Científico Latino

Graduate School Mentorship Initiative

Mock Interviewing Guidelines
December 2019
Dear GSMI mentees,
First, we want to congratulate you all for advancing to the interviewing stage of the Ph.D. application process! Getting this
far into the Ph.D. application process is a huge accomplishment, and you are 75% of the way there (yes we really do mean
75%). The remaining 25% of your journey is demonstrating to the faculty members and current graduate students at the
school(s) you will be visiting that you are a dedicated scientist and you are passionate about scientific inquiry.

Tips on interview attire:

1. Prepare at least 2 interview outfits! Put together one professional outfit that you feel comfortable and confident
interviewing with. But as we understand interviews occur in the months of January - February 2020, this means
there may be unexpected sleet, snow, etc., so always remember to bring layers and appropriate shoes. The
administrator coordinating the visitation weekend will likely send out an email about drastic weather conditions
and alert you to bring what would be appropriate to wear.

2. Your interview outfit should be business attire, a nice blouse/collared shirt/ sweater and pants are appropriate.
Here is a breakdown of your visiting weekend, which typically lasts 2-3 days:
a. You will likely arrive towards the evening on the first day and have dinner with current graduate students.
Though they will say it is not a formal interview and dinner will indeed be casual, they are still assessing
how you are getting along with your potential cohort mates (other interviewees) and with the current PhD
students. Wear whatever you like on this day as they know you have traveled a long way to get there!

b. The second day will be interview day which will be a long day of research talks, poster sessions, and a
whole lot of science! It will end with a big dinner with both faculty and graduate students, when you get
to relax. This is also a chance for you to see what the relationship between faculty and graduate students
are like, and what type of friendly teaching environment the program fosters.

c. The third day will be a very casual day filled with fun activities. It will involve campus and housing tours,
optional activities, meeting more graduate students, etc., so wear anything you feel comfortable in.

Tips on finance-related topics:

Visitation Weekend Expenses and Budgeting:You will not be paying for your meals or hotel during your visitation
weekend. Hotel and meal expenses will all be paid for by the program, but you should be aware of potential expense and
budgeting requirements.

1. Programs may ask that you book your own flight of a set maximum cost and in the weeks following your
interview weekend, the administrator(s) will reimburse you. Some schools may be in a better position to
reimburse more than the allowed cost, but it is important to ask the program administrator about the policy for
such situations before you have bought your flight so you can budget appropriately. Though all your hotel and
flight expenses will be reimbursed, we caution that you take these into account as ​some programs may take up
to two months to reimburse you​,​ which will be a burden if you have other financial responsibilities.
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Graduate School Mentorship Initiative
Mock Interviewing Guidelines
December 2019
2. You may have to bring a credit card as the hotels that you stay for recruitment weekend may need to put your card
down in case there are incidentals. There are rare instances in which you may be preemptively charged for
incidentals with a cost of $200-300 and reimbursed a couple of weeks later, keep this in mind as you begin to save
for your travels.

3. You may also encounter other unexpected transportation and other lodging expenses, especially due to
unpredictable weather in the northeast, so it is best to save some extra money and have some peace of mind
should you need to cover any extra meals or costs. Additional lodging costs will be covered by the university you
are at in case of weather delays, but make sure to ask about meal costs.

4. For international applicants, interviews will take place virtually through Zoom or Skype rather than in person
unless you happen to be working or studying in the U.S. already.

Tips on preparation in the weeks leading up to visitation weekend​:

1. Prior to your visitation weekend, the program administrator(s) would have likely contacted you via email for your
list of faculty members you most wish to meet. If you haven’t received this email, do expect one in your inbox
soon! This is a list that can vary in length, typically of 5 to 10 professors. For the 5 to 10 professors you list, try to
look into what their lab focuses on and list the ones you really are most interested in meeting. You can typically
go on their ​Google Scholar​ page for their list of most recent publications. Lab websites are not always up-to-date,
though they recapitulate a majority of the research questions the lab are currently tackling or have tackled in the
past.

2. Keep in mind that although the administrators will do their best to make sure you meet with professors you are
interested in, you will not get to meet them all and will likely interview with professors not on your list. ​Do not
take this as professors not wanting to meet you​. The program administrators are doing the best job they can in
providing you with as many interviews as possible, and they have many schedules to coordinate. Many professors
might have prior commitments, such as other conflicting meetings, teaching classes, or traveling!

3. Do not worry about knowing every scientific discovery these professors have made​. The faculty will tell you
all about their research during your 1-on-1 interviews, but do browse their lab pages to get more comfortable
hearing about topics outside your main field. Please note that although some programs may provide your
interview day schedule 2 weeks ahead of time, some may not provide this until a day or two before your
interview. In this case, really do not worry about knowing much about their research.

