Help with PhD Interview

[NerdyNancy]

Hello. I have a PhD interview next week and am as nervous as a box of tadpoles. I don't know what they will ask. Any help please on planning the interview. I'm not a recent graduate. I've been working for 25 years since doing my postgrad. Thanks.

what subject area ?

the simple truth is they want someone with skills or good ability to acquire skills & quiet determination to stick with it.

History and culture of print media and how this constructed femininity from the 1950s.

You want to show that you have read (skim read) some (I suggest n=3) of the most influential texts (whatever got most cited on Google scholar that you can also genuinely mostly understand) and that you understand the criticism and arguments in favour of whatever those texts say (look for who cited them and what the citers said). You want to show ability to produce original perspective and some openness to what value new research can achieve.

You want to show you're resilient and amenable and conscientious. In sciences you want to show that you will believe what the science says, which comes back to numbers + statistics + consistency + plausible mechanical explanations. I am sorry to say I don't know how people in humanities decide what is 'right' or not, but ... whatever that is, show you understand the process and are open-minded not dogmatic in what you could find out.

They want to choose someone who will complete the PhD without too much hand-holding from themselves, who knows some basic relevant concepts quite well, will listen to their perspective and maybe even follow their instructions, and might be a nice future colleague to work with.

What are the research questions you want to ask?

Is there a research problem/s you want to explore?

What is your body of primary materials?

What methods will you use to investigate these primary sources? How will you answer your research questions?

What is your knowledge of the scholarly context of your specific PhD project?

What is your timeline for the three years of candidature?

You don't need definitive answers, but these are things you should be able to sketch out.

Also, be aware it's highly unlikely you'll get an academic job at the end of your PhD. Have a cogent narrative about what gets you to the PhD (why after 25 years out from formal education) and where you hope the PhD will take you. Please don't assume that there'll be a lectureship afterwards... There never has been a smooth transfer from PhD to lecturer in the humanities & social sciences, and it's particularly catastrophic at the moment.

Have you drawn up a research plan as detailed in the questions asked by LittleBigHead?

Yes, thanks @LittleBigHead - most of that has been covered in my research proposal that they've already had.

Well, then you should be expected to be questioned on your research proposal, and pushed further on it.

Your description above suggests a fairly well-researched arewa already, so you'll need to be clear about where the gap is, and how you will close it.

I think passion for the subject and enthusiasm about how compelling your contribution to knowledge will be. In my interview they also asked how I would keep going, so it’s important to evidence resilience.
Agree with views on the academic landscape in the arts and humanities- many move into adjacent fields though pay/benefits is often poor unfortunately. Are you applying for a funded doctorship?

Is this your own research question? My experience was that they didn't want to know that much about me but wanted to know absolutely everything about the research proposal and how my work would advance current scholarship, what its practical applications might be, essentially why my question justified over £100k of public money. I'd disagree strongly with PP- skimming three papers would not remotely have cut it.

I think interviews where funding for the research is already in place and they are recruiting PhD students for a specific purpose are very different.

Thank you everyone for your help. I had the interview and have been offered a place.

yay.... !

Congratulations!