Interview FAQ

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I know that in all my upcoming interviews I'll be meeting with the current graduate students of my POI. I wondered therefore what people feel appropriate questions to ask these students are? How formal/informal should you be? What is the general feel to these meetings? Is this a time to hear about the type of relationship the students have with the professor? Their own interests? The city the school is located in? I guess in the end it is all about fit, even with the grad students. Any thoughts/experiences (especially from those individuals on the forum who are on the other side of these grad student interviews) would be very helpful.
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I have an interview for Wheaton and Xavier on the same day. If I am able to reschedule one of them, do you think that will hurt my chances at that school?
 
Hi all,
I have the opportunity to call or e-mail some grad students in my POI's lab at one of the places I am interviewing before I go out there. I want to do so, but I am not sure what are appropriate questions. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
 
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GAClinPsych said:
Hi all,
I have the opportunity to call or e-mail some grad students in my POI's lab at one of the places I am interviewing before I go out there. I want to do so, but I am not sure what are appropriate questions. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
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I HIGHLY recommend talking to them. My first two phone interviews for UW were with current grad students working in my POI's lab. As I apparently didn't research the school as well as I thought, I asked them each questions about the different RA positions, the relationship they had with my POI (the degree of interactionm, etc.), and more general questions about the program that I didn't get from the website or other investigation. Not only were they both more than willing to talk in a more casual way than I'm sure my POI would, but each of them offered to answer any more questions I might have later on. They also just got me more excited about the program and in the mindset I want to be in for my more formal interview (provided I'm offered one).
Basically, I think that from my own personal experience, its nice to be able to talk to the grad students because then you can ask the questions you might feel like you should know the answers to without feeling like a total *****. I don't think I would have asked about the things I did when talking to my POI specifically. I would have worried that it would look like I wasn't well-prepared.
 
jcam17- interviewing in person definitely is important (for most programs, although I don't know the programs at those two schools specifically). When you choose which one to reschedule, I would advise choosing the one you are less interested in to be the one you reschedule! Some places only offer phone interviews in lieu of the "interview day" while others are much more flexible and/or have more than 1 interview date. I am assuming that each only only has the one day or you wouldn't be facing the dilemma of rescheduling. Choose wisely, b/c some programs are better about this than others and may say it won't affect your chances and others will indeed tell you honestly that it will- good luck!:luck:
 
Absolutely interview with current students of your POI- they are extremely valuable sources of info - not just about your POI - but also about the program as a whole, what it is like to be a student there (as well as the advisee of your POI), and just general perspective on things your advisor would not even know. In fact, if you ask your POI about some of these things, the POI would simply tell you to ask a current grad student. Here are some questions you may want to consider asking:

Re: POI What is it like to work with him/her? What is their style of mentoring? How has that style worked for the student? What is the most challenging thing about working with POI? What is the best thing about working with POI? What has been different than you expected about working with POI/ in this lab? Are there regular lab/research meetings? Do you have sufficient time to make progress on your independent research? How much of the time have you been funded by an RA versus a TA?

Re: Program in general: What is the atmosphere like across research labs? What are classes like (in general)? Now that you are a student in this program - what surprised you the most about the program (both pleasantly surprised and/or disappointed by?) What is different than you expected it to be? How difficult is it to obtain a practicum that you want? What are comps like? Do faculty provide clinical supervision or is done more by adjunct?

General: Do the current students get together socially at all? Are classes very competitive or do people tend to be more collaborative- like having study groups to get through 1st year grad statistics? Is there time to take advantage of living in city X now that you have been in the program for a bit? Are most students able to get along financially on the stipend provided? What parts of the city do most students live in? Do you need to have a car or can you get by on public transport? What are rents like?


**It's helpful to ask the student not just about their individual experience, but about things in general, because they can also speak to what their labmates/classmates' experiences. This is also good because they don't feel "on the spot" in having to answer only about themsleves. Many grad students - although the interviews with them tend to be less formal in general- would be reluctant to completely gripe about their advisor and about the program- and they know their experience is just one students' perspective, so they usually appreciate talking about general things as well-

Good luck!!!
 
