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Tag: viva expectations

Nathan

What To Wear

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Wear whatever helps you present the best “you” that you need in the viva.

If you feel you need to communicate you’re serious, or you know your stuff, or you recognise this is important then wear something that shows this. If you need something to act as armour to protect you, or even a superhero costume then pick something that helps in this way.

If you just want to be really cool then go for it!

In any situation, not just the viva, what you wear can send signals to others about who you are, who you want to be and what you think about the situation.

Of course, you pick up on those signals too. You can reinforce the truth you want for yourself.

Nathan

Being Afraid

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Someone asked me last year if it was good to be afraid before the viva: “Is it a good sign?”

There isn’t a straight yes or no answer. We need to unpick what’s going on when we talk about fear and the viva. Three main things come to mind for me.

First, we need to explore: what are you afraid of? Get specific with your fear, don’t let it be a nameless dread. Figure out what you are afraid of, then ask: what can you do about it?

Second, in some cases it’s a fear of the unknown. If it’s so, then work towards finding out more about the viva. Learn about regulations, expectations and experiences. Don’t just stop at feeling afraid.

Finally, we return to the original question: is it a good sign?

In itself I don’t think it’s bad, but it’s bad for fear to dominate. It’s bad if you can’t prepare for or enjoy the viva because you’re so afraid. The fear is a symptom of something else. You’re so nervous that now you’re afraid.

Nervousness correlates with importance. You’re afraid because you’re nervous, you’re nervous because the viva is important.

It’s good to recognise the viva as important, but bad if nerves stop you being prepared for it.

Nathan

Competence

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When I tell candidates their examiners will be checking their competence in the viva, I feel them pull back. Perhaps we’ve heard the word “incompetent” too often. Now even if we talk about the opposite it comes to mind. I ponder the viva and how to help people all the time. So I keep thinking about this word, competence, and if there’s a better way to get the point across.

I turn to the thesaurus and find:

expertise, fitness, know-how, proficiency, savvy, skill, suitability, talent, the right stuff, what it takes

As a candidate you’re not being asked to be superhuman. You need to be good. You need to have done something good.

That has to necessarily be the case by the time you submit. There’s just no other explanation.

To get this far you have what it takes.

Nathan

Snacks

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Take snacks.

I’ve heard of relatively few instances where refreshments were provided at a candidate’s viva. Etiquette seems to suggest not eating in the viva; do at least take a bottle of water with you.

At the break or immediately after the viva you can feel drained from the effort, however pleasant your viva might be. Take food that might help. You might not want to eat in front of your examiners, but you might need to eat something in those intervals.

In short: don’t eat in the viva, but don’t go to the viva without taking food with you!

Nathan

Breaking The Ice

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It’s natural to be a little nervous at the start of the viva. You and your examiners want it to go well, and everyone probably has a sense that as long as it starts well things will be fine. Examiners often have definite ideas of how they are going to start the viva.

They may have key questions to open proceedings. Later they may be happy to let the discussion go where it needs to, but to begin with they want a question they know will give the candidate a chance to shine. Not a question you need to have a pre-prepared answer for, but something you will surely have thought about and talked about before. It acts as a way to break the ice.

Sometimes examiners invite the candidate to give a presentation to start the viva. There’s nothing negative about this request: it’s simply one way to get things going. While there could be some nervousness around presenting, it can be a useful opportunity as it gives the candidate some control about how the viva begins. Again, once those first few minutes have passed without serious problem, the level of nerves and stress in the room can drop.

Getting going is one of the hardest parts of the viva. There are different ways that it can start, but don’t forget to do what you can to manage your own nerves and confidence at the beginning. It’s not all up to chance.

Nathan

Aiming For Minor Corrections

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Most candidates pass with minor corrections as a result of their thesis submission and viva examination. I’ve often been asked about whether or not there is anything specific that a candidate could do to “aim” at getting only minor corrections. It’s a tricky question, because most of the things I can think of seem obvious:

  • Submit a good thesis, and make sure you’ve run spellcheck and proofread it.
  • Take time to be well prepared for the viva.
  • Engage in a good discussion with your examiners, listening to their questions and comments.

