I have a PhD interview next month!☺️ I have been told that the interview will focus on the proposal which I submitted. Any advice on how to prepare would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Jen.
Han Ping Fung
Re-read your research proposal numerous times - ensure you understand it & identify what are the weaknesses that you didn't do well last time. Panel readers might ask you if you are given another opportunity, how are you going to re-write differently. Know your panel readers if possible e.g. who are professors from external universities, who are internal from your university, chairman etc. Also ensure your assigned supervisor attends as well (I find his / her presence will carry weight even though s/he can't answer on your behalf but s/he can help clarify readers' questions to you or your answers to them. So 1-2 rounds of rehearsal with your supervisor can be helpful). Prepare list of potential questions that the panel readers might ask & develop your answers in advance then rehearse. Do some read up on the various research methodologies potentially related to your research e.g. quantitative, qualitative & mixed methods etc. Even though you penned down in your submitted research proposal about specific methodology but you need to know how to justify / defend it, what are the pros & cons of your chosen methodology & what are the pros & cons of other methodologies. My experience is the panel readers might purposely asked you why you didn't choose other methodologies? Sometimes they ask this question not to swing you to other methodology but rather to test how firm you are or whether you did the literature review rigorously enough. Go one day or few days earlier to visit the proposal defense venue so that you understand the environment e.g. who to sit where, lighting, air-conditioning etc. ambient, projector resolution etc. Some universities have designated room for proposal defense / viva, some universities setup the room last minute etc. If multi-media projector is used, ensure you save your slides into a thumb drive besides the original one in your notebook. Some universities require you to submit your slides in advance. Ensure the right slides deck is used for proposal defense presentation. If possible, attend & present as many times as possible in research colloquiums organized by your university (colloquiums are presentation sessions by various PhD / Postgraduate students on their research topics to students & professors, so that they can "grilled" the presenter) - this is good as it will strengthen your presentation skills, how to handle tough Q&A, how to handle time management etc.
PhD interview tips
You can consider the following to prepare your research proposal defense:
Wishing you all the best.
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Philip Adams
Agree with Han Ping Fung, above; also, strongly argue why your specific proposal is 'the best'.
'On the day', DON'T do what I did and get too relaxed to the point of your mind 'blanking' during interview, resulting in a shaky, 'seat of the pants' performance.
UNRECOVERABLE!
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