Interview Preparation

Do you have any tips to help prepare for an upcoming research assistant interview?

Are there common interview questions that come up again and again?

I've been to 3 interviews for RA positions now, and common questions include: "What are your plans for the future?", "What is your previous research experience?", "What aspect of research do you find most appealing?", "What are you hoping to learn from this experience?", "What was your GPA?". Most of the questions will be pulled off of your resume and will be personalized. For example, "Tell me about your independent study Junior year." At the interview they are basically just trying to inform you in detail about what the position entails, while also trying to get a feel for your qualifications and interests. I haven't come across a question I couldn't answer, so don't stress. It's a lot easier then it seems. Good luck!

I had an interview today and there were a couple of questions that caught me off guard.

"From the research papers you have read, which study did you find really interesting and why?"

Most of the questions were really specific to the actual project, like...

- "How you would coordinate recruiting from different organisations?".

- "How I would prepare the participants before the experiment?" (It is a really intense experiment that involves brain scanning)

Regarding general research on the topic the project was investigating, I was asked

- "What specific areas in this research do you found particularly interesting?"

- "Is there any need to carry on follow up research in this area."

The panel were really friendly. It was not so much that they were trying to catch me out, but really what my own opinions in the research field was, and how well I communicated my thoughts (I was rubbish). They also told me a lot about the project, so my main tips are.

READ UP ON THE SPECIFIC AREA OF RESEARCH!!!

PREPARE YOUR OWN OPINIONS ABOUT WHERE YOU THINK THE RESEARCH IS GOING!!!

THINK OF THE MAIN ISSUES REGARDING THE EXPERIMENT INVOLVED? WHAT ARE THE MAIN PROBLEMS? HOW WOULD YOU DEAL WITH THEM?!!!!

THINK UP LOTS OF QUESTIONS YOU COULD ASK THEM!!!

Good luck :)

Thanks guy for the tips, i have an interview next week! My first interview in 6 months of unemployment and job hunting! Im soo nervous!! I',ll add the questions they ask me after the interview!! You asked this questions a long time ago, how did it go? Are you working as a RA now? Good luck guys!!

Thanks guy for the tips, i have an interview next week! My first interview in 6 months of unemployment and job hunting! Im soo nervous!! I',ll add the questions they ask me after the interview!! You asked this questions a long time ago, how did it go? Are you working as a RA now? Good luck guys!!