, don't get me wrong. It's just that the downsides are so much easier to talk about.
Next time: We will hear about 'what successful PhD students do...'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got this article from Internet and wanted to share with you.
L,K.

Hi there,

Not all Univ's / Departments require high Quants score for PhD in mass communication. Its varies. Though I feel its bit lower score on ur Quants its better u find out with your Univ's and Depts you want to apply about this. My friend got GRE waived at top Univ with this work exp + publications + very good recos. But not mine. So, as I said, it varies.

With your back ground, you don't sound very bad at all ! Cheerio !

L,
PL.

Googling is the best! Google 'List of Univ's' + 'in' + 'Country name'. Go to each Univ/College web page to find ur course.
Good luck.

WPL.

Dear Jack,

Definitely its a good idea. However, you confirm with your interviewer about your idea beforehand. Good luck.

WL,
PL.

Q:
Is it the time to change our education system ?

A:
I just feel as if I have a solution so called to the PhD depression. Need for change in the education system !

Nodoubt that today's world is very competitive. So we are. But I used toask myself many times... are we heading the right direction in thiscompetitive World or is it mere self sustenance ?

Not allresearchers, centuries ago, did not have so called PhD titles, if Iwere right ! But all top researchers had good training and some of themlearnt by themselves deeply on the subject of their interest !

Weall get good training and exposure to many subjects during ourBachelors degrees. However, in some parts of the country, we are notspecializing in one particular topic at Masters level. Mainly coz theyoffer few electives at Masters level! In my point of view, one mustreally specialize in one particular area of research interest to givehim/her strong foundation. Mean to say that, if you want to specializein the area of Biotech-Enzymology, then u should take necessarysubjects and get trained throughout ur Masters studies. Aftercompleting Masters course, one must work with senior experts/researchesas well as with (interdisciplinary) group doing scientific work atleast for about 3-4 years to establish very well in their field ofchoice! Once established they can seep slowly and deeply by pursuingPhD's then.

This will eradicate problems like depression or low self confidence or unsuccessful thesis.

Ifthe candidate feels he might be unsuccessful in the chosen field , hewill have time and choice to shift while pursuing masters itself !!!

With these in my mind, I feel our educators should decide how to channelize the future generations of researchers!

Coz,tomorrow me sitting in the top most decision making position, I dontwant to follow blindly the rules framed by ancestors that are notfruitful !

Any comments most welcome.

L,
K.

No worries. As far as I know, any supervisor will only be interested to check/see the ability of the candidate to finish PhD successfully. Others are irrelevant as long as one doesn't create problems to them.

Also you better tell the drawbacks in ur current working place, in a very polite manner, thats 'hindering ur professional growth'..its always better and helpful.

Its not a bad answer though very convincing... but supervisor should not get an impression that you give more importance to ur personal things than ur research!(this is how my boss perceived me when I was undergoing rough times and told on my face when we had frictions !)

So better strengthen ur given statement in such a way that you don't give more importance to ur personal things than ur research!

Hi there,
Probably we r traveling in the same boat ! Me also searching for a fresh PhD...
I didn't quit though, my work is now stopped due to end of contract n funds!
Well, one thing you can say is, u r quitting for personal reasons. No more explanations. If you want to give more explanations probably you can google over about the two supervisors (current n prospective) about their achievements in the field,publications, laboratory facilities, group members, funds available and extent of financial support to represent ur work in conf, meetings etc ... u can explain abt these differences too (these r the differences I lacked !)....also u can say u have no room for professional growth !
If u have excellent academic record n achievements u can say 'this is what i want to bcome (higher standards) after x number of yrs...so i can attain that position by working in that grp! Hope i didnt confuse u much......

Good luck for ur interview !