Are you prepared for this Harsh Reality of PhD Admission Interviews in India & know how to prepare for it.

The main difference between the written exam and Interview is that in the written exam, everyone will be given the same question and evaluation will be based on marks you obtained which is quantitative. 

But in Interviews, Everyone will get different questions with different levels of difficulties and the evaluation will be Qualitative.

As a result,  most of the time your Performance in the interview will be highly influenced by the interviewers.

So even you & your competitors will be having nearly the same capabilities but the results will be totally different. 

So in this scenario, I think you will also agree with me that just studying well is not a sufficient condition to crack the interview.

Here I am going to share Five tips, that I had realized in my interview after facing so many failures. 

Which I wish, I would have known during my Ph.D. Interviews. 

#1 Don't attain Interview towards the end 

Try to be in the first five or ten students. 
This is the most important advice I can give you from my experience.

I have seen that in most of the cases, Interviewers already have chosen the candidates within the first 30% to 50% of the students. 

So they will show no interest in people who come towards the end.

I have seen this while my interview in RRI, Bangalore.

There I was the 3rd student from last & the interviewers just ask me three easy questions & without paying attention to my answers & just tell me to go.

Well, now you may ask me... How can I change my waiting number to fall in earliest, 

The simplest trick is to tell them that you have a train or flight.

But it's not always advisable, because people with actual problems may face trouble. So please take care of these also.

You can also try to be at the Institute as early as possible, which may also be helpful to you to have a less waiting number. 

#2 Use Your Network if Any 

If you have done M.Sc. from a good Institute,

then your professors will be having Research collaborators in the Institutes that you are going for an interview. 

So before going, just let your professors know that you have an interview. 

This is a really powerful option. 
In some cases, If they have a very close friend in the Institute you have applied, that Professor can consider you even your viva didn't go well. 

I have seen such examples in my friends' case. 

#3 Send Email to the professor under which you want to work 

Though this thing, many people do but they do this in the wrong way, which may even decrease their chances.

Don't send just another casual message like you are interested in his work, 

Invest some of your time to understand briefly their work and mention the thing that you want to do. 

If you can show your genuine interest in his/her area, he/she can show interest in you. 

#4 Be Honest With Your Answers

When you are in your interview if you don't know the answer then never try to just give Vague answers. 

Just stay confident & be honest about the things you know & don't know. 

But you should always try to answer the questions with whatever you know. 

#5 Don't think that you only need them, they also need a good student 

Never underestimate yourself, You are much more then you think.   --- Sandeep Maheswari 

So,

Be confident & show what you are capable of.

Wish you all the best. 👍

Never forget this Quote  ⬇️

If you have any quarry, Please let me know in the comment section below.

You may also like to visit our YouTube Channel and Facebook page for similar content.

Thank you for your time.

Tanmay Das

Ph.D. Scholar, 

Department of Physics,

IIT Bhilai, Raipur, India.

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