Psychxiety said:
I'm sorry guys...I didn't mean to raise people's anxiety about this. :oops:

I'm just nervous myself. It upsets me when I see that schools like BU invite close to 60 interviewees for 12 positions. It seems like they could narrow it down a little more than that.

Anyway, schools arn't done inviting...theres still hope. Check out how many posts there were on the invite thread today.

Good luck!
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But it's even more upsetting when schools like BU invite 60 people and you aren't one of them! Grrr. :) Just enjoy the interview - if it's really a match, it won't matter if there are 60 or 600 other people around.
 
Keep in mind that naturally schools in prime geographic locations will have more applicants. If BU has to invite, on average, 5 people for each spot they have open (5 people for each of the 12 spots in order to fill the 12 spots), that actually means that a high percent turn down the offers extended... keep that in mind. Surprising they invite so many applicants. I know it is a cliche, but honestly, if you weren't invited, it probably is better for you b/c it means you likely wouldn't have been a good match for that program.... but that doesn't really help at the moment, I know!

Also keep in mind- I know this is hard to believe - but is TRUE -there are a number of silly/random factors that seem like they shouldn't affect one's chances but they do - even just a few typos in your application! Seriously... :luck:
 
I have a question...I was invited to an interview by a professor and in the invite he asked me if I wanted the name of a current student..is this just for me to email the student questions about the program?
 
54321 said:
I have a question...I was invited to an interview by a professor and in the invite he asked me if I wanted the name of a current student..is this just for me to email the student questions about the program?
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Programs/profs will sometimes either automatically provide you with names or offer you names so you can have a student contact for questions that you may want answers to from a student's perspective or simply to ask questions in general (maybe you want to know more about the location itself?).

One of my professors offered me names of students she works with and then the program later emailed me a list with some additional names. I've taken advantage of my POI's current students' information so I know what to expect and I suspect this contact before my interview has made me much more relaxed (not so anxious) about the upcoming interview.
 
Hi there,

I know that some schools have you meet with professors whose research interests doesn't necessarily match yours to add a second/third opinion to you as an applicant. I want to start a discussion as to what type of questions you should be prepared to ask these professors when they ask do you have any questions for me? Assuming you know nothing of said professor's work.

I think the obvious questions revolve around then asking what this professor's interests are, but what are some other questions? I figure asking how they came to be where they are today is a good question, asking about past research and how their interests have evolved.
 
That's a good question...I'd love to hear some suggestions about what to talk to the other faculty members about in an interview. Classes they teach? What type of research they do? Current studies they're involved in? But at the same time, should that matter to us since they are not our POI?!
 
Sol18 said:
That's a good question...I'd love to hear some suggestions about what to talk to the other faculty members about in an interview. Classes they teach? What type of research they do? Current studies they're involved in? But at the same time, should that matter to us since they are not our POI?!
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I think it is important to ask what type of research they are doing so that you are aware of what else is going on in the department. I think an important question is what kind of collaboration goes on within the department, or between other departments. Is it a cooperative atmosphere or a competitive one? You can ask them about the relationship between the faculty and students, or just how they view the students' relationships with each other. These are the kinds of questions you can ask repeatedly to different faculty to get different perspectives. I know it is important to me to be in an environment where I feel comfortable with my peers and ALL the faculty, not just my POI - they will most likely be teaching a course somewhere down the road, afterall.

You can also turn one of the common-but-annoying questions that we as interviewees are supposed to be prepared for, like "what are the strengths and weaknesses of this program?"
 
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217 said:
I think it is important to ask what type of research they are doing so that you are aware of what else is going on in the department. I think an important question is what kind of collaboration goes on within the department, or between other departments. Is it a cooperative atmosphere or a competitive one? You can ask them about the relationship between the faculty and students, or just how they view the students' relationships with each other. These are the kinds of questions you can ask repeatedly to different faculty to get different perspectives. I know it is important to me to be in an environment where I feel comfortable with my peers and ALL the faculty, not just my POI - they will most likely be teaching a course somewhere down the road, afterall.

