Following on from our last interview with Dr. Emily Cross, we have spoken with Dr. Valerie Morrison to get the perspective of someone who interviews people for PHDs in the health psychology field. Read on to see her advice relating to succeeding in an interview for a PHD post within clinical and health psychology.
Are there any attributes that you look for in a potential PHD candidate?
1) "Someone who can show enthusiasm for, and communicate an interest in the subject area at interview - ideally they have done a bit of reading and thinking about the vacancy. Why this topic? Why psychology? Why a PHD? Where do they see it taking them?"
2) "Someone who demonstrates that they can take the initiative, have new ideas - even if they may seem crazy ideas at first, it is better to have some thoughts about what you would bring to the study rather than simply expect to 'do what is told'. The PHD has to become 'your baby' - your supervisor already has a PHD!"
3) "Someone who shows awareness of practical, methodological and ethical challenges in conducting research. In my domain this is crucial if recruitment is going to involve people with illness, disability etc. If it's possible to use your undergraduate or MSc project to illustrate some challenges and how you dealt with them that's always good."
4) "Someone who seems to have the confidence, manners and maturity to liaise with external partners, for example with collaborators in the NHS or in schools."
Any further advice?
"Don't be afraid to confess to having areas where you have more to learn, whether it be in the use of multivariate or perhaps qualitative analysis, or working with children instead of adults etc. Showing self-awareness and willingness to learn new skills or methods is better than being over confident and implying you can do everything already (unless of course there's evidence you can!!)"
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