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Example interview questions

Example questions for interviews for postgraduate study

General study questions:



What do you feel are the main differences between undergraduate and postgraduate study? Do you anticipate any difficulties in completing assignments? How would you deal with course stress e.g. deadlines, amount of work? Why did you choose to study your degree subject at University? How can you demonstrate the ability to succeed at postgraduate level? What is the greatest challenge you are looking forward to on the course? What aspects of your degree did you enjoy/not enjoy? What do you consider to be the main advances in your subject area in recent years?

Questions about the course/institution you are applying to and your motivation:

Why did you apply for this programme/course/university? Which aspects of your University course interested you most and why? Why are you only applying to this University? What do you know about the course structure? Define your area of study to 'the person in the street'. What are your particular areas of interest? Why would you specifically want to study in our department at this University, over other schools?

Why have you decided to move into this particular field of study?

Career aims/ambitions:

What are your career ambitions? What is the relevance of the course to your current/future work?

How do you think this course will prepare you for a role as a finance manager, IT consultant, marketing manager, etc?

On completion of the course will you be applying for jobs? Which organisations will you be applying to?

What are the primary environments in which forensic psychologists, environmentalists, engineers, etc are employed?

What particular qualities do you believe a forensic psychologist, environmentalist, engineer, etc should possess?

What makes a good Social Worker, Doctor, Engineer, Psychologist, etc?

Relevant experience (where applicable) and other skills:



What relevant experience do you have? What are the most important skills you developed working in an applied setting (science based courses)?

What skills, both personal and academic, can you offer? Can you provide us with some examples of where you have taken the initiative in your work or in your spare time?

What would you say were your main strengths/weaknesses? How do you get on with others in team projects/activities? How do you manage your time/get things done? What skills do you think you will need to apply yourself effectively to the course and where have you developed these?

Tell me more about how your work experience has helped you to develop your employability skills?

General questions:

Tell me how a friend might describe you. What do you consider to be your greatest achievement to date?

What will you do if you are unsuccessful in securing funding for the course? Why do you think we should offer you a place on the course?

In addition to the above, PhD applicants may be asked the following:


Interest in research:

What attracts you to this research? Tell me about your experience that is most relevant to us. What do you think about the research that we have done here? What are the main differences between studying for a first degree and doing a PhD? What particular skills will be required for the latter? What is reliability (in research terms)?

Present course/previous study at undergraduate and or Masters level:



Why did you decide to study this subject? What led you to specialise in this subject area? What techniques have you used during your degree and which of these are most applicable to our work?

Why did you carry out that particular final project? What have you particularly enjoyed about it? What has been the most frustrating part of your project? Tell us about some piece of research that you have undertaken (normally your undergraduate or MSc project).

Your proposed project:

How will you organise and deliver the project?

Explain what the project is about as if you were explaining it to one of your fellow students, and tell us what you believe will be the main problems that you will be addressing in the research?

What is the best form of supervision? How will you keep motivated two years into your research, when you are not finding the results you expect and keep experiencing delays due to a variety of factors?

Your motivation:

Why do you want to do a PhD? What led you to choose this research topic? What will you do if you fail to secure a PhD topic in the current round? Have you considered anything other than research? Where would you like to be in five years time?

Relevant experience (where applicable) and skills:



What experience do you have which makes you suitable for the project? We expect our postgraduate researchers to undertake undergraduate demonstrating. Can you give us an example of your experience of explaining complex issues to others?

General questions:

How well do you work to deadlines? In what way does your academic background prepare you for this research? What do see as the future of this area of research? What do you think about the way research is funded in this country?

Your questions to the interviewer


As usual at interview you should also think about what questions you want to ask the interviewer(s). Examples could include:

What have previous students gone on to do?

What do you regard as being special about this particular course/department? What are the tutorial/supervisory arrangements? Who has sponsored previous students? Is it possible to take on extra activities such as seminars, invigilating etc? What do you regard as the key issues in the future development of this area of research?

Remember not to ask questions that have already been covered in the interview or it will look like you weren't listening! If all your questions were covered in the interview you could still reach for your list and confirm that your questions have all been answered "thank you very much".

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