Interviews are a crucial part of the recruitment process – for both candidates and employers. It was a pleasure to work with ADVANCE CRT PhD researchers on practical strategies to approach interviews with clarity, confidence and self‑awareness. Thank you to the ADVANCE CRT team for inviting me to be part of the Beyond the PhD: Career Readiness Series.

ADVANCE CRT

RI Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies

Today saw our ADVANCE CRT Researchers attend the penultimate session of our Beyond the PhD: Career Readiness Series with career development coach Lorraine Shine. 💫

🤝 This time around the webinar dealt with how to approach interviews effectively. Selling yourself is something that does not come naturally to all of us so this was a very helpful session indeed!

⭐ Lorraine went through the STAR-R technique of answering interview questions. This is the STAR approach with the addition of a reflective point at the end. This is a great way to look at interview questions as the addition of reflection shows a self-awareness and willingness to learn that may otherwise not come across.

❓ Then we moved on to difficult questions at interviews. All the classics were represented and addressed here, like “What are your weaknesses?”, etc.
All-in-all, it was an informative session that we think everyone took something away from.

This session is part of our Beyond the PhD: Career Readiness Series—a targeted online training programme supporting PhD researchers, funded by Research Ireland, as they approach the final stages of their journey. The goal is simple: to help them think strategically about their next steps and make informed career decisions that truly recognise the value of the skills, experience, and effort invested during a PhD 🎓

🔍 Our final session with Lorraine will look at the Job Search Process and Managing Career Transition.