aha! I went to a uni seminar thingy on this a few weeks ago, I'll scan the sheets we got and PM them to you if it's possible. We were advised to give a powerpoint presentation, but a short one, not full of info. Plenty of pictures or images, things to talk about rather than reading text off the screen, all the usual stuff.
Apparently recruiters are looking for evidence of the ability to prepare consise, structured and relevent information, so make sure you dont go off topic or ramble on about any experience that's not directly relevent to the job; effective communication skills obviously, and the ability to perform under pressure. Especially if you get the type who just sit there looking so bored they'd rather eat their arm off, don't be fooled, it's all an act!!
Understand what you want to achieve, who you are speaking to, what exactly you need/want to communicate and how you can best convey this. Try and seem entusiastic about your topic, it's infectious and will make them enthusiastic about you.

Mostly that kind of stuff, just relax and you'll be fine. If you've got an interview they obviously liked your CV or application form, you've got the basic criteria, so they want to see what you can really do, in action. I think it's also possible to phone the department office or the contact person to check what kind of info they want in the presentation, i.e is it about you and yourself, or your topic? Also, finally bring some back up sheets and hand them out, that way it will be easier for them to remember you and they'll think you are super organised. And if the computer or projector break down, you;ll still have visual aids for your talk.

Gahhh I have the attention span of a snail today!!

My gaol for the next hour: prepare notes on a paper I'm introducing at journal club tomorrow.

Thing is, I set the paper because I wanted other people's thoughts on it as there are some things I don't really get, but then I realised yesterday, as I've literally just set the club up in my department, maybe I should have chosen something I can talk really well about?! Oops, just shot myself in the foot there!

lol Wally, don't worry it was Slizor!! :D

Hi everyone! I've been away for ages and not had much time to come on this, so it's good to see things are still plodding along! And welcome to Herdingcats too!

It sounds like things are picking up Sue, at least you've got a not-so-bad job in the pipeline, try and use it as a real deadline for your complete draft, so you only have to tweak stuff once you are working. I've still got tons of work to do, I'm falling bahind a bit but trying not to panic. I've got almost the first draft of my 4th chapter done, but there is still a lot of data work to do for the next chapter/paper, still some lab work (fingers crossed I get it started this week) and I have yet to properly start another chapter, But I'm getting there. I was at a workshop last week which was brilliant and have managed to convince my supervisor to run our own workshop in the uni, which he seems really keen on! I'm not entirely sure where or how I'll fit it in with the writing up but I would so love to do it, I'll find a way!

So onwards and upwards, we'll trudge through the rewrites and the seemingly endless data analysis, and fly through the viva, to emerge like butterflies from the PhD chrysilis! (I think I'm losing my mind...) :-)

whooo go you sneaks!! you can have a snack now though I'd imagine, after exercise your metabolism is way up so you'll burn if off in no time!! That's really interesting about the calorie count though, I wonder if the machines at the gym are like that?! I keep hearing it's simple maths, you'll lose weight if you burn off more calories than you eat, but how on earth can you know how much you're eating and burning off in a day?! Even if you count every calorie that passes your lips you can't know how much you burn off properly, can you?!

mmm...well if im on my own, then some of my favourite music does the trick, rather a random selection though :$
with friends, well, i'd say take a trip to the best comedy club you can get to, spend a day at the spa with friends if she's like it, I love massages etc but the hanging around bit inbetween sometimes just give me too much time to think about whatever issues I have.  Sport is really a good thing, but not proper competitive sport, just grab a group of friends if possible and play football or rounders or something, you don't need rules, just have a bit of craic. I went through quite a bad phase last year and keeping busy and hanging round with friends was just what I needed.  A night on the tiles perhaps? I have a friend in my office who does Shit Shirt theme night with his mates, in that they all have to go out wearing the most ridiculous shirt they can find, you could try something  like that?! Go somewhere where you don't need to look cool though!  :-)

lol stressed your post made me laugh so much there! :-) I'm so glad the people on this forum are nice! You should totally get the cycling shorts, wear them under ur tracksuit bottoms perhaps if they are that bad?! You could get neon yellow ones which would be fun!
I'm feeling a bit lighter today and my jeans keep slipping down, so it's probably either due to the jeans needing washed and shrunk back to their rightful size, or the fact that I'm eating good food again after I was away for a weekend there and the food provided was so unhealthy!
Feeling good about doing the diet thing though, if it makes me feel better and full of energy then it must be worth it right?! right...? :p

It's not mother nature, I think it may be a bit stressy related though! I wouldn't doubt I've eaten a few too many biscuits etc in moments of deadline panic and then forgotten about them! More like denial than stress really! :-)

And goodluck with the kievs sneaks, and get on that bike today! whoo! I've got my gym bag, going for the 2nd time this week! (up)

aarrrgh! 240 calories in a croissant....I kind of knew it was something stupid like that anyway, but it's depressing seeing it there...

