Post-phone interview snafu (major error)

[katciao]

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[docma]

Don't focus on the past events. Don't catastrophize or assume the email was forwarded. Just be your best self and convey enthusiasm to the other prof. People know this process is stressful and confusing. His email may simply have been to clarify that their's is a research program and you should not worry about internship. In any case, ruminating about the past will distract you from doing the best you possibly can in the present and the new conversation..It is very likely that you are thinking about the former conversation a lot and the prof is not thinking about it at all. His overall impression of what it was like to talk to you is the most important part and it will either work out or not... Just Let It Be...

 

[PhDToBe]

i would e-mail the first professor again, and admit that you were caught off-guard and are very nervous when it comes to interviews. i would definitely acknowledge that you know the program doesn't have an internship component (and that you want to do research), but tell the professor that you were just very nervous. maybe add something about how you apologize for your mistake, and you hope it doesn't reflect poorly upon you.

if the 2nd professor mentions it, be able to take it well, and maybe even make a slight joke out of it, so they know you are resilient?

good luck, and let us know how it turns out!!

 

[cardamom]

I strongly disagree with the above advice. Don't talk about how nervous you are, as that's not going to make you sound any better, and they certainly already know and understand that you're nervous. One thing the interview process reveals is how candidates perform in situations where they are thinking on their feet and under some pressure. If you imply that you can't handle that, that's not good.

If you do feel the need to write a follow up email, just write again to thank him for taking the time to correspond and his concern and clarify that you are in fact very interested in research and the format of the program and that you are not looking for a clinical program.

In general in this process, it's a bad idea to highlight what you did "wrong." That's the best way to help someone focus on it and can make it the take-home message, when that's the last thing you want. It's like the people who go on about why their GRE scores or GPAs aren't exactly what they want them to be in their personal statements. That's not the story you want to be telling. Talk instead about what you do in fact want them to be thinking about (in this case, your interest in research/the program).

Edited to Add: If you want to briefly acknowledge you were momentarily confused before going on to explain what you do want out of a program, that seems reasonable to me. I just wouldn't go into why that happened or elaborate any further on it than that.

 

[futureapppsy2]

I strongly disagree with the above advice. Don't talk about how nervous you are, as that's not going to make you sound any better, and they certainly already know and understand that you're nervous. One thing the interview process reveals is how candidates perform in situations where they are thinking on their feet and under some pressure. If you imply that you can't handle that, that's not good.

If you do feel the need to write a follow up email, just write again to thank him for taking the time to correspond and his concern and clarify that you are in fact very interested in research and the format of the program and that you are not looking for a clinical program.

In general in this process, it's a bad idea to highlight what you did "wrong." That's the best way to help someone focus on it and can make it the take-home message, when that's the last thing you want. It's like the people who go on about why their GRE scores or GPAs aren't exactly what they want them to be in their personal statements. That's not the story you want to be telling. Talk instead about what you do in fact want them to be thinking about (in this case, your interest in research/the program).

Edited to Add: If you want to briefly acknowledge you were momentarily confused before going on to explain what you do want out of a program, that seems reasonable to me. I just wouldn't go into why that happened or elaborate any further on it than that.

I agree with all of this. Well-said!

 

[PhDToBe]

i apologize if my advice was not the best- i was trying to think of it from the first professor's perception. since it was a somewhat serious mistake, i do think you need to contact the professor again and let him/her know that you are focused on doing research and not clinical work. if i were the professor, i would be a bit hesitant, but receiving a reassuring email would assuage my doubts a bit. good luck.

 

[JockNerd]

Easily recoverable--internship is a mandatory component of your training. You were somewhat concerned that the strongly research focused programs you're interested in might produce applicants who are less competitive for internship as a result of obtaining the extra research time that you want out of a training program. Done.

 

[AlaskanJustin]

Easily recoverable--internship is a mandatory component of your training. You were somewhat concerned that the strongly research focused programs you're interested in might produce applicants who are less competitive for internship as a result of obtaining the extra research time that you want out of a training program. Done.

its a social health psych program not a clinical health psych program? no internships for social health psych?

 

[JockNerd]

its a social health psych program not a clinical health psych program? no internships for social health psych?

Oh, oops, less easy then