Talking about your research

[masalachica]

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Hey all,

I was wondering how you guys go about talking about your research during interviews (if/when the topic comes up). Usually what I do is I'll say what comes to my mind (e.g. what excites me about it, why i chose to do this research, what findings we have, etc). Lately I've been thinking about doing it in a more orderly fashion--for example, stating the aims of the research, followed my the methods of data collection, data analysis, findings, etc. I have an interview coming up and that's why I'm curious to know how other people talk about their research. Do you take your time when you talk about it or do you try to sum it up as much as you can and be as concise as possible? If I take the organized, scientific-method route (aims, methods, etc), I think it might take up a lot of precious interview time.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[ATPase]

When I was asked about my research, I always went the concise route. I figured they could always ask questions about specifics if they wanted to (and sometimes they did). However, I don't consider my research experience to be the strongest or most interesting part of my application, so I was eager to move on and discuss other things in my background.

 

[gary5]

I have a broader comment. You should know everything that you want to communicate before an interview. Then be sure to cover every aspect.

 

[TTSD]

Things not to say:

"Crap, when I did most of the scuttle work, which is when I did the most work.. I had no idea what I was doing because it was waaay further advanced than my current status of education to even begin to comprehend. Now, when researching mainly comprises of beer, shooting and driving and the nurses giving me dirty looks because I distract the doctors.. I finally can understand what I was doing but I don't remember what I did."

"Well, yeah.. about the reason I didn't ask that particular PI for a letter of rec? Well, first.. I was guilty by association for something that occurred with another researcher and I've been getting the cold shoulder. Then, the 45 hour work weeks I was expected to finish, and that he was relying on me to finish my work and publish since everyone else was stagnant, was REALLY interfering with my grades so I had to quit.. and he's never talked to me since.."

 

[jlee9531]

i think you should be excited to talk about it...and if they ask specifics about what you did and stuff then be ready to go into it. its always nice to show a good amount of energy during an interview to set a certain mood and let the interviewer remember how cheerful you were.