This document provides advice for PhDs and postdocs preparing for interviews and presentations in business, government, and nonprofit settings. It discusses how interviews differ significantly from exams and require serious preparation. Common questions types are outlined, including questions about yourself, your resume, case studies, behaviors, and questions to ask interviewers. Presentations should tell a concise story using a spiral approach and the 7% rule for content not on slides. Mock interviews and practicing the question "tell me about yourself" are strongly recommended to prepare for interviews.

1. Going Live: How to Prepare for
Interviews and Presentations in
the Business, Government, and
Nonprofit Worlds
Andrew Green, PhD
UC Berkeley Career Center

2. • 10 years ago I had a Friday afternoon
appointment with a Math PhD who had a
Monday interview/with a hedge fund
• Now, negotiation appointments are my favorites
• Never had one with him

3. Personal Attributes Companies
Seek Out
• Flexibility
• Communication Skills
• Team Player
• Interpersonal Skills
• Can Do, Positive
Attitude
• Postdoc hired at Genentech
• Multitasking
• Forest Through the
Trees
• Customer’s Point of
View
• Creative Problem
Solver
• From Toby Freeman

4. Most PhDs & Postocs
• Feel comfortable thinking and talking on their
feet, but
• Have never had a job interview in their life
• An can be wholly unaware that the demands
and dynamics of a job interview are very
different and require serious preparation

5. Interviews are:
• Rare and precious opportunities
• Much different now than in the past
• The final obstacle standing between you and meaningful,
paid employment
• I encourage you to prepare for them as if for a qualifying
exam

6. What does this mean?
• Do your homework: The most common
complaint we hear from employers… (HR VP)
• Go back to people you have met through site
visits, info interviews and other networking
opportunities. They will often see themselves
(and act) as your allies.
• If you meet an employer rep at a Career Fair…

7. I do a lot of Mock Interviews and
always start with the same question
• "Tell me about yourself“
• Practice

8. Kinds of Questions
• You and your future plans
• Your resume and skills
• Case Questions
• Behavioral Questions
• Feared Questions
• Questions for them

9. You and your future plans
• Tell me about yourself?
• Why are you interested in this position?
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
• Why are you leaving academia?

10. Your Resume
• Tell me about your graduate/postdoc research
• What level of experience do you having using X
or programming in Y
• What steps did you take in solving problem Z?
What were your specific
contributions/responsibilities?

11. Case Questions
• Consulting questions
• URAP (Brazil)
• How would go about organizing a 2 Day Career
Conference for PhDs? What would it look like,
and how would you go about finding campus
partners?

12. Behavioral Questions
• Tell me about a time you disagreed with your boss
• Tell me about a time you took the initiative
• Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a colleague
– How do I respond if I’ve never had a problem with my
boss or collaborators?

13. Feared/Illegal Questions
• Why did you take so long to finish?
• Why didn’t your PhD yield more publications?
• Is your husband willing to relocate if you are offered this
position?
• Why are you leaving academia?

14. Forewarned is forearmed.
• An interview is not like a qualifying exam
– There is rarely a single correct answer
– A literal interpretation and answer is not helpful to them. Rather
what is their concern and how do you best address it
– The goal is to avoid the challenge of formulating your answer to
a question at the same time you have to deliver it
– Use their (or common) language to describe your experience
(ME)

15. Strategies for Preparation
• Secret weapons:
• Practice and the power of 3
• Prior info interview contacts

16. Phone/Skype Interviews
• Be prepared (e.g., 15 sec commercial)
• Use shorter, less complex sentences
• Pause to allow them to move on, but be prepared to fill
silence
• Stay focused. It’s not a casual conversation
• Test drive your skype set-up (earbuds)

17. Last Year served on Financial
Analyst Interview panel…
• Your goal is simple clarity
• Help them project you into the role
• QUESTIONS?

18. Presentations
• Short and concise
• Tell them a story
• Framing (NY Times level)
• Spiral Approach
• General - Specific - General
• 7% Rule

19. Specific Guidelines
• Speak Slowly
• Make Eye Contact
• Visual Learners
• Written vs. Spoken Language
• Time it Out
• The 7% Rule
• Don’t provide a handout of your slides in advance