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phd interview


Ankita Batra

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Hi

 

i have already applied to few universities for marketing cb in australia since they have September deadlines . I have got a interview notification from one. Please let me know what to expect in the interview as i have never had any academic interview experience before and that too skype interview. Any tips and shared experiences will be appreciated.

 

thanks in advance.:)

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First of all congratulations. I don't know if anyone will have specific advice for you since most of us didn't apply to Australian schools. I looked at them at one point and I believe that their programs are structured quite a bit differently than American programs. For instance you probably had to submit a research proposal with your application. So going from that knowledge I can only assume that they'll ask you a bunch of questions about that. Like how you plan to implement your research and all that. I also know that most of them don't have a period where you are taking classes. You go straight into the program and start doing research for your dissertation.

 

Of course I could be completely wrong about all of these things. As I said I didn't look too much into the programs and what I did I barely remember. Here's what I can tell you about normal interviews. There are a lot of posts on here about them. All of my interviews were pretty casual. I talked with the professors about how I saw myself fitting into their research streams, what I could add to them (potentially) and I tried to make a few awkward jokes that no one got. The best advice I can give is to try to stay calm. Own the interview and be confident it goes a long way in securing an enrollment.

 

Good luck and again congratulations. You have the distinct honor of first interview of the 2015 season. (please consider putting your profile up in the sweating thread, it will help future applicants)

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Thanks xanthus ! its a 1.5 yrs coursework + 2.5 yrs dissertation program. One of its kind. yes they did ask me for a brief research proposal along with the application ( 1000 words) not detailed. i feel the interview process would be similar to the usa one as the professor who contacted me has the US background. What kind of tone and atmosphere can the interview be in? will there be any technical grilling or the general finding right fit to program thing?

 

and yes will definitely put my profile up in the sweating thread soon. interview early next week. fingers crossed. will update on that too. thanks again :)

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There are some stories about interviews from past years on here if you search. Generally they are not too grilling on econometric details or anything like that. Most of the interviews are about your motivations, what got you into the idea of a business PhD, what your goals are, what kind of questions are you interested in (broadly), and what general type of methodology do you want to use.

 

Try to know who you will be interviewing with beforehand. Be prepared to talk about the materials you submitted. Know what the interviewers do, what kind of work they have published. But you won't get asked to recite their papers or anything like that.

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Try to know who you will be interviewing with beforehand. Be prepared to talk about the materials you submitted. Know what the interviewers do, what kind of work they have published. But you won't get asked to recite their papers or anything like that.

 

100% this. Mostly, just try to get across the reasons which made you apply to the program in the first place. Nothing too grilling, the worst I've heard is asking about some specific methodolgies (i.e. what test would you use to analyze this data), but that is extreme minority for marketing CB programs. They just want to know why you applied and why you want to come there. Go through previous threads and you'll be fine.

 

As far as atmosphere that really depends on the professors. Some are really nice and it's like having a conversation with a friend, others are kind of brunt and have specific questions they want you to answer. It's really dependent. Like I said mostly just try to relax and explain you love for research, your love for the school, your love for the professors, and your love for academia as whole. Also remember whenever you are done with the interview spend a few hours doing something fun and try (and I emphasize try) not to overanalyze it.

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