Difficult Interview Questions – What is your greatest weakness?

This is a question about self-awareness.  Everybody has strengths and weaknesses, so don’t be afraid to admit that you are not perfect! However you need to make sure that you don’t tell the interviewer that your biggest weakness relates to a key skill required for the job.

A good approach is to admit a real weakness (which does not impact on the job), then describe how you overcome it by using strengths which are relevant to the job. By talking about how you manage your weakness, you can finish your answer on a positive note. You could, for example, refer to overcoming nervousness at public speaking by thorough preparation and organisation.

Considering doing an Arts PhD?

 As a PhD student just beginning my third year, I can tell you that in a PhD there will be ups and downs. Sometimes everything goes right – you’re reading interesting things, writing flows like a dream, conference papers get accepted, and you can’t believe that you’ve been allowed three to four years to spend in this way. Things can go wrong though and it’s worth considering the following nightmare scenario:

You’re eighteen months into your Arts PhD and facing the dreaded ‘upgrade’ process. You’re not sure how you’re going to get through this as you still only have 2000 words of your first chapter, the archive you need is being difficult about access, and your supervisor is in America and hasn’t spoken to you in months.

 Disappointingly you weren’t successful in your grant application, so you’re living on tomato soup and juggling part time jobs just to pay the rent.

 You feel completely isolated and see no hope of getting your thesis finished, let alone getting anything published.

 Where did it all go wrong?

 You would have to be very unlucky for all these things to go wrong, but as all of these things, at some time during the PhD, have happened to me or my friends, here’s some advice to help you avoid this scenario.

Firstly, think carefully before applying to do an Arts PhD. Where, when, with whom and how you’re planning to do your PhD are almost as important to think about as what you want to do it on. Also, given the financial, time and even perhaps opportunity costs of a 3-4 year course of study, you have to be sure you really want to do this.

• Where. This is one of the most important decisions to make. Institutions now run grant application rounds themselves and have different numbers of awards to give out. They will also have their own priorities when it comes to what sort of projects they want to support. It’s also important to find out what the research community is like: how many people of your specialism/period are active in the department, what sort of research groups are there. And then there are practical things like, how well resourced is the library? Or how far is the institution from any archives you might need?
• When. You are looking at embarking on a course of study for 3-4 years, so you need to plan for this personally and financially. You should also find out about the deadlines at your favoured institution for applications for places and funding.
• Who. Your relationship with your supervisor will be very important for your success. Find someone who is interested in your area of specialism – academics usually provide information about what they would be interested in supervising on their web-pages – and contact them directly. Also, are they likely to be at the institution for the period of your PhD?
• How. Will you be carrying out archival research, or do you need a strategy for publishing and attending conferences? Also, how do you plan to support yourself or secure funding? If you are not successful in gaining funding remember to budget carefully – think about how long it will realistically take you to finish, and find out if the fees will go up over the four years.

If you can answer all these questions, then you will be well on the way to making a successful application for a PhD. And if you are successful then the academic life can certainly be rewarding. Discovering something in a little known archive, presenting your ideas at conferences, teaching undergraduates, all these things can be hugely enjoyable.

And if you find you have something to say – something important – then a PhD could be the first step of an exciting academic career.

*Upgrade is a progression point which involves submitting some written work (eg a chapter) and then having a discussion about it with two academics. They then assess whether the project is viable and whether it will produce publishable work. The three possible outcomes are (1) you pass, (2) you are asked to try again when you are more prepared, or (3) the academics decide that the project is not viable or not of the required quality and recommend that the work is submitted in a shorter form for an MPhil rather than a PhD.

Psychometric Tests: Practice Makes Perfect

Psychometric tests are a common method many recruiters use to assess whether potential candidates have the right level of  skills  for the job. Psychometric tests generally measure your verbal and / or numerical abilities, although some also focus on diagrammatic tasks which test your understanding of flow charts and diagrams (typically for IT and engineering roles).

Acing the Tests
There aren’t any foolproof tricks to getting a perfect score. But there are things you can do to improve your performance. It all comes down to practice. The more familiar you get with the typical format and questions, the less nervous you’ll be on the day and the easier you’ll find the tests .

Simple Practice Tips
It’s essential to practice psychometric tests under exam conditions to improve your test-taking skills. Why not sign up to our online practice test? You can also train your brain through simple, everyday steps that make practicing almost fun! Here’s how:

• Verbal Ability – Read as much as possible, and diversify your material. Look at manuals, journals, newspapers, reports and books and talk to your friends about what you read. You can also have a go at word games and puzzles testing your logical reasoning.

• Numerical Ability – Read financial reports and pay attention to data presented in tables, charts and graphs. Improve your mental agility by doing mathematical teasers and games and try to avoid using a calculator to do basic arithmetic.

• Diagrammatic Ability – Study flow charts and installation and circuit diagrams. You can even create one yourself to fully understand how a system works. You should also sequence the steps you take when using specific equipment.

You can find further tips and advice on the Careers website under the ‘Resources’ section. You can also drop by if you want to borrow one of our practice psychometric books or sign up for a free online test.

What are Case Studies at Assessment Centres and how do I do well?

Case Studies during recruitment selection – useful tips

Case studies are used by many graduate employers as part of their recruitment process. They may form part of an assessment centre, interview or on-line selection tool. Here are some useful tips to help you be prepared to tackle whatever comes your way.

1. Clarify the process

While you can’t get hold of the content of the case study in advance, it’s a good idea to remove some of the mystery by being clear about the process.

• Is the case study an individual exercise, or will you be working on it with a group of other potential recruits?
• How long will you be given?
• Will it be paper-based or on screen?
• How will you be asked to feed back your thoughts (e.g. presentation and or written report, group discussion etc)?

Sometimes employers will let you know the above as part of their recruitment communications. In other cases, you may find it helpful to drop an email to the HR representative to get come answers.

2. What’s it all for?

The objectives of case studies are typically to give you the opportunity to showcase your ability to:

• Deal with data in different formats (e.g. numerical, graphical, reports, informal memos)
• Perform under pressure and to a deadline
• Analyse information
• Use critical reasoning
• Prioritise
• Make a decision
• Communicate the reasons for your decision
• Handle objections
• Present (in writing and or/in person) your analysis and recommendations
• Other specific objectives for the role/industry

Check the objectives for the case study and keep them in the front of your mind as you work. Remember there is usually more than one objective, so balance your approach. E.g. allow yourself enough time to analyse the information AND to communicate your findings really well.

3. Is there a ‘right’ answer to the case study?

Generally, NO. Successful candidates will be those who use the information given to come to conclusions using clear and well-reasoned arguments.

Conflicting viewpoints and incomplete data are often part of the scenario you are given. So it’s more about a ‘right enough’ answer and doing a great job of arriving at (and communicating) that. Do, however look out for intentional inaccuracies and distractions in the material you are given, since getting caught out by these could damage your recommendations.

Our next post will be a case study dissected, so you can see an example worked out…