Making the Most out of Your Interviews
If you’re reading this, you might be going through interviews for psychology graduate programs (congratulations!) or you might be preparing for potential interviews in the future. Graduate school interviews have a variety of formats: phone interviews, videoconference interviews, in-person interviews. Though they are all interviews, each format has its own idiosyncrasies, which you should take full advantage of.
Regardless of the interview format, you should begin preparing for an interview by practicing how to answer interview questions. Find questions online or use Kim’s workshop on interviews, and write out your answers to each question. Interviews will involve questions about experience, research interests, and work ethic, so make sure you prepare answers for as many questions as possible. Instead of writing out shorthand answers, fully answer each question. That way, you know exactly what you need to say. Practice how you want to be heard by participating in mock interviews in lab or with peers. This will help you answer questions smoothly and improve your tone.
Other aspects of the interview depend upon format. Phone interviews seem to be the least difficult interview format because your interviewer can’t see your nervousness! However, phone interviews are most likely interviews with your potential mentors, so that is still very stress-inducing. To relieve that anxiety, prepare accordingly. If you’re calling from your cell phone, make sure it’s fully charged or, better yet, plugged in. If possible, use a landline to prevent your call dropping. Use headphones or your phone’s speaker, so your hands are free. And definitely take advantage of the interview format: Since your interviewer can’t see you, that also means they can’t see you reading any notes – so during the interview, look at your notes as much as you want!
While videoconference interviews don’t offer you the same luxury of openly viewing your notes, they’re still a nifty hybrid of phone and in-person interviews. Notice that I said “videoconference” interviews, rather than “Skype” interviews: Although Skype is commonly used, sometimes interviewers use different software. Well before your interview time, make sure that the software works on your computer and that you know how to navigate the program: Try it out with a friend first. During the interview itself, don’t stress about software glitches – they’re expected. Be patient and persistent, because eventually you’ll be able to talk to each other. Remember, you’re not interviewing for a “videoconference software expert” position – you’re interviewing for graduate school. And also notice that I said you can’t OPENLY view your notes during a videoconference interview. Sure, you can’t hold your notebook up to your face during the interview, but you can (and should!) prop it up against your computer screen, out of your interviewer’s sight. If your notes are electronic, have your notes somewhere on the same screen as your videoconference. That way, you can look at your notes but still maintain eye contact with your interviewer!
After all the phone calls and videoconferences, you could be invited to an in-person interview. In-person interviews are like the final entrance exam: Your interviewers like how you sound on paper and how you convey yourself verbally: Now they want to know if they like how you act in person. You may have a full day’s worth of interviews to get through and it’s as exhausting as it sounds. Fortunately, each of these in-person interviews will give you different insights on your fit with the program. You won’t meet everyone at once; rather, you’ll have interviews with just one or a few people at a time. So at each interview, feel free to ask the same questions! Every person will have a different opinion and that will help you get a fuller perspective of your fit with the program. You’ll usually have a short break between interviews. Take that time to review your notes – not only will it help with your nerves, but it’ll also help you appear more prepared and professional.
Now that you know a bit more about the quirks of different interview formats, I hope you feel more prepared and less nervous. Even if you forget everything else, don’t forget to be confident in yourself and your abilities. No matter what happens, be proud of all of your achievements and be certain that there are more to come.
Recommended Resources
Kim’s Workshop on Mock Interviews
Assocation for Psychological Science
Joanne Angosta received her BA in Psychology with a minor in Public Health from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2016. She was a member of the Interactive Measurement Group from 2013-2017. Joanne now is a graduate student at the University of Houston, pursuing a PhD in Social Psychology. She is a member of the Social Influences and Health Behaviors lab.