It’s time to stop calling career conversations between a PI and a PhD/postdocs ‘difficult conversations’ and start calling them what they are: “negotiations”
Category: Interviewing/Negotiating
Post interview advice: How to handle that flub you made during an interview
Thank you notes are tricky things. They are professionally required for most interviews, but lately I’ve been seeing people use them for a specific purpose that I don’t think they do particularly well: to address some perceived shortcoming during the interview. I’m here to say: Don’t do it – there’s a better way to handle the situation.
How to use the interview to tell if a work environment is toxic.
I’ve been chatting recently with a number of professional friends who have landed in, or narrowly avoided, taking positions where they were well qualified for the tasks, but the environment would have been toxic. One friend asked me how to assess if a work environment is toxic during a day long interview. It comes down to three things.
How to answer the “What’s Your Weakness?” question
I was recently reading that the “What’s your Weakness?” question was the most useless interview question, because everyone tries to dodge it. Rather than useless, I think it’s the most misunderstood interview question.
Negotiating the Offer: You have job offer A, but are still waiting to hear about offer B. Now what?
This week, I talk about how to handle this specific negotiation situation: the “Have Offer A, but Waiting to Hear From Offer B” scenario. As usual, what’s most interesting to me is the etiquette and the appropriate language to use with both organizations. I give examples of how to delay Offer A, as well as how to find out about your status from potential Offer B.
Interviewing? You don’t need to check the internet for 100 questions. You need a game plan.
In my line of work, helping candidates prepare for interviews is an everyday task. In my experience, the first step for candidates who have interviews is to look online for field-specific interview questions to practice. This is a mistake. Here’s what to do instead.