You can also turn one of the common-but-annoying questions that we as interviewees are supposed to be prepared for, like "what are the strengths and weaknesses of this program?"
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Thanks - good suggestions!!
 
psychgal said:
1. I was asked what was the last significant psychology book I had read other than a textbook and how it influenced me. This took me a minute. I was also asked in another interview how I had witnessed unethical behavior by a professor and what I had done about it. That one was really hard to come up with on the spur of the moment. I was asked many times what other schools I interviewed at and what specific reasons I had chosen that school

2. Questions about research interests, personal strengths, and unique life experiences.

3. I had 7 interviews, felt like a bombed a couple, but was offered admission to all 7 universities. The one I felt I bombed the worst I was offered a special scholarship that only one student was chosen for. Go figure? I ended up going to my first choice school which was a different school.
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Ok, when you say psych books do you mean specific psychology books or psychologically related books, ie, psychological thrillers, or books that you can relate psychology to?
 
I have an interview that lasts two days, the first day is two long meetings followed by a 2-3 hour break and then a pre-interview party that night. The actual interviews are the second day. Should I wear a suit both days? What about the pre-interview party? Thanks!
 
sokersara said:
I have an interview that lasts two days, the first day is two long meetings followed by a 2-3 hour break and then a pre-interview party that night. The actual interviews are the second day. Should I wear a suit both days? What about the pre-interview party? Thanks!
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I sort of have the same issue. I'm meeting with everyone and their brother for two full days...
 
sokersara said:
I have an interview that lasts two days, the first day is two long meetings followed by a 2-3 hour break and then a pre-interview party that night. The actual interviews are the second day. Should I wear a suit both days? What about the pre-interview party? Thanks!
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Who will you be with the first day? Grad students? Some faculty? All faculty?

If the party is just grad students, dress casually. If there will be faculty there, you might want to wear nicer pants or (if you're a lady) a skirt. Don't wear the same suit two days in a row, and i wouldn't bother going out and buying a second suit if you don't have one. It sounds like business casual will probably be best for day 1, suit for day 2.
 
I've known people to wear the same suit (if it's a plainish type suit without some unusual cut or detailing on it) and change up the color of the shirt/tie and/or other accessories for the second day's festivities. Or, wear the suit pants without the jacket for one of those days. Or as the above poster mentioned, just wear some nice pants & shirt, particularly if the first day's meetings are mainly with students.
 
Grrr, I absolutely hate most women's clothing! Besides the fact that it is difficult as heck to find anything to fit me and anything that comes close still has to be tailored, designers seem to think that females do not need pockets. This is unfortunately problematic as I now have no where to carry a few of my 'necessities'. A purse?! Blech. Can't stand the things. A briefcase/portfolio? Seems excessive from past experience. Hmm, what to do, what to do . . . Anyone else with this problem? Should I suck it up with a small purse thingermajig? Or just go ahead with the slim briefcase/portfolio?

Slightly amusing that I'm concerned where to put my carry-along items after a discussion I had with an undergrad in our lab earlier today. She's interviewing at a PsyD program in California in a few weeks and is concerned about what to wear. Not surprising--I suspect that many of us think about this at some time. However, she seemed to be under the impression that she could get away with wearing her jeans, sweatshirt/t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I wonder how many people attend interviews in such attire? Anyone seen this or other 'odd' dress yet?
 
paramour said:
Slightly amusing that I'm concerned where to put my carry-along items after a discussion I had with an undergrad in our lab earlier today. She's interviewing at a PsyD program in California in a few weeks and is concerned about what to wear. Not surprising--I suspect that many of us think about this at some time. However, she seemed to be under the impression that she could get away with wearing her jeans, sweatshirt/t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I wonder how many people attend interviews in such attire? Anyone seen this or other 'odd' dress yet?
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This wasn't too 'odd', but I interviewed today with a guy wearing jeans with a blazer. He seemed comfortable and pretty able to pull it off. But jeans, a sweatshirt, and tennis shoes? I can't really imagine that outfit at an interview setting. It would definitely stand out in a sea of black/navy suits!
 
