These are interview questions that some of our graduating Ph.D. students have been asked during job interviews (especially phone interviews) for positions at universities. They are, of course, meant to assist your interview preparation and give you an idea of the types of questions you might be asked. Be prepared to answer questions that are not on this list.
General Questions
- Why are you interested in XXX University?
- Are you familiar with the area?
- Are you familiar with our software engineering group and what we’re doing?
- If you had the ideal job, what would be the ideal division of your efforts between teaching and research?
Research Questions
- What excites you most about doing research?
- Specifically, what research project will you be working on when you first start here?
- What funding agencies would be most likely to fund your work? Will there be opportunities for industrial support?
- What sort of experience do you have in working to obtain external funding? (e.g., grant proposal writing.)
- Have you participated in any collaboration with industry?
- What are the next 5 papers you plan to write?
- What is your main research?
- What is the main impact of your research?
- What is your future direction of research?
- If you have unlimited resources, what do you want to do for your research?
- Are you a tool developer or a theorist?
- How much did you complete your work (dissertation)?
- What is the first grant proposal you would like to write?
- What skills do you believe are necessary to succeed in research?
- What are barriers to succeeding in research?
Teaching Questions
- What 3 courses would you like most to teach?
- What other courses could you teach if needed?
- What course do you want to create?
- Do you have any teaching experience? If so, tell us about how it went.
Service Questions
- Identify a problem a in some CS dept that you have been at, and describe how, as a young professor, you would contribute to solving similar problems.
Other Questions
- Describe a trait in some role model that you would like to emulate in your career.
- Describe a trait you would like to NOT emulate.
- Assuming the outcome did not have an affect on your career, would you rather have an impact in academia or industry?
- What about the software engineering field do you think is broken?
- What about the field excites you?
Questions To Ask
Most interviews will allocate time for you to ask questions of your interviewers. This is an important part of your interview! In addition to being a chance for you to learn more about the place you are applying and have any of your questions answered, it is an opportunity for you to express interest in the department where you are applying. People who are interested and engaged in something ask questions. By asking no questions, you risk coming across as a disinterested candidate who is not at all curious about the department to which you are applying.
Below are some generic questions that you might think about asking. Ultimately, though, the questions you ask should be a reflection on what your legitimate questions are the place you are applying. What about the department interests you (e.g., faculty, research, facilities, plans for the future)? Also, note that if this is a phone interview, you will have a great deal of time to ask further questions if you are brought in for face-to-face interviews. Plan on asking two or three questions over the phone, and save the rest for later.
- What is your department’s normal teaching load?
- Do you have any reduction for new people?
- What sort of software industry do you have in your area?
- Do you have plans to grow the department in the next five years?
- What are your facilities like?
- What are your department’s guidelines for promotion and tenure? What is the rejection rate (either at the department or the university)?