4. Meetings will usually last 30-45 minutes. Although having more than one student meet with a faculty member at
the same time is uncommon, it does happen. The first few minutes will be focused on introductions to ease you
into a conversation, at which point the professor may begin to ask questions. Please note that a faculty member
may need to cancel your interview due to unforeseen emergencies, ​e.g. ​last minute meetings, being stuck in
traffic, family emergencies, etc. Be ready to mentally accommodate such possibilities. In such cases, you will
likely be interviewed by an available faculty member or a faculty member from another departmental affiliation
whose research interests do not lie within your STEM discipline. For these reasons, you will need to be able to
explain your current, most relevant research project concisely and effectively as to help faculty who may not be
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Graduate School Mentorship Initiative
Mock Interviewing Guidelines
December 2019
familiar with your project understand! In rare cases, it is possible you may be interviewed by a graduate student or
postdoctoral fellow in the lab of the professor you were interested in meeting.

5. Read through our following list of potential questions faculty may ask and think of potential answers. If you can,
practice speaking your answers out loud with your lab mates, your PI, your peers in science, and friends you know
who are currently in Ph.D. programs who may be more seasoned to ask you challenging questions:
a. “Tell me about your research.”
i. Have a 3-5 min explanation that hits your project aim and conclusions in a concise manner.
ii. Be ready to elaborate on details when asked about methodological approaches used and reasons
as to why you were interested in tackling the research topic.
iii. If you graduated from college a few years ago but wrote about your undergraduate research in
your Statement of Purpose, review your research and be ready to talk about this, too, as the
professor might have your statement as well as resume/C.V. on hand.
b. ”What was a difficulty you faced in any of the research experiences you have pursued, and how did
you overcome it?”
i. Be prepared to elaborate on a single, but significant, struggle that is illustrative of your resilience.
ii. This is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your persistence in science and an opportunity to
help steer the conversation towards being more “human”.
iii. Earning a PhD requires 95% persistence, 5% intelligence. Demonstrating to your interviewers
that you have struggled and you overcame these struggles upon elaboration of the process reflect
on your strong character as a scientist.
c. “How would you continue your current research project?”
i. Think of one or two follow up experiments or expected conclusions from your current research.
ii. Perhaps even propose an alternative experiment that may elucidate questions that have been left
unanswered or cannot be answered by current experimental tools. This demonstrates that you are
thinking creatively and scientifically, always strategizing as you are keeping in mind, “What
next?”
d. The faculty may present a current small problem they are working on in their lab, and ask you
what you might do to approach this problem.
i. This may be an intimidating question to anticipate, but they just want to see that you were able to
follow what they were saying and/or capable of coming up with independent ideas of your own
ii. Ask clarifying questions that restates what they told you e.g. “If I understand correctly, you
said…” and use whatever tools you know, e.g. western blotting, immunoprecipitation, and
structure solving, to propose example experiments
e. “What would you do if you weren’t pursuing a PhD?”
i. This is a more infrequent question, but can be expected. Be perfectly honest, even if it’s going to
cooking school! You might find a common hobby with the professor and cooking school uses
very similar skills in a different way, organization, learning quickly, creatively using the skills
you’ve learned to move the field forward.
f. “What do you hope to do after graduate school?”
i. This is an important question for the faculty to understand what your goals are post-graduation
and that you are committed to the journey of a PhD.
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Graduate School Mentorship Initiative
Mock Interviewing Guidelines
December 2019
ii. It is not a trick question, rather, it gives the faculty an idea what your long-term career goals are,
e.g. becoming a faculty yourself or a STEM educator at a science museum so that you are able to
inspire next-generation scientists about what higher education looks like!
g. “How did you choose the lab you work in?”
i. Refrain from making your responses come across as blissful accidents, nor too purposeful.
ii. Here is an example of a scenario​: During your freshman spring semester, your biology professor
expressed he/she has an opening in the lab for the summer. You were at his/her office hours when
you found out. Upon asking you if you wanted to pursue the research position, you said yes, so
that you can gain research skills over the summer due to desperation from not hearing back from
any other summer program — this is a case that is not compelling nor exciting.
iii. Telling the story that demonstrates you are a decision maker is much more compelling because
graduate programs seek students who will make autonomous decisions based on the skills they
are trying to hone or are passionate to pick up. Responses such as, “I was enthralled by organic
chemistry my sophomore year. Upon learning about SN2 mechanism, I wondered how much
weight synthetic chemistry holds within the pharmaceutical context. I asked my professor after
class if there were any summer positions available where I could probe my curiosity. Since that
summer, my interests in Chemistry have come to fruition, where I get to answer my own
questions with research, and generate new questions in the process”. This presents a confident
version of your story that still holds truth. Take caution from getting too grandiose!
h. “What research are you interested in?”
i. Faculty are not probing to see if you want to join their lab. Rather, they want to know if you have
an idea of what you’re looking to study in graduate school.
ii. Refrain from saying you are open to studying anything. This is a red flag because it shows lack of
specific interest. Every institution has a plethora of amazing labs, but it’s important to show
you’re interested in some field. For example: “I really am excited about the cytoskeleton. I could
imagine studying how it organizes organelles on the cell level or differentiates neurons on the
tissue level” or “I am committed to solving protein structures. I think structural biology is the key
to understanding molecular mechanisms.”

