 Hi friends, welcome to my channel and welcome to yet another video which is specifically for people who are worried about their PhD entrance and would want to know how can they clear the interview by answering the commonly asked questions in the best possible way. So when I was going through the comments of my youtube videos, I found that a lot of people were asking me to make a video on the top few PhD entrance interview questions in how to answer them. I thought one can just google it and find the relevant answers but when I searched on Google I could not find sufficient knowledge on these particular questions. So I decided that why not, based on my experience I should make a video wherein I talk about the top questions which are asked in almost any PhD interview. You would be surprised that I am talking about it from my own experience because the same questions that I was asked a few of my students were also asked. For those of you who don't know, I recently completed my PhD from Jaipur National University and I've cracked the interview of some other top universities as well. So if your PhD interviews are lined up and you're panicking about what are they going to ask me and what will I answer, don't worry this video is for you. I'm going to take you through the questions that are very very likely to be asked in the PhD interviews but before I proceed please take out a pen and paper and note down everything that I have to tell you in this video. In this video I have a special guide from someone who comes to you with a lot of experience. Let us begin. So basically there are two types of questions to begin with. The first type are general questions and the second type are technical questions. Now technical questions are something that I'm going to discuss at the end of the video and they are very tricky for most of the students. Many students blank this part of their interview so wait till the end of the video for the technical question part and how to answer them. Next we are going to begin with some general questions right now. These kind of questions that I'm going to talk about are relevant for any PhD entrance irrespective of the subject of your PhD and irrespective of the topic of your PhD. But before I talk about question number one I'm going to give you some very simple tips and tricks that you should remember when you are preparing yourself for the PhD interview. If you are new to this channel then please hit the subscribe button and press the bell icon so that you never miss an update. We are proud to share that we are India's largest growing YouTube channel in the field of UTC net English exam preparation right now having the maximum number of subscribers. So let us begin with some tips and tricks. Number one, when you enter the PhD interview room ask for the permission politely when you are about to enter the room. Something like so may I come in ma'am may I come in. Simple right? Then once you enter greet them with good morning good afternoon depending upon the time of the day. Now whenever they are asking questions put forth a very positive and confident body language. Keep on nodding when they are asking you questions or when they are giving you suggestions and never show that you are not prepared. The body language should reflect that you are a very calm and composed person. This is something that will come only after you have given certain mock interviews. You can do a mock interview practice with a person in your house ask them to put a little pressure on you when they are asking you questions. They need to make you a little uncomfortable so that you know you can have the interview like setting in your head. You should always dress in formal dress code on the day you are going for the PhD entrance interview. This is another important tip that you shouldn't always keep in mind. Another tip is that whenever you're giving answers you need to sound polite yet confident. However at times when you don't have an answer to a particular question then rather than just giving some wild guesses it is always good and advisable that you start by saying sorry I'm not very sure about this but thank you so much for asking this I'm definitely going to go back home and research about it. This showcases that you're capable of admitting your own mistakes. Friends you should understand one thing here an interviewee doesn't expect you to know everything under the sun. They might try to corner you with a certain in-depth question about your research topic but you need to understand that only after a research of two to three years you will be able to answer such questions. On a similar analogy if you're giving an interview for admission into standard 10th or grade 10 you will definitely not be able to answer the topics that you will be studying in class 10. Hence use this similar analogy if they ask you a question which you don't have answer to simply reply with a polite sorry and move on. Now that you know the basic tips and tricks to ace the interview let us now move on to questions that can be asked in the interview and how you can answer them. The first one is to introduce yourself that's the most likely question that is going to be asked to you as soon as you sit down for the interview. The interviewer can ask you this in various ways. Introduce yourself tell something about you talk about yourself you need to include two kinds of information in your answer. The first one is the basic details about yourself such as names, city and a brief educational and work experience. To give you a ready-made example if I talk about myself I would answer this question by saying my name is Alpita Kaurava I am from Chepur I've done my schooling from MGPS Jaypur later I chose to do B honors in English literature and I was rank holder in the university. I have also done my masters from Senzeria's university which is affiliated to Rajasthani University and I've been a world medallist to Rajasthani University. So this is something that you have to also say depending upon your educational background and work experience. With these basic details you need to add a second layer of information. You need to tell them what makes you unique through your achievements and experience. So if I have to mention while introducing myself I will add that I am a world medallist of Rajasthani University. I have a youtube channel where I teach English literature. Do not ever think that if you spell out your achievements you will come across as someone boastful. You just need to be mindful that you say everything with a flavor of humbleness. To this you should also add your hobbies and interests. And I like to watch movies and gossip. I should never be the answer. No matter how honest it may sound. If I talk about myself I would say that my favorite genre of literature has always been feminist studies. Similarly you can also talk about your favorite genre of literature. Your selection of hobbies and interests should show a link towards your research in some or the other manner. Hence whenever you mention your hobbies you should add that you've always had a shared interest in researching. And whenever you have free time you read books or try to understand the topics in detail to which you had questions about. So this is something that you have to add whenever you are answering. Introduce yourself kind of questions. This gives a signal that you are a perfect research candidate. Now let's move on to question number two which is why do you want to do PhD? Now this question can have endless answers. Some honest ones like some people want to take up PhD for the sake of it. While some people are doing it for promotion or under peer pressure. While some might have zero interest in research but they are just doing it because they want to have that in their CV. But you don't have to say such things to the examiner. Handle the situation cleverly so that they see you as a perfect research candidate. You can say that I'm a very keen observer and I was zeal to do something new and you have to also demonstrate your interest and passion in researching. You can also add that I want to do a PhD because it is only through new research and experimentation that a country is benefited. So I want to benefit my country by adding something new to the knowledge base. Here you should definitely add your previous research experience. Be it a published paper in a research journal or a paper that you presented in a