Thread by @andreamatranga

I did a couple of mock interviews for people applying to RA/Economicky type stuff, and just a couple of observations:

1. If you find a list of questions floating around, or compile it from your own interview, don't just read it and go "oh yeah I know this one", even if you do know it. Record yourself answering out loud. Watch it. Say it again two more times. Then record yourself answering again.

It will make you a LOT more confident in answering, will avoid a lot of uhm and ahms. And even if the question they ask you is slightly different it will be well trodden ground.

2. Whether it's a live or zoom interview, MAKE EYE CONTACT/LOOK AT YOUR INTERVIEWER IN THE SCREEN. I can't stress this enough. This isn't some kind of insurance salesmen ploy. If you don't look at your interviewer you can't see if he lights up at something you say.

If you don't see them light up, you won't know to expand on that issue. You also won't get the confidence boost from seeing the point land. And neither of you will get that moment of "connection" when you recognize a like minded/hearted person.

I realize making eye contact is difficult for some people, but it's like "eye on the ball" if you want to catch a long pass. YOU CANNOT REACT TO WHAT YOU DON'T SEE, and an interview is largely about gauging mutual interaction. Also you won't catch any warning signs that...

... the interviewer might be a bad of employer from YOUR point of view.
Ask a friend to refer you to a friend that you have never met, and do the mock interview with them.
Much like throwing a basketball, professional speaking TAKES PRACTICE.

3. Remember that it's a numbers game. Most interviews won't pan out. But try to learn from each one. Make a not of the questions you received and add them to your list for practice. Also note any answers that seemed to make a positive impact, and try to nudge the conversation...

... in that direction next time, if vaguely appropriate. Note that particularly if you're applying for e.g. an RA job for a professor in EU, USA, Canada, Australia, etc, things that might seem mundane to you might actually be extremely relevant for them.

E.g. you might think your experience working at the city council of your town was not terribly exciting, but the fact that you would know which city official to ask for permission to run a survey for teachers could save months of time, or a trip, to your employer.

It's hard to know what is or isn't relevant, which is why it would be good practice for professors to be specific about the project in the job ad. Failing that, you can look at the other research projects of the faculty member, or ask them directly.

"Do you have any questions for us?" The answer to this is "yes". Ask more about the project, from both a practical and academic aspect.
"Is it part of a broader research agenda, and which direction are you taking it in?"
"What is the state of the art in the research on this?"

"Will I be collaborating with other RAs, and where are they?"
"Will there be weekly all-hands meetings, or do we get tasked and report one on one?"
"How often do you expect to visit my country for this project, is there anything I could do to make these visit more productive?"

"what are some papers that I could read to understand your research goals and methodology? {SUPER BONUS EXTRA POINTS IF YOU ALREADY KNOW SOME OF THIS LITERATURE AND MENTION IT "Oh, so this is related to that Smith and Brown paper on water pumps in Uganda right?}

How could you possibly know the literature? Because you read the job ad carefully to figure out what the project is about, and skimmed the introductions and literature reviews of their paper, so you have some idea of what they find interesting. You don't need to do this...

... , and it won't always work out, but putting in the effort that makes it more likely will also prepare you for the interview in other ways.

Also ask questions about how long they expect various phases of the projects to end, whether you should block time off...

... for specific deadlines that will need more work on your part, etc.
Basically show them that you're thinking already of how you can be effective in your role. It also makes them thing past "Is this the person I want" to "how will I use this person after I hire them"

Once you do get a job, and you've been working at it a while and produced some good value for your employer, if the position is part time it should be perfectly reasonable for you to ask if you could take on additional tasks, and if not if they could recommend you to colleagues..

... or coauthors. This is fine even if the project is ongoing, but in that case know that it is more likely to work if you have been very consistent in delivering what was asked for in the agreed time frame.