I do plenty of cardio Stressed, the circuits is madness, I'm huffing and puffing after about 10 mins of jumping and running and some more jumping! I really enjoy that class though! I do the rowing machine and the treadmill at the gym, although I can't run to save my life, I have bad knees which tend to crunch (and so do my ankles) when I run for too long, so that's why the circuits is great. The dancing I could do forever, I love it and it's pretty active. I wasn't losing any weight for ages, just kind of staying the same, which was annoying but I could see why, building up muscle and all that, but I've suddenly shot up a few pounds and no idea why! I lost almost 2 stone up to last summer, but it's all coming back and i can't stop it!

And definitely no soreness of the boobs, strange cravings, random illness or anything like that! :p

heehee! Sometimes I wish my boyf did, he's a fitness freak which gets a bit wearing after a while! Ah well, we'll keep on keeping on eh?! :D

lol, I just received an email from Cuisine de France with all the nutritional info for the breads, should be terrifying reading....

lol, I'm pretty sure pregnancy is not it, and not exactly what I'd need right now *frantically touching wood, hair, anything to avoid tempting fate...*  :$

My clothes still fit ok, just getting a little tighter for some things, and I'm definitely more squidgy in most areas! The interesting thing is that I can do lots of sit ups and muscle work now, and I know I've got more muscles and a bit fitter, just can't see it all!  There is a six-pack stomach in there somewhere, I just can't find it! :p

hmm, what stage of your PhD are you at Joyce? If you are more than half way through I'd say stick with them, supervisors are often crap at this kind of stuff, I've been waiting months for one of my sups to come back with data to me, I've emailed him several times and asked him during meetings several times but still nothing.

If you are still in your first year then I'd see if it's possible to change, but try using the tack that you feel it would be better for you to have someone on-site as your primary, and that there are obviously minor dificulties that would be simplest to deal with by changing sup. I would say email your sup as much as you have to, and phone as much as you have to to get your feedback. If you need it for Uni-set deadlines then they should really try to keep on top of it, but often rely on students to remind them about these things.

I remember my dissertation supervisor could never remember what I was doing at the start of our meetings, I always had to remind him about my project before I could ask him a question!
Sorry I can't help more..

see, that's what I thought!! Fair enough the gym is only once or twice a week but still, that's something 5/6 days a week! It's not like I lie on my ass all day! I hardly eat any chocolate these days, it's all porridge or low fat cereal for breakfast and I only snack a little on fruit, yoghurt or ginger nut biscuits! I'm honestly confused about why I'm still putting on weight! I even cut my alcohol intake way down, well, it wasn't that high, but I figured every little bit helps! I don;t understand...
You should have a look at the Slimming World recipies and see if your husband is ok with it, it sounds like you can still eat everything, sausages, pasta etc, it's just how you eat it or cook it or something. I think I might try it, it's worth a shot, although as I'm going to live with my boyf in a few months, I'm not sure if he'll keep it up with me! I'll see if I can convince him if it works!

lol sneaks, how did that happen?! It's actually really easy to make your own if you really need the taste without the guilt!

I'm trying to exercise as much as I can, doing the gym, pilates, flamenco and circuits!! Plus I walk everywhere, including walking to and from work every day. My boyf had the cheek to say that I'm obviously not exercising intensely enough though, which really peeved me off! If I do any more, I'll not make it home from the gym in future!! I'm not sure if I'm just more tired these days though and that's why I'm maybe not getting as much from the exercise, I'm not sure! It's so frustrating.

My mum told me that loads of people she knows have started going to Slimming World, where you can eat lots of food though, so I might try that. Apparently the weight is just falling off them. I think if I try that and still nothing happens, I'm giving up!

ok I thought I'd post back on this as I am really flagging motivation wise! Somehow, even though I've been eating as well as I can without selling my soul to a diet book, and I've been doing as much exercise as I can fit in to my pretty busy schedule (3.5 months left til submission....gah) I have managed to put on weight! I'm seriously getting fed up, someone help me keep going!!!
I really don't want to have to start counting out cornflakes every morning, I'll just totally hate my life at that stage...

I'll admit, it is more difficult with my left hand, but I can do it if I really concentrate! yay!