conference or even a dissertation that you worked upon during your masters. Now moving on to question number three which is tell us about your research topic and why did you choose this topic. Now this is a very very important question guys and it is very very important because this question would define whether they would select you or not. This question alone would be accorded 40 to 50 weightage in your interview and you need to handle it very well. The answer to this question is based on what you have written in your research proposal. For this I have a complete series of three videos on how to write a research proposal, how to choose a topic. I will share the link of all these videos in the description below. So if I talk in brief in your research proposal you will mention your topic, research methodology, literature review. Please read your research proposal in utmost detail before the final interview. So based on your research proposal you have to tell your research topic and talk about your passion towards it along with the topic's relevance not only for you but for the community and country at large. However if you are bombarded with many counter questions on your research topic and they find certain issues with your topic your talk should reflect that you're someone who is flexible enough to make changes in the topic as per the expertise of the panel. This is very crucial friends don't show your adminsy there. Before we move on to the next point here is something that I want to share. If you are preparing for UGC net paper one, paper two, MA entrance, PhD entrance, TGTPGT or any other competitive exam related to English literature I have an amazing news for you. We are proud to announce that we are the only institute in India that have started animated video classes for students. Our videos are designed using 3D graphics and animation which enhances the visual memory of the student so that they are able to retain the complicated summaries of novels plays in poetry very easily and recall it effectively during the exams. In our online course we provide you with topic-wise video lectures with rich animation covering all topics in a step-by-step manner which works even when you've not done any previous preparation. We cover all important topics, writers and works in our online course. The detailed list of all these writers that we cover in our online course is available free of cost on our website alpathakarwa.com. You can even download this free list and start preparing for these exams by our own. The link of the website and all the courses are given in the description box below. You can check out the course details from our website as well and can even watch free demo lectures and attempt free demo mock tests before you decide to enroll in our course. For more information related to the courses we offer, feel free to shoot your queries on WhatsApp, number displayed on your screen right now and me and my team will be more than happy to assist you. We also provide you with high quality PDFs and revision notes that covers syllabus-wise topics comprehensively and ensure you qualify your dream exam in just one attempt. Now moving on to the next question which is why do you choose this particular university? For this question you might have a number of informal reasons such as This university was owned by my family. My friend is also a PhD student so I decided to take admission. But on paper you don't need to put forward such reasons. You have to put forward a formal reason. You can say that you chose this particular university because of the quality education it provides and the reputation it has. Before going for the interview make sure that you get your hands dirty by digging up some information about the university. Its departments and the professors that are there in the university. Added to that you can also scan their LinkedIn profiles and have a fair idea of their specialization and the research papers they have published. Then you can add this information in your answer and put forward that you would want to work under the guidance of so-and-so professor. The panel many times would try to persuade you otherwise by telling you that your research interests might align better with some other professor or some other university. But make sure that you handle this tricky situation well and add that you really believe in the university and the quality education the university provides. So you have to be sure that you are very adamant and you are not ready to change your answer. Just keep in mind that you are flexible with respect to your topic but when it comes to your university you are appearing for you are not flexible. This is what you have to showcase to the examiner or the panel. Now one question that will cross your path no matter what is why should we choose you? So for this question you have to demonstrate without being arrogant that you are better than your competitors. With humbleness you need to put forward that you are dedicated and disciplined towards the research along with being an honest hard-working individual. Please don't feel embarrassed if it feels like you are selling yourself. You just need to tell them that you are good at it. So with humbleness tell them your certain qualities that align with the career and profile of a research scholar. So that were few generic questions that you might come across. Now as I promised towards the beginning of the video I would be sharing some bonus tips which will help you answer any type of technical questions that they might ask you on the day of the interview. So all technical questions are going to arise from one document and that is your research proposal. Number one before presenting your research proposal in front of the interview panel sit down at the pen and paper like a teacher go through your own research proposal pen down the various possible questions one might ask based on your proposal be it the research topic literature review tools proposed everything this list of questions will help you gauge the technical questions that you will be asked in the interview. Added to that you need to have a thorough understanding of your phd topic and everything connected with it. For example my topic was masculinity and the concept of manhood in the selected works of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. I use the tools such as psychoanalytical analysis and feminist literary theories to study the various texts. So I had to keep track of the topics such as feminism, its history, waves of feminism, associated writers and feminism as a movement. Added to this I was also supposed to know everything related to the two writers mentioned in my phd topic Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte and how their works discussed masculinity. After preparing a possible list of questions also try and pen down the answers to all these questions and make it a point to revise this list before your final day. Make sure that the answers you write are very crisp clear and to the point and they include two three valid points that's it. You don't have to write essays. Moving on one important point that you need to prepare well is how to justify a career gap or a career shift in your CV. After the gap, you have decided to do phd. So you have to keep some valid points in your mind to justify this. Many times questions are asked on this particular topic and hence you need to be prepared for it very well. So these were some tips and tricks from my side. I hope you do really really really well on the day of your phd entrance. If your phd entrance goes good or bad come back and share that experience with me. I'll be right here waiting for you and would be very very delighted to read what you have to talk about when it comes to your phd entrance interview experience. I'm quite eager to know how you felt about this video. Did you like it? Not like it? Did you find it helpful? Please share your views in the comments below. Also if you have any questions any doubt or if you want me to make a video on any other topic please feel free to put that in the comment section as well. Every morning I finally read all your comments and that gives me a lot of motivation to make many more videos in the future. So that's it from my side for this video lecture. We will meet very soon in the next video lecture. Till the time we meet next, happy learning. Keep loving literature and stay tuned to arpathakarva.com