HELP: a professor wants to interview me to discuss my possible lab internship

I was emailing professors for a lab placement over the summer, and I got a reply from one professor who is willing to allow me to intern. She wants to interview me over the phone later today, but I am unsure of what to say.

Has anyone ever been interviewed by a professor for a lab placement? If so, what did they ask you and how did you generally go about the interview?

There were a few important things she said she was going to ask me. 1. What are my interests? 2. How will you get the most out of your experiences in my lab? How should I approach these questions?

Thanks for your help.

I would approach those questions honestly and professionally. Be yourself, but your best self. Dress and act like a professional, not a college kid who is looking to build a resume.

Good luck!

Make sure you have a good understanding of what the prof is doing in her lab…then you can tie your interests (e.g., type of research, disease, your future goals) to that and also answer how you will get the most experiences out of the lab. You want to show that you’re willingness to help in any way, to learn multiple facets of the lab’s research and processes, and be part of the team. Activities like entering data and keeping the lab clean may not be sexy, but are critical to a smoothly running, successful lab.

If you have time, read some of the abstracts of the papers that the prof and/or her team have published. Ask questions about those to demonstrate the prep you have put in for the interview: Why did you focus on this hypothesis? Is that the direction the lab is still going? What are your near term goals for your lab?

Lastly, it’s a phone call—but be friendly and listen. Do not talk while the prof is speaking (this can be more difficult to manage on phone calls) Good luck!