Most candidates get minor corrections. This tells me that most candidates are doing a lot of things right (regardless of whether or not they know they are or how they feel about things!). The people who ask me about aiming for minor corrections at least have taken something else onboard during their PhD: it’s impossible to write a perfect thesis.

Aim to write a good thesis, aim to be prepared, aim to engage with your examiners – and in doing all that you’re probably going to hit near the target for minor corrections too.

Nathan

11 Questions To Ask About Viva Experiences

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Your colleagues and peers are a great source of help for your viva. They can listen to you talk about your research, ask useful questions and even help you to take your mind off things! The PhD graduates among them can also help you figure out what to expect for your viva.

Get in touch with some recent graduates from your department and ask them about their experiences, so that you can help to shape your expectations. Ask them:

  1. How long was their viva?
  2. How long did it feel like?
  3. How did their viva start?
  4. What was the structure or flow of their viva?
  5. Were there any questions that surprised them?
  6. How did they feel at the start?
  7. Did that feeling change?
  8. What were their expectations for the viva like?
  9. How did their viva meet those expectations?
  10. How do they feel about it overall?
  11. What advice do they have for you?

Each answer is a piece of the puzzle. The picture won’t be completely clear. You can have realistic expectations for your viva, but it will be different from any other viva you hear about.

Ask and listen, then reflect and see how this helps you for your own viva.

Nathan

Under An Hour?

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Some vivas are less than an hour in length. The shortest I’ve ever heard of was 42 minutes. This lead one participant at a Viva Survivor session to ask, “What can we do to make our vivas under an hour?”

The short answer: nothing.

The slightly longer answer: there are lots of factors in play that determine the eventual length of a viva. They range from the size of the thesis to the questions the examiners need to ask, and the way a candidate answers to the kinds of corrections that need to be considered. These all interact. It’s difficult to say what one could do for the best in order to reduce the length of the viva and still pass.

(of course, you could refuse to answer questions and your viva will be over very quickly…)

The better answer I should have given, by asking another question: why would you want your viva to be finished within an hour?

Nathan

WTFTW

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Or, “Whiteboards: Totally For The Win”!

You’ll know the location of your viva in advance. Go check the room out. A whiteboard can be super handy in some vivas.

If you have one you could…

  • …explain an equation!
  • …make a list!
  • …draw a diagram!
  • …share a sketch of an idea!
  • …even show what a molecule looks like!

And a lot more. Find out if there’s one in your viva room. No whiteboard? Take a pad of paper.

You’ll use a lot of words in the viva, but you have options for how you support those words.

Nathan

Butter For Burns

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“Don’t worry my lad, this will sort it out.”

My grandma was adamant that butter on a burn helped ease the pain. She’d always done it, had always known it was the thing to do. The afternoon passed and all I knew was my hand still hurt.

Come forward a few decades, and a Google search in 2018 will tell you that putting butter on a burn is not an advisable form of treatment. The notion persists as a kind of folk wisdom. People share it, true or not.

Handed down and passed on over time, like so many thoughts about the viva I’ve heard:

  • “They’re all random, you can’t do anything to get ready!”
  • “They’re out to get you, so you have to be prepared to defend!”
  • “Your viva will be an hour or less if you’ve got a publication!”

There are lots of people who will offer advice about the viva. Don’t just accept it, turn it over in your mind, does it make sense? Check another source. The following is some good viva advice…

  • A typical length for the viva is two to three hours, so don’t worry about rushing to an answer.
  • The most common outcome is minor corrections, nearly everyone gets some.
  • It’s essential you read your thesis in preparation for the viva.
  • It’s important to find opportunities to practise answering unexpected questions.

…but don’t just take my word for it!

Butter is not a good treatment for a burn. Fortunately, it’s easy to check that out. Advice about the viva is easy to check too.

Make sure you’re getting good advice.

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