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Tag: viva preparation

Nathan

Busy Times

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Even before coronavirus, PhD candidates would ask me about what they should do to prepare for their vivas because they were busy.

  • “I have a full time job as well, what should I do?”
  • “I get home late, what should I prioritise?”
  • “How much time do I really need to spend?”

I shared a post a few months ago about the kinds of work to prioritise (here), but time is a hard thing to give an easy answer to. It really depends on circumstances.

Twenty to thirty hours of work at most would be enough. It can be spread out over weeks with a little planning. If you have a full time job or you get home late or you’re just stretched at the moment, it may feel really hard to find an hour in a week – nevermind an hour a day or even thirty minutes of peace.

But that’s what you need: peace, calm, quiet. An hour to breathe and read and think. Thirty minutes to add a few Post-its or make some notes.

If you’re busy you still have to find time to get the prep work you need to do done. I can’t help with finding time, but while you do have prepare for your viva – even if you’re busy – you have a greater duty to be kind to yourself. If you are exhausted, take a break. If you just cannot make time for a task, then rest. Effective viva prep doesn’t happen under pressure.

Nathan

Two Lists For Viva Prep

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Take a sheet of paper, divide it in two.

Down the left column write down problems for your viva. Anything you can think of that you’re worried about, or tricky questions, sticky situations, little worries and fears. Anything and everything.

Now in the right column, write at least one thing you could do for each problem. Ask a friend for help, read your thesis, learn something, do something. At least one thing – you may not know the solution for a problem, but you will definitely have ideas of where to start.

Cut the sheet in half, you now have a list of problems and a list of things that might help.

Which one do you want to focus on for your viva?

(inspired by this evergreen post of wonderful advice by Seth Godin)

Nathan

SMART About Examiners

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Your examiners are important elements of your viva. Whoever they are, however much influence you have over their selection, it’s worth spending a little of your viva preparation time exploring what they do. Build your confidence for the viva by knowing who is coming.

As with any task, potentially this could become all-consuming, particularly if there’s stress and worry bound up in thinking about them. Fortunately, we have our old acronym friend SMART – Specific, Measurable, Advantages, Realistic, Time-bound – to help shape the task at hand.

  • Specific: What are you looking to find out? (general interests, specific details)
  • Measurable: How will you measure when you’re done? (reading three papers, writing a page of notes)
  • Advantages: Why is this going to help you? (better informed, more confident)
  • Realistic: Do you have the right resources to help you do this task? (access to literature, supervisor to talk to)
  • Time-bound: How much time are you going to spend? (a number of hours, a deadline place)

The five prompts from SMART can help shape any project or task into something achievable, rather than an overwhelming to-do list. Use it to help frame your preparations for the viva.

Nathan

What’s On Your Mind?

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Probably a lot.

101 questions, about life, the state of the world, what you’ll be doing in six months, what you’ll be doing next year…

What’s for dinner, what will happen in that show I like, should I call so-and-so, what am I forgetting…

And then you think about your viva.

Now 1001 questions.

What will happen? What will they ask? What do I do? What can I say? What do I say if they ask about that question or topic or thing I don’t like? What should I do? What could I do? Will they like it? When will I know?

And at the root of it all: Am I ready? Am I good enough?

Don’t drown in questions. Get them out. Write them down. Tell someone. Ask someone to help. Ask someone for information or advice.

But at the root of it all: Are you ready? You can be. Are you good enough? You will be.

Nathan

Unscripted

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You can rehearse for the viva, but you can’t take a script.

It’s worth using questions to practise how you respond, but much less useful to have written responses to parrot.

Your examiners want a conversation rather than a performance; a chat rather than a play.

Unscripted doesn’t mean unready.

Nathan

Slow & Steady

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Don’t rush preparing for your viva.

You’re busy, of course. You’re stressed, at least a little, most probably.

You only have so much time and you want to make sure you’re ready.

Start sooner rather than later. Do what you can. A little each day will help.

A little reading. A little writing. A little thinking. A little talking. A little practice each day.

It all adds up.

For viva prep, slow and steady helps you be ready.

Nathan

Asks, Favours & Requests

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Not all viva prep needs to be done alone.

It’s OK to simply ask, “Can you help me?”

It’s OK to ask for a favour, “It’s not something little, but I really need help. Can you?”

It’s even OK to make a request, “I need this specific thing and I need you to do it, please.”

Supervisors, peers, colleagues, friends, family – all can be there to support you. Given where you are and what you’re doing, given the state of the world, uncertainty and pressure – even if others around you are feeling it too – you can ask. Tell people what you need, when you need it, why you need it, then work with them to get what you need.

And when someone asks you, do your best to help them too.

Nathan

Poorly Prepared

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Poorly prepared for your viva means you didn’t bother, or you didn’t take it seriously.

Poorly prepared for your viva means you relied on hope rather than work to get you through.

Poorly prepared means you didn’t find out about what was involved with the viva.

You didn’t ask graduates about their experiences to help set your expectations.

Poorly prepared means you didn’t read your thesis or practise or do anything really after submission.

Poorly prepared maybe even means that you just submitted any old thing and hoped it would pass!

The actions (or lack of actions) that could lead to someone being poorly prepared for their viva are pretty clear.

So are the actions that could help candidates be ready.

Nathan

7 Questions To Help You Annotate Your Thesis

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Annotating your thesis is useful viva prep. You have to really think about your thesis while you do it and you create a more useful resource for afterwards. I have general ideas I think are good for annotation, but every candidate has to do something that works for them. With that in mind, here are seven questions that could help you:

  1. What do you want to find easily?
  2. What is important in your thesis? (bonus question: how are you defining important?)
  3. Where do you need to add short notes?
  4. Where do you need to add longer notes?
  5. What pages would benefit from a few sentences to summarise them?
  6. What do you need to underline? (bonus question: why?)
  7. What do you need to highlight? (bonus question: why?)

Annotate your thesis so it is useful for you. Ask questions and set parameters before you start. Figure out what you need to do and then go do it.

Nathan

Mock Viva Dos and Don’ts

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Do have a mock viva because they’re generally seen as a useful part of viva preparations, but…

  • …don’t have a mock viva if you want to go through a script.
  • …don’t have a mock viva if you’re not prepared.
  • …don’t have a mock viva and expect that your actual viva will mirror what happens in the mock.
  • …don’t have a mock viva at short notice.
  • …don’t have a mock viva without thinking about what you want to get from it.

Do have a mock viva! Rehearse the general situation of your viva – what to expect, how to respond – and most importantly, what it feels like to be in that situation.

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