Any tips on preparing for phone interview?

[psychdocstudent]

---

Members don't see this ad.

It's a POI from a clinical program. One of my top choices. I guess this must be the "see if you should be invited" kind of interview so I don't want to mess it up. At the same time I am SUPER busy right now. With the very limited time, I wonder if there are some tips to pass the phone interview and get my foot to the door of the actual in-person interview.

Any suggestions/tips would be appreciated.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I would say to look over the POIs work so you'll know what current projects he/she might have going and can ask relevant questions.

Beyond that, I've heard a few different people mention that even though it's a phone interview, you should dress up for it (at least business casual). I'd imagine it's similar to how people can "hear" when you're smiling, by being professionally dressed, you may be more likely to think and act professionally, which definitely will come across over the phone.

 

[bunderj]

I had two phone pre-interviews last year (I'm a first year in a research-oriented Clinical Ph.D. program now, which was one of the interviews), and they were, in my opinion, more nerve-wracking than the in-person interviews because it's harder to read social cues, assess conversational turn-taking, etc...

What helped me a lot was to actually type out answers to a list of questions that I thought were likely I would be asked (this is in addition to having read the POI's research in some detail, of course). I wanted to have well-formulated responses to major questions about how I fit in to their research program, overall department, etc... (probably about 40 questions in all). I also typed out questions I had for her. Maybe excessive, but better safe than sorry🙂 I didn't read off of the list, but having to answer the questions in that detail helped me organize my thoughts, and I had it there for reference in case I needed to jog my memory about something. I'm happy to email you my list of potential questions if you want to PM me. Good luck!!

p.s. I wore sweatpants🙂

 

[jeanharlow]

I had two phone pre-interviews last year (I'm a first year in a research-oriented Clinical Ph.D. program now, which was one of the interviews), and they were, in my opinion, more nerve-wracking than the in-person interviews because it's harder to read social cues, assess conversational turn-taking, etc...

What helped me a lot was to actually type out answers to a list of questions that I thought were likely I would be asked (this is in addition to having read the POI's research in some detail, of course). I wanted to have well-formulated responses to major questions about how I fit in to their research program, overall department, etc... (probably about 40 questions in all). I also typed out questions I had for her. Maybe excessive, but better safe than sorry🙂 I didn't read off of the list, but having to answer the questions in that detail helped me organize my thoughts, and I had it there for reference in case I needed to jog my memory about something. I'm happy to email you my list of potential questions if you want to PM me. Good luck!!

p.s. I wore sweatpants🙂

That's interesting advice about phone interviews.. would you mind sharing some of the questions you had for the POIs? I'm not sure what is appropriate and inappropriate in these pre-interview or interivew cases (funding, hours, RA vs TA, experience at the university)