This morning I had a phone call interview with a potential advisor at a very good school. First of all, I had kind of forgotten to email him back earlier in the week. I wasn't really being absentminded, I have been close to but not quite overwhelmed all week long. I went out of town last weekend and have been playing catch up all week. However, I did find a way to alter my work schedule which will make future weeks less hectic. So, I emailed him this morning, and then was reading up on him and his research, refreshing my memory... and my phone rings. Yep, it was from the right state.
And it was indeed him. I was a bit caught off guard. Here I was looking at his papers thinking how much I would like to work with him and then he is on my phone. And he was very nice and his work sounds very interesting and just like what I want to do.
How was I? Verbally incompetent. Stammering. Unable to really answer simple questions. I feel like I sounded very unprepared and a very unknowledgeable about my field.
If admission to graduate school is dependent upon me talking intelligently when under pressure, then I am in trouble. I need to plan my words before I say them or they come across like a jumble of catchphrases and silly observations. I guess I now know something I need to work on- being able to speak like a scientist at any given time, not just when I am sure of the answers.
The Latest
8 years ago
2 reverberations:
Oh, I am the same way. Terrible on the phone. I'm sure it wasn't as bad as you think it was. Fingers crossed!!
That's my biggest problem. For whatever reason I overthink what I want to say and it comes out in a big jumble. I have also realized, too, that there are so many other factors that play into it--not just how you were over the phone--professors don't want someone who can give the right answer every time...they want passion, personality, drive, etc.
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