As a PhD student, I used to earn the princely sum of....13, 290 quid. To be honest, I thought that was more than enough for my needs and lifestyle, since sitting around, reading and researching 24/7 was free.

Chococake, as far as I'm aware you should be entitled to desk space at your university. They usually have post-grad offices available for PhD students.

I suppose the Dr title is best suited to an academic environment and candle-lit dinner parties. But it does have some other useful applications. Use it at an airport and you may get a free upgrade - just hope there's no medical emergency (anecdotal evidence). It looks good on any books you may author in future (My Favourite Ice Creams Flavours by Dr Walminski). Not that I'm even remotely interested in such frivolities as a man of science, but it has applications for romance and adventure....

"So, what do you do, Walminski?"
"I'm a Dr and I make questionnaires - yes, no, maybe, maybe not..." [Wink wink].

People listen to any kind of Dr (probably because they imagine they all have stethoscopes around their necks). I'm reminded of the time I received a very late delivery from the Royal Mail. I know I shouldn't have done it and I'll probably go to hell, but I wrote to Adam Crozier and complained, using my future Dr title, and he personally launched an investigation in to where my package was (a Sony MP3 player) and it actually quite quickly turned up afterwards. The title (which I haven't even got yet) is also making sure that I don't get a terrible job before my viva. Sending my CV for call centre jobs I'm being made to apply for, but being pretentious and calling myself Dr Walminski is pretty much making sure that I'm not getting interviews or being offered anything.

In reality and joking aside, I'd never dream of using the title if I ever get my PhD. Maybe for academic purposes because it signals your level of qualification, but never in the realm of normal life. Better to just stick as mista - it's the way forward.

Hi Ev, I have some introductory books on this matter. If you PM me with an e-mail address, I would be happy to send them to you.

@ Chuff, £65 each for all 3? That's really good if that's the case. I was robbed when I got mine printed off.

Yeah, in my haste, I forgot to consider whether the uni may have specific requirements for the soft bound copies. Best off check first, but if they don't I found staples the cheapest.

Get the thesis printed and bound at staples. You can get it done there and then and you'll find it's much, much cheaper than anything a university print shop can offer (£42 per printed and bound copy @330 pages). Oh, and make sure the left hand margin is wide enough (your hubs probably has already).

I said yesterday that I hadn't received an acknowledgement receipt e-mail for the job I really wanted. Well...today they got in touch with me and have sent me an exam to do - just some basic data analysis and report writing. I've been working on it all day and am nearly done with it.
This means that they must be a bit interested in me! I've got 7 days to do it and then e-mail it back.

Cheers, guys. The ideal job is a position in the UK, not too far from where I live. Perhaps cheekily, I requested a delivery receipt to make sure that the e-mail (with cover letter and CV) had arrived okay. No acknowledgement yet, but their head office is in Europe meaning that they may do things 'continentally' - or maybe they don't use MS Outlook. Early days, I suppose
I have the dreaded job centre on Friday and I'm 'Stage 2' at the moment. I hope to god they don't decide to send to me to a private employment company, like A4E. They'll have me building paper rockets and joining in team games, or gaining work experience in Gregs, when I'm supposed to be revising for my viva.

I agree with Chuff here. As a job seeker myself, I find a cover letter a really nice opportunity to personalise and target my application, and ally my skills and particular experiences with the demands for a particular position. It's also a good opportunity to show off your writing skills - only 1 page mind you.

I've not even had my viva yet and I've been looking for jobs that I would be suited to. As I mentioned, I've applied for one job as a Research Officer, loosely connected to my research area. But I've found another job and it's perfect. Essentially, it's a job doing my PhD! Or, to put it another way, I [hopefully] have a PhD in this job. I spent this weekend doing a fancy CV and cover letter for this job (applied yesterday) and I really, really have my fingers crossed. It would be just perfect and my life would change so dramatically with this job (international travel, offices all over the world) - the money is really good! I've got two publications in the area (one of them hopefully in review). But you can't count your chickens and all that... I have to admit, I'm going to the 'dark side' - private sector employment - and not the heady, romantic ideals of ivory towers with their aged books, quills and pots of ink.
So, as a forum first, I've decided to create my own thread documenting my ups and downs as I attempt to get a job. For me, I'll still feel like a PhD student until I manage to get a job. So, barring a major disaster in the viva, I'll keep this thread updated until I am successful. Getting suitable employment will represent closure for me and my passage into the real world. It may prove helpful for other forumites in a similar position because I'll recount my experiences of my interviews: what was asked, what went well and what didn't.
I've therefore applied for two jobs so far, and I wonder whether I'll get an interview for them...? I should hopefully soon find out.

Hmm, this is a tough question and something I've never thought about. Pragmatism and post-modernism have a things in common and are related, but as far as I'm aware they are not the same thing. The differences between them tend to accord to different writers (Stuhr, 1997) So, pragmatism emphasises community and democracy and post-modernism rejects such ideals, arguing that such a focus may hide differences and oppositions. Post-modernism challenges some of the tenets of pragmatism. Sorry if that's really unclear, but I haven't done a lot of reading about post-modernism.

A PhD is a long, arduous slog. There are times you hate it and times you love it, but the one thing you need is an interest in your research topic. Without any interest in the topic, I think you're going to find it extremely difficult to complete your research. It only gets harder as you progress, so I think you need to think very seriously about whether you have made the right move. If I was you, I'd speak to your supervisor and see if you can change aspects of your PhD to align more with your own interests (assuming it's not a rigidly fixed topic and research approach).

Thanks for the clarification. I was just asked kindly by someone to remove one of my posts, not because it was nasty or anything.

Hi Bonzo, sorry to hear about your predicament. FE is further education in the UK, so colleges and sixth forms. With a Masters, if you did decide to take that route, you would be well qualified to lecture in colleges. Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck. (up)