#3: What’s in a Name?

Interviewing for something you really care about can be nerve-wracking. This guy, named Matthew, psyched himself out for his Ph.D. interview. Like most of us would do, he practiced interview questions for months and had most of his responses memorized. He went into the interview feeling pretty prepared, but all his preparation ended up backfiring. 

He had spent so much time memorizing answers to pre-determined questions that he was thrown completely off-guard when the professor asked him the simplest of questions. His brain short-circuited and he was only able to say, “Math is fine” in response. We have so much second-hand embarrassment for this guy, but we feel for him.