If someone can get away with wearing jeans to an interview then whatever I decide to wear probably won't be way too formal or way too casual...that's good to know! Thanks! :)
 
amy203 said:
My husband would totally join this! I'm making him completely nuts right now!

I can just see it:
"Hi, my name is Bob and I'm married to an SDN-oholic"
"Hi Bob"
"She checks the site close to 800 times per day. She talks about nothing but grad school. She's planning to drag me across the country. Ahhhhhhh!!!!"
"It's OK Bob. You're among friends now"

My husband's name isn't Bob by the way...
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I just read this post to my fiance while laughing hysterically because it's so on-the-money. That's fantastic... thank you. :-D
 
just came back from an interview, and I really liked it. It was really relaxing, and I can't even remember when I was nervous at all. I think I got lucky though because talking to some of the other interviewees, one of the profs was firing questions at them while s/he just chatted with me.

questions that were asked of me (often):

my research interest - how why what

what research i've done (don't assume they know anything)

what type of person are you in terms of 1) independent or 2) need a LOT of support (and what do you want out of your POI because if you don't match in that area well, it might be frustrating for you if you do end up working with this POI).

i absolutely loved my interview and everyone who contributed to its success. the director said we'd find out by the end of the week (hopefully), so i'm crossing my fingers. :luck: :luck: :luck: :luck: :love: :luck: :luck: :luck:
 
I'm trying to figure out my "carrying things at my interview" situation. Is a briefcase too over-the-top, or is it basically mandatory... or somewhere in between?

Also, our interviews begin in the evening on one day (though I get the impression that day is fairly informal), then take place all day the next day, then conclude with another part of the interview the following morning. Any advice on dress for all of these different days? Does a suit seem necessary for the morning session as well as the all-day session?
 
Quynh- Just had a very similar experience to the one you described. Loved the school, loved the POI, friendly environment etc.

My POI made some cryptic comments to me at the end of our interview along the lines of "You know things aren’t totally up to me. There are 2 pieces of good news you could get from me 1) you are accepted 2) you are the alternate. Both are good news because in competitive schools we often have people turn down acceptances". So I'm thinking maybe I'm the alternate :confused: .
I really felt like we connected and had a good match though.

I roomed with my competition...which was actually a much easier/friendly situation than I had expected. I know that he didn't say anything like this to her...so who knows. POI also said something similar to "it’s not totally up to me" in our pre-interview invite phone conversation...so maybe it’s good? Erg I don't know. There were 4 people interviewing with him...so I guess being an alternate is not that bad as long as I'm high on the list. I just hope I hear back from them soon!

I need to stop analyzing things...know what I mean? :oops:

In any case I just got home at noon today & I'm flying off to another interview at the crack of dawn tomorrow... I'm feeling so drained right now. This process is crazy!
 
I also had a wonderful interview experience on Friday - a group interview with faculty and then with current students - and left feeling great about the program and myself as a match. But they told us we would hear "very shortly," and I know for a fact that some people have heard the same day in the past if they were accepted. So now I'm not sure what to think...:confused: In a way, this is the most stressed I've felt during the whole process. Sigh...just trying to stay positive, for now.

Good luck everyone who also had interviews...hope you get good news!
 
Random Question, did SDN ever get that interivew thing up so we could go and type our experiences? I definitely want to do that before my memories get too old.
 
irish80122 said:
Random Question, did SDN ever get that interivew thing up so we could go and type our experiences? I definitely want to do that before my memories get too old.
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That would be really great. How do we make it happen?
 
OK, I'm not sure about the right thing to do in this situation and could use some advice.

I have an interview this week that I was planning on attending, primarily because my husband really likes the area the school is in, so I figured I'd give it a chance - let's call it school A. This morning, I received an offer of acceptance from school B, which is a school that I like a lot more and is in the same area.

