Faculty interview questions for an assistant professor post usually cover three areas: your research plans, your teaching, and how you would fit into and contribute to the department. This guide explains how faculty selection commonly works, the questions to prepare for in each area, and how to get ready for the seminar and teaching demonstration that many institutions include.
How faculty selection commonly works
- Application screening against the advertised eligibility, research record and fit with the department’s needs.
- A research seminar to the department, often 30 to 45 minutes plus questions, at many research-focused institutes.
- A teaching demonstration or a short lecture on a topic set by the department, at some institutions.
- An interview with the selection committee, which may include the head of the institution, department faculty and external experts.
The advertisement and the call letter tell you which of these to expect. Follow their instructions on documents, presentation length and format exactly.
Research questions
- What is your research vision for the next five years, and what will your group work on first?
- How is your planned work different from what you did in your PhD and postdoc?
- Which funding schemes will you apply to, and what would the first proposal be? In India, be ready to talk about national agencies such as ANRF, DST, DBT or the relevant ministry for your field, and about industry funding where it fits.
- What equipment or computing resources will you need, and what can you start with?
- Who in the department, or elsewhere in the institute, would you collaborate with?
- How will you recruit and mentor PhD students?
Answer with specifics: a first project, a first proposal, the first students you would take and what they would do. Committees want to see that your plan can start on day one.
Teaching questions
- Which of the department’s existing courses can you teach, at undergraduate and postgraduate level?
- What new elective would you propose, and what would its syllabus look like?
- How do you keep a large class engaged, and how do you support students who are struggling?
- How do you assess learning beyond end-of-term exams?
- How have you used laboratory work, projects, simulations or digital tools in teaching?
Read the department’s curriculum before the interview and name real course codes or titles. If you have taught tutorials or labs, or mentored students as a PhD scholar or postdoc, use those as examples.
Fit and service questions
- Why this institution and this department?
- How would you contribute to the department beyond research and teaching, for example labs, outreach, admissions or industry links?
- How do you handle disagreements in a collaboration or with a student?
- Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Preparing the research seminar
- Pitch it to the whole department, not only specialists. The first ten minutes should make sense to everyone in the room.
- Show your best two or three results rather than everything you have done.
- End with your future plan: the questions your group will pursue and why you are placed to answer them.
- Rehearse to time, and prepare for questions on the limits of your work.
Preparing a teaching demonstration
- Pick one clear learning goal for the session and build towards it.
- Use the board or slides the way you would in a real class, and include a short question or example that involves the audience.
- Keep to time and leave a minute to summarise.
Questions to ask the committee
- What start-up support, laboratory space and computing facilities are available to new faculty?
- How are PhD students admitted and funded in the department?
- What teaching load should a new faculty member expect in the first year?
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