NTNU Interview Questions
& Process

I went through a 2-step interview process. First, I interviewed with the group director. The second step involved an interview with the research group where I had to give a presentation. After that, there was a long silence for several weeks before I got a rejection email. I was told I was one of four people who got to the second round, but they really made me wait.

You submit your application, and then there's like 1 or 2 interviews. A committee decides who's the best fit. However, the main supervisor's opinion really matters the most. Depending on the supervisor, the employer might let you know about the admission really fast.

I was interviewed by the project supervisor and the department HR. HR gave an introduction to the university and the department. Then, I had to give a short presentation of my MSc. thesis. After my presentation, HR asked some general questions to gauge my enthusiasm. Finally, the supervisor asked technical questions. I also got to ask my own questions at the end.

The interview was an hour long and included a presentation of my previous work. I answered most of the questions asked. There were three people on the panel: the supervisor, HoD, and an HR representative. However, the prospective supervisor, Violet, had a blank expression throughout, which suggests a need for training for new Computer Science faculty members as they seem a bit biased. I was rejected because I left a project at another university, which is unrelated to this PhD. My advice to management is to train the prospective supervisor and carefully review candidate applications before interviews.