So there's basically no chance that I'll be attending school A at this point, and I would really like to cancel my interview. I'm really sick of traveling, and it would save a lot of money, both in terms of flight costs and missed work. Plus, I feel like I'm just wasting their time.

On the other hand, it's pretty last minute to be cancelling. The interview is on Friday.

So should I cancel or just suck it up and go? I should probably decide by the end of the day. Thanks!
 
If you have no intention of going to their program, cancel. It gives them a few days to offer the interview to someone else.
 
paramour said:
Grrr, I absolutely hate most women's clothing! Besides the fact that it is difficult as heck to find anything to fit me and anything that comes close still has to be tailored, designers seem to think that females do not need pockets. This is unfortunately problematic as I now have no where to carry a few of my 'necessities'. A purse?! Blech. Can't stand the things. A briefcase/portfolio? Seems excessive from past experience. Hmm, what to do, what to do . . . Anyone else with this problem? Should I suck it up with a small purse thingermajig? Or just go ahead with the slim briefcase/portfolio?

Slightly amusing that I'm concerned where to put my carry-along items after a discussion I had with an undergrad in our lab earlier today. She's interviewing at a PsyD program in California in a few weeks and is concerned about what to wear. Not surprising--I suspect that many of us think about this at some time. However, she seemed to be under the impression that she could get away with wearing her jeans, sweatshirt/t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I wonder how many people attend interviews in such attire? Anyone seen this or other 'odd' dress yet?
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At the interviews I've been too, most people had briefcases or large leather bags, although you could probably get away with a nice, leather portfolio. I'm with you on hating women's dress clothing!

As for odd dress - some of the graduate students at one my interviews told a story about a guy from last year who wore a bowtie. When asked about it, he would reply "It draws attention away from my genitals." He didn't get in.
 
amy203 said:
As for odd dress - some of the graduate students at one my interviews told a story about a guy from last year who wore a bowtie. When asked about it, he would reply "It draws attention away from my genitals." He didn't get in.
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I think that was in a movie:

State and Main:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120202/quotes

Doc Wilson: It's the truth that you should never trust anybody who wears a bow tie. Cravat's supposed to point down to accentuate the genitals. Why'd you wanna trust somebody whose tie points out to accentuate his ears?

This has absolutely nothing to do with interview questions, but it reminded me of the movie.
 
Congrats on the offer!

I agree with everyone else- cancel as soon as possible so they can invite someone else. Even if they don't invite anyone else, there's no point having them put in all the time and effort interviewing you if you know 100% you are not going to go there. However, if there's even a remote chance you would consider going there, you should go on the interview (unless you've actually already accepted the offer from the other school) because this is a big decision. Good luck!
 
amy203 said:
OK, I'm not sure about the right thing to do in this situation and could use some advice.

I have an interview this week that I was planning on attending, primarily because my husband really likes the area the school is in, so I figured I'd give it a chance - let's call it school A. This morning, I received an offer of acceptance from school B, which is a school that I like a lot more and is in the same area.

So there's basically no chance that I'll be attending school A at this point, and I would really like to cancel my interview. I'm really sick of traveling, and it would save a lot of money, both in terms of flight costs and missed work. Plus, I feel like I'm just wasting their time.

On the other hand, it’s pretty last minute to be cancelling. The interview is on Friday.

So should I cancel or just suck it up and go? I should probably decide by the end of the day. Thanks!
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Cancel. I found myself in a similar situation recently and decided not to spend the time and money looking into a program I would not attend. It makes me wonder why I applied, but...
 
WalkerTR said:
I think that was in a movie:

State and Main:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120202/quotes

Doc Wilson: It's the truth that you should never trust anybody who wears a bow tie. Cravat's supposed to point down to accentuate the genitals. Why'd you wanna trust somebody whose tie points out to accentuate his ears?

This has absolutely nothing to do with interview questions, but it reminded me of the movie.
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Yep! I love that movie! My comment was, "So not only was his little saying completely inappropriate, but also not incredibly original." Sad, really...

By the way, he used this line on FACULTY MEMBERS!
 
