job interview, need advice....

[stonemonkey]

OK, i'm sort of having a minor freakout here. i don't normally use the 'work' forum, but here i am.

out of nowhere, i've got a job interview scheduled for next week. this is my first major one, and i'm freaking out a bit.

i'm not even sure i really want this. i had a plan move back hom to do a physics phd somewhere else, now there's the possibility that i might be living somewhere else entirely (melbourne) doing a phd in chemistry with much more pay. dammit, i can't make these life-altering decisions on the fly!! help!

i don't know what to wear, how to get there, i've gotta do a bit more background research, i'm not sure how to 'play' the situation....

aarrrgh!!!

i need someone to grab me by the shoulders, shaking me and slapping my face.

[Phoenix]

*grabs shoulders, shakes, and then slaps Stonemonkey across the face*

Get ahold of yourself, man! :D

Pick out a decent suit, look up the company on the internet, and use a search engine or a map to find directions.

The first step is the interview. Prepare for that, then worry about the rest. How to 'play' it? Be your intelligent self. Obviously this company sees something that they're interested in within you.

Weigh your options. Could you see yourself happy with a PhD in something other than Physics? Do you want to live in Melbourne? What do you think of this company? Are they people that you want to work for? After all, you're interviewing them just as much as they're interviewing you...

[stonemonkey]

thx, i needed that!

i've calmed down a little bit (stopped hyperventilating...) and the situation is a little bit clearer.

the interview itself is not gonna be easy, but i actually think i can handle that bit. the question i have to answer is do i really want this job. the part that's overwhelming me right now is that i seem to have come to a fork in the road. this is where the path of my life diverges, and it seems to diverge quite a bit. remember how i was saying i don't actually want stability in my life? i take it all back, this is sort of scary. there are some decisions in life where there's no turning back. i think this is one of them.

the pay's much better with this job than i would be getting at uni, but it seems to be leading me along a path i'd never expected to be following. i don't want to do something i'm gonna regret.

maybe i should just calm down. it's not like i have the job already. maybe i'm not what they're looking for,

my QLC's mutated and is back with a vengeance...

[stonemonkey]

i must have swung back and forth a dozen times last night over this decision. i guess if it was an easy decision to make, i would have made it by now. what's frustrating is that i'm the only one who can make this decision. i'm in the best position to make it, and i have to live with it. even if someone could tell me the answer, i couldn't accept it, because it's their answer, not mine.

[Phoenix]

I think you need to figure out the answers to some of the questions that I posed to help at least get you started.

the pay's much better with this job than i would be getting at uni, but it seems to be leading me along a path i'd never expected to be following. i don't want to do something i'm gonna regret.

What's the worst that could happen if you end up getting this job, pursing a PhD in Chemistry and then you find out it's not what you want? Is there anything that would stop you from going for the PhD in Physics like you originally planned?

Besides, if you don't end up getting the job, (and who knows what will happen) then you're still on the same path that you were intending.

Like I said, take one thing at a time. Start asking and answering some questions of yourself related to getting this job...what would happen and would it please you vs. the path that you're currently pursuing?

Look at it like it's potentially a good thing - this path could be even better than the one you were seeking.

[stonemonkey]

hey Phoenix, your questions are helpful, i'm just indecisive as hell right now. a phd is 4 years. i only plan on doing one. if i find out it's not what i want, that's 4 years of misery, ok, maybe not misery, but it's 4 years of doing something i'm not supposed to be doing.

i'm almost hoping that they reject me, so that it'll be out of my hands and i won't be faced with having to choose. still, i don't plan on sabotaging myself during the interview.

ok, one thing at a time. let's not get ahead of ourselves. just go to the interview and see what happens.

this'll sound stupid, but one of the reasons i'm reluctant to take the better paying job in chem is because i've already met my prospective supervisor in physics, and she seems really nice and she's spent alot of time helping me with my application. she seems keen on having me as a student. i don't want to disappoint her. and then this job interview comes up, only hours after i mail the application for the original phd. man, i suck at making career choices, nobody ever really taught me how to do it, i'm just feeling my way, it's guesswork as much as anything.

there are all these other issues, like one of them being a university, the other being in industry, 2 different brances of research....

[Phoenix]

I think a big question for you to answer - and an important one - is do you even like Chemistry? Because if the answer is no and you're only pursuing it for the money, then you'll be miserable.

While you may not want to disappoint your prospective supervisor, you have to do what's best for YOU. Without the pressure making a decision FOR you.

[stonemonkey]

i like chem, but i do like physics as well (man, i'm QLC's resident science nerd now, aren't i? :) )

i do enjoy both areas of research, that's why i majored in both of them last year. the question is: which do i like more? right now, i can't decide.

OK, i guess it never would have crossed my mind to do chem if the money wasn't there.

i don't want to go with my original phd and keep asking myself: 'damn, i could use that extra $3000 a year i could have got if i had gone with that job.'

anyway, like you said, Phoenix, one thing at a time.

[Phoenix]

$3000 more a year isn't necessarily a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Happiness and sanity are much more important.

Methinks the VOR is beginning to rub off on you, SM. ;)

[stonemonkey]

well it sorta is for a poor, lowly grad student like myself. but you're right, no amount of money is worth sacrificing happiness and sanity.

what's VOR? :confused:

[WeirdBrake]

Voice of Reason.

[stonemonkey]

guess i'm a little SOTA (slow on the acronyms)

[Phoenix]

LOL