6. Prepare questions that you want to ask the faculty or graduate students. After the professor has asked you some
questions, they will most likely ask if you have any questions. Here are some questions that may be helpful in
deciding which grad school is best for you:
a. “You mentioned [​insert assay here​] in order to address [​insert research topic here​]. How did you
decide to use this approach to solve [​insert current relevant research topic/problem​]?”
i. This question would be a great follow-up to ask the PI throughout his/her research talk.
ii. Not only will this give you clarity how the professor remains engaged with current
methodologies, this demonstrates you were attentive and thoughtful throughout his/her research
talk. Remaining engaged means not just listening, but showing your interviewer you are able to
think scientifically about his/her work.
b. “What are some career-oriented opportunities this program offers to its graduate students?”
i. This may come across a bit vague, but this open-ended question will give the faculty the
opportunity to interpret this and answer it the way they perceive the program.
ii. Their response will give you a good idea of where successful Ph.D. graduates have gone off to
upon graduation:
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Graduate School Mentorship Initiative
Mock Interviewing Guidelines
December 2019
1. Universities where they were offered professorship and eventually received tenure,
leading their own research groups
2. Biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry
3. Healthcare consulting
iii. A lot of strong graduate programs will have reputable training grants, curricula, facilities, as well
as financial resources devoted to the success of their students -- this is useful information you can
grab from your interviewer! You want to have a good understanding of how you can be well
supported by current students and faculty at the institution.
c. “How do you mentor your students?”
i. Different PIs take different approaches to mentorship: they might be very “hands-on” and want to
see you every week one-on-one or they might be very hands off and only give one-on-one time
every six months.
ii. It’s fruitful to know beforehand what the mentor expects of you, especially if you know you
prefer one situation over another.
iii. If they have a larger lab and are more “hands-off” adopting a laissez-faire approach, would they
pair you up to a Postdoctoral Fellow? These are inferences you want to make confidentially from
their responses to this question. As much research experience as you’ve had may not fully prepare
you for jumping into a PhD project alone, it is important to know you’ll have support around you.
d. “What made you decide to become faculty here?”
i. Just as you are deciphering what factors are compelling and not, the faculty likewise were in the
same shoes, deciding whether or not they would pursue a teaching position at the same institution.
ii. As it is important to understand what the experiences for current graduate students are like, it is
likewise important to understand what the impressions of the faculty were like coming into the
school. You may even find out that you both have overlapping interests and the conversation can
go from there!
e. “What are you favorite parts of this program?”
i. This may give you a broader insight into how the faculty feel about the program, and why they
remain part of it.
ii. Avoid asking about the strengths and weaknesses of the program, which may come off as a
pointed question.
f. “Do you think [​insert city/town name here]​ is a good place to be for a PhD?” Or “What are some of
the highlights of living in [​insert city/town name here]​ ?”
i. Location plays a significant role in your PhD experience more so than what people may expect.
ii. You will be living in this new place for 5-6 years, and should also want to live there. Asking the
faculty their opinions of the city is a good way to hear about some highlights of the environment
you may be immersing yourself in.
g. “Do you have any advice on how to choose a lab?
i. The lab you join and the research you conduct will have a greater impact on your PhD journey
than the program you enter through. Interviews are a rare chance to get candid advice from
faculty on how to tackle this responsibility before you are enrolled in a program.
h. “What is the post-doc to PhD student ratio in the department? What about the ratio of graduate to
undergraduate students?
i. This may be tricky since faculty tend to have associations with more than one department.
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Graduate School Mentorship Initiative
Mock Interviewing Guidelines
December 2019
ii. The ratios will change from lab to lab, but if they have a sense in their main department of
post-doc to PhD ratio, it will provide insight as to whether people actively join the department to
continue their scientific passions.
iii. The PhD to undergrad ratio is important if you are interested in mentoring younger scientists. If
there are many undergrads working in labs, then you will most likely have the opportunity to
mentor someone.
i. “Is there any advice you would give to a first-year graduate student?”
i. Professors may have some insight into career development you might be interested in.
ii. They may tell you something surprising! Every professor has a different path into academia, so
this question may result in a diversity of answers.
j. “Are you still actively conducting experiments alongside people in your lab?”
i. Yes, it is not a myth that some tenured faculty still walk into lab to clone something because they
think it’s fun!
ii. If they don’t (which is most likely the scenario unless they are junior faculty), they may just take
this as humor and appreciate the opportunity to think about the possibility.

7. It is ok to have a small notepad and pen with you so you can take notes between interviews to remember what you
discussed with each professor.

8. It is helpful to have friends ask you questions so you can practice mock-interviews. It’s not a skill practiced very
often so any help you get is great! This will help boost your confidence when you do come face-to-face with
faculty during interview weekend.

In the days leading up to the visitation weekend, our best advice for you is to relax. Remember that this weekend will
mainly be faculty members trying to impress ​YOU​ with all the perks of the program in hopes that you will matriculate if
an offer is extended! The visits will be filled with poster presentations, faculty talks, and exciting casual conversations
about their science, your science at the current institution you are at, and potential science topics you might be considering
in pursuing. Once again, we want to congratulate you for getting to the next stage of the Ph.D. application process. If you
have any questions about mock interviews and/or any other part of the application in general, please do not hesitate to
email us back at ​[email protected]​.

Best,
The Científico Latino Team