Psych_Ho said:
Congrats on the offer!
However, if there's even a remote chance you would consider going there, you should go on the interview (unless you've actually already accepted the offer from the other school) because this is a big decision. Good luck!
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I guess this is another issue for me - what if I go and I love it? I think it's very unlikely - the program just seems too clinically-oriented for me, although there is one professor whose work I really like. I guess you never know...

I'm not too worried about taking someone else’s interview spot. They are inviting something like 25 people to interview for only 3 slots, so I doubt they'll bother inviting anyone else. I'm more concerned about wasting the faculty/graduate secretary's time.

Ug - I'm giving it another hour and then I'll decide. I feel like my thinking is severely biased by the prospect of a free weekend, which probably isn't the factor I want to base my decision on!

Thanks for all your advice (and any more would still be appreciated!)
 
tkj said:
Not to have this piece get lost in the shuffle...you got an ACCEPTANCE!!!! Congrats!
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Thanks! It's a Ph.D. program in human development and social policy, so I'll have to decide if I'm absolutely sure I don't want to be a clinician. I'm feeling a bit more overwhelmed than excited at the moment, but I guess it just needs to sink in!
 
paramour said:
Grrr, I absolutely hate most women's clothing! Besides the fact that it is difficult as heck to find anything to fit me and anything that comes close still has to be tailored, designers seem to think that females do not need pockets. This is unfortunately problematic as I now have no where to carry a few of my 'necessities'. A purse?! Blech. Can't stand the things. A briefcase/portfolio? Seems excessive from past experience. Hmm, what to do, what to do . . . Anyone else with this problem? Should I suck it up with a small purse thingermajig? Or just go ahead with the slim briefcase/portfolio?

Slightly amusing that I'm concerned where to put my carry-along items after a discussion I had with an undergrad in our lab earlier today. She's interviewing at a PsyD program in California in a few weeks and is concerned about what to wear. Not surprising--I suspect that many of us think about this at some time. However, she seemed to be under the impression that she could get away with wearing her jeans, sweatshirt/t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I wonder how many people attend interviews in such attire? Anyone seen this or other 'odd' dress yet?
Click to expand...

Your answer can probably be found by looking at the professors themselves. they are the ones you want to model. Despite the applied work experience most of these people have had, they really do not dress that well. On the one hand, they do not show up looking like complete crap (well, maybe at the purely research programs); but on the other hand, they do not look as if they walked out of GQ or Brooksbrothers. The male professors seem to wear slacks and blazers and sometimes a tie. The female professors were slacks or a skirt with an oversized blazed. The graduate students who show up tend to be dressed extremely informally. I have seen applicants dressed like crap (untucked shirts and pants that look like they were slept in) and people dressed to well (I had been convinced that everyone would really be dressed well so I once showed up wearing an extremely expensive suit. I looked good. One professor told me that she had never seen a better tie in her life. However, I looked out of place). So in the end, just dress to look neat and organized but not like a yokel.

As far as the bag or briefcase, no place is going to accept or reject you because you are carrying a purse or briefcase unless it somehow looks outlandish. I even saw people carrying backpacks as if they were twelve and their mom's packed their lunch.

I will be dressed very modestly for now on. However, since I did just acquire a very nice Brooksbrother's briefcase, I can't resist bringing it. It doesn't look to showy unless someone really happens to know the briefcase market.
 
Hi everyone. I hope all of your interviews are going well! I had a strange experience at one of my interviews and wasn't sure if anyone else had a similar experience. At my interview, one of the other applicants was really competitive with me as we were meeting casually with faculty and graduate students. I was a little strange. For example, she wouldn't leave until I left (we were socializing with graduate students). She kept making comments about being ready to leave and it felt like a show down- who will leave first? There were other things too, but I'll spare all details. I am not particularly competitive, so I had no clue what to do! I just tried to get along with her and ignore it, but man it was annoying!

Anybody else have thoughts about how to handle this sort of situation?
 
