I applied online. I interviewed at University of Cambridge
Interview
I had to fill in some forms online together with CV and letters of recommendation. The application was for a BBSRC studentship. There are usually a couple allocated to each department and those then get distributed to students rather than the supervisors. I was invited for an interview day where we were welcomed by friendly PhD students who were very supportive. There were about 16 people for 8 studentships and most of the students were quite nervous. Everyone had two interviews, one general one and an academic one. I had a really challenging interview at Leeds before and compared to that one, the one in Cambridge was a breeze. All the panelists were so friendly and what stood out for me was that they were rather trying to help you show your best rather than picking on weaknesses. So they would , for example, ask what I have done during a particular research experience and I just explained very roughly and showed my enthusiasm for science which I think goes a long way in the Cambridge interviews. The general/ personal interview was really there to get to know the student as a person and one of the panelists even told me that 'this and that' was very impressive. So overall, it was a very nice interview experience. i got the studentship in the end :) Also, it's interesting that far less students seem to apply to Cambridge than some other institutions. And each year after the interviews the panelists say how impressed they were with the high level of the applications.
I interviewed at University of Cambridge (Cambridge, East of England, England) in Oct 2010
Interview
Sent in my CV and received a call to go for an interview two weeks later. I was interviewed by two professors who were extremely nice. They did not ask me any difficult questions, but they wanted to know what PhD was about, why I was interested in the job and what I could offer.
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at University of Cambridge (Cambridge, East of England, England)
Interview
Looked for job posted on the website.
Sent out a few email exchanges to register interests and to make enquiries.
Waited for 1 month before receiving the invitation for interview.
Skype interview because was overseas at the time of interviewing.
Two rounds of interviews with mismatch occurred at the later stage.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Would you prefer to work at our lab as a PhD student rather than as a RA?