Oh noo..

I got an interview at southampton (I applied for geophysics) but they told me prepare a speech about a topic that interests me...problem is im terrified of making speeches and the added pressure of an interview is so not going to help! Has anyone else been told to prepare a speech too? I;m so scared arrrrgh!

Reply 1

Shebzski

Yay geophysics! Prepare a speech eh? Well I wouldn't worry too much, they're not going to be expecting some sort of profressionally delivered talk.

If it will help, maybe bring a laptop with a short 5minute powerpoint presentation and use the slides to help you along with your speech. They'll probably love that sorta thing because you need presentation skills for the course.

Does the topic have to be something geophysical or anything that interests you? If it's geophysical you could talk about the different monitoring techniques of volcanoes or earthquakes, or prehaps sub-surface imaging is something that interests you?

In general;
prepare in advance
use cue cards
keep it concise (roughly 5mins?)
Don't waffle too much

It will probably be reasonably informal, I doubt it's massively important but it may help to separate you from the other candidates.

Reply 2

strawberryontheshortcake

OP

Thanks that really helpful :smile:

mm yep the presentation has to be on a topic to do with geophysics...i see that you did geophysics at southampton too! How did you find the course and what kind of questions did they ask you at interview...did you have to do a presentation too??
thanks and sorry for all the questions haha :smile:

Reply 3

dhr90

18

At my solent interview for geography I had to take examples of work with me. I had a print out of a physics powerpoint with me and the interviewer loved the way everything was neat and organised, they wern't really looking for my understanding of geography. They say 5 minutes, but I doubt they will mind much if its shorter.

I was scared silly at my interview, which was delayed by 90minutes and definetly did not help with the nerves! It was a small group thing too, but I emt what is now a good friend at the interview so good things do come from them.

They will be understanding about you being nervous. It's likely to be informal, mine was in the uni canteen on some sofas.

Make sure you have questions to ask about the course and uni at the end.

Don't panic! :woo:

Reply 4

hothedgehog

16

He he, i'm a geologist and in my geochemistry lecture last week, the lecturer spent the whole thing ripping the piss out of geophysicists. Anyway, that's besides the point, best of luck, don't be nervous - it never really helps with anything in life! As for the presentation, the advice in this thread is pretty much what i'd say. Go for it, you'll do great! Enjoy the NOC too!

Reply 5

Shebzski

strawberryontheshortcake

Thanks that really helpful :smile:

mm yep the presentation has to be on a topic to do with geophysics...i see that you did geophysics at southampton too! How did you find the course and what kind of questions did they ask you at interview...did you have to do a presentation too??
thanks and sorry for all the questions haha :smile:

I didn't have to do a presentation/speech. I had an interview with the head of school where he asked questions such as 'What do you think geophysics is?', 'Why did you choose it over other earth sciences?', 'What interests you about it?'.

Make sure you know your personal statement inside-out because they'll undoubtedly ask questions about that aswell.

I got given a two-way time subsurface plot of a part of sea bed and asked to identify some features.

The course is good, the year size is pretty small compared to other courses such as geology (There are 10 people doing geophys in my year, ~22 in the first year). Some of the maths last year in the second semester was a significant step up, and the physics is challenging at times. You go on a couple of field trips with the geologists to do mapping.

Reply 6

strawberryontheshortcake

OP

Shebzski

I got given a two-way time subsurface plot of a part of sea bed and asked to identify some features.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat is that?! Is that similar to seismic surveys?

And thanks to everyone for your replies....really helpful :yes:

Reply 7

Shebzski

strawberryontheshortcake

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat is that?! Is that similar to seismic surveys?

And thanks to everyone for your replies....really helpful :yes:

Yeah pretty much, very similar. Big sound cannon trailed off the back of a boat fires off a soundwave which penetrates the surface of the seabed and is reflected off particular surfaces (sedimentary bedding etc.) back to streamers that also trail from the boat or sensors deployed on the seabed which pickup the reflected waves.

anyways, i'm sure you'll do alright. I didn't really know anything about the course when i went for my interview :biggrin:

Oh noo..

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