PhDanxiety said:
Hi everyone. I hope all of your interviews are going well! I had a strange experience at one of my interviews and wasn't sure if anyone else had a similar experience. At my interview, one of the other applicants was really competitive with me as we were meeting casually with faculty and graduate students. I was a little strange. For example, she wouldn't leave until I left (we were socializing with graduate students). She kept making comments about being ready to leave and it felt like a show down- who will leave first? There were other things too, but I'll spare all details. I am not particularly competitive, so I had no clue what to do! I just tried to get along with her and ignore it, but man it was annoying!

Anybody else have thoughts about how to handle this sort of situation?
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Well, as a current grad student, I can say that if this competitive behavior is as obvious as you say it was, it was probably not unnoticed by the grad students, and was probably reported back to the faculty. Interviews really help to weed out the annoying, competitive people. In terms of what you should do in situations like this-- just be your lovely, non-competitive self, and you'll shine in comparison. :)
 
GiantSteps said:
Your answer can probably be found by looking at the professors themselves. they are the ones you want to model. Despite the applied work experience most of these people have had, they really do not dress that well. On the one hand, they do not show up looking like complete crap (well, maybe at the purely research programs); but on the other hand, they do not look as if they walked out of GQ or Brooksbrothers. The male professors seem to wear slacks and blazers and sometimes a tie. The female professors were slacks or a skirt with an oversized blazed. The graduate students who show up tend to be dressed extremely informally. I have seen applicants dressed like crap (untucked shirts and pants that look like they were slept in) and people dressed to well (I had been convinced that everyone would really be dressed well so I once showed up wearing an extremely expensive suit. I looked good. One professor told me that she had never seen a better tie in her life. However, I looked out of place). So in the end, just dress to look neat and organized but not like a yokel.

As far as the bag or briefcase, no place is going to accept or reject you because you are carrying a purse or briefcase unless it somehow looks outlandish. I even saw people carrying backpacks as if they were twelve and their mom's packed their lunch.

I will be dressed very modestly for now on. However, since I did just acquire a very nice Brooksbrother's briefcase, I can't resist bringing it. It doesn't look to showy unless someone really happens to know the briefcase market.
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At an interview I was just at, I saw an applicant wearing a silky v-necked camisole under a blazer. Personally, I thought it was a bit inappropriate. Interviews are not the time to let your cookies out of the jar.
 
saurus said:
At an interview I was just at, I saw an applicant wearing a silky v-necked camisole under a blazer. Personally, I thought it was a bit inappropriate. Interviews are not the time to let your cookies out of the jar.
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ah ha ha ha
thanks for making me laugh this early in the morning:)
i wholeheartedly agree
 
So ladies,
Do we think hair up or or hair down? I know hair up is probably more professional looking. Unfortunately, I am not skilled in anything other than a messy ponytail.
I wonder if they still make those topsy-tail things? Hmmm..
 
As for hair up or down: I'd say to go with whichever you're more comfortable with, as long as it looks neat.

Personally, I'll probably straighten my hair and then pull it back (because pulling it back curly can make my hair look messy, especially by the end of the day). I'm going with hair up because I have a tendency to play with it when I'm nervous, and I *don't* want to be the girl who ate her hair during the interview. :)
 
saurus said:
At an interview I was just at, I saw an applicant wearing a silky v-necked camisole under a blazer. Personally, I thought it was a bit inappropriate. Interviews are not the time to let your cookies out of the jar.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was starting to feel left out at my interview yesterday--seemed like just about everyone was letting the girls out to play. I contemplated it but knew better and kept them out o' sight.
 
i usually french braid my hair. then again, most people don't have hair long enough to do that, so i can't comment for those people.
 
Just do what I did and cut it short so you don't have to debate. :D Kidding. I think as long as it looks neat you're good. BTW, at my interview on Monday, I was dressed "up" more than most people I interviewed with-grad students and faculty. And I was just wearing a grey plaid suit skirt and a button down shirt. Black leather bag for interview materials. Felt fine. But there were profs in jeans and/or rumpled blazers and students in "student" clothes. So there's no way to know...just wear what makes you feel confident and comfortable.
 
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