I don't know who junkcar is but maybe the moderators can remove that unhelpful post?

Dear Satchi

I feel for you, but you mustn't give up hope. I agree with the other posters, perhaps you should consider moving close to a University? Chances are you'd be able to get a part time job in a busier place. You're obviously very IT literate - have you considered setting up a group/blog/website on your topic using twitter? This is what I have done and it has worked really well, every Monday at 8pm we have these chats on my topic which I convene. We storify them, and I manage a wordpress blog which discusses all the issues that we discuss on twitter. Although I haven't got a job out of it (yet), I've done proofreading for others which takes my mind off my problems and makes me realise I can do it. I have made really good friends and contacts on twitter, and I know they would help me get a job if I asked. Go to #phdchat #phdforum #acwri #ecrchat and ask for help there. You could set up your own company/charity on your topic too - go to your careers service for advice. Contact the charities in your topic area and see if you can volunteer for them for a week or two - stay with friends if necessary in the city. Use all your contacts and friends and say you're looking for an opportunity to volunteer/work/set up a business/charity and see what happens. Write all your options on a large piece of paper and tick them off one by one, so you know you have all your choices in front of you. Discuss all your options with close friends and family - they know you best and which option suits you. I have also had mental health problems and know the difficulties this brings. There are lots of good websites/blogs out there to help - moodscope.com is one of my favourites - you get to give your mood a score each day and it gets sent to buddies who help. Also learn how to meditate. Set aside a minute each morning to breathe deeply in counting to seven and out counting to eleven. Increase this time to 5 minutes after a few days, then eventually 20 minutes and you'll be a master within weeks! it really works for depression and anxiety. MAke sure you only allow yourself worry time at a particular time in the day - say 5pm for half an hour.

hi everyone, thank you so much for your responses. I am willing to move, but the idea is to have paid work, if that was so, my boyfriend would help me with the move (putting the down payment for a place to stay etc.), this would go on his credit card first--and I would pay eventually it when I get paid. It is not possible at this moment to move back near my university. I have really no place to go (no family as well). I don't know if I have mentioned before, I am a foreigner, so I am not on benefits, if I get dental work or prescriptions, I have to pay.

When I need to go back to the university for phd meetings, I stay with friends--and they are already sharing houses--so that's the sofa for me for 2 nights. I just curl up under my big coat. Another thing is everybody is finishing as well, so they'll have to leave too. I have also stayed with some people I met at church, but doing that long term is really not possible. That is why I am not able to volunteer with research projects in my university, not now that is. Maybe later.

I really appreciate the advice I've received from everyone here. I'm going to print out this thread and keep it with me so I can look at it if I feel down again. I'll definitely have a look at moodscope.com. The problem with meditation is that I haven't been doing it regularly. Just like I have told people to exercise--yet I haven't done much myself!!! Come on, satchi, get on with it!!!!

Kovurs--for telephone interviews--you need to speak clearly so people can hear you--I think that is the first important tip--and when they are talking, don't look at anything else because you can get distracted (I have had skype interviews before phd). Also, get ready notes (on paper) infront of you--to answer, just incase you forget anything--put them around you, infront where you can see them quickly, because this is a telephone interview, nobody can see your notes, this will help you. But you need to remember where to look if you need to look and don't go "ahmmm...ummm" too much. Best of luck :-)

thank you so much larrydavid, catalinbond, JanineG, bemused, anon007, journey, Pjlu, kovurs--and the junkcar stuff made me laugh

please do post back if you have any good news about getting jobs :-)
that will be very motivating

love satchi

Hi Satchi - just a word of encouragement about 'long-distance volunteering': it is possible! I have done RA-type work for people in a university 200+ miles away. They got me institutional access (yay!), and with that, email, a shared Dropbox folder and a couple of phone calls we managed a pretty successful collaboration.

If you know people well enough to start an occasional exchange of emails you could ask them to bear you in mind if they hear of anyone needing some voluntary help so you can keep your hand in while you are waiting for your ideal post (ahem!). Academic circles are generally smallish and there are surely researchers who would jump at getting a bit of outsourced lit searching or data analysis done for nothing, by you at home.

Good luck!

My life exactly! I'm just finishing my master and my class was very small, only 10 of us but half of them have PhDs, 10+years of experience and some of them have even academic jobs to go back to. How can I compete with that? And not to mention, no entry positions for people like me.

I spent a lot of money that I didn't have and have worked extremely hard but my marks are not the best so I'm worried I won't get a job through this masters :-(. So I'm considering applying for different jobs.

What kind of job are you looking for Satchi? What area? How are you surviving without a job at the moment (bills/rent etc)? You mentioned you're far from a uni, maybe the trick would be to get any job that can support you and move closer to a uni or a bigger city.

Good luck! x

Hi Satchi,

Thanks a lot for the reply. It was comforting me.

Coming to your case, I have lots to share. I will share a bit of many bad experiences....
I did PhD in Europe bet 2006-09. It was like just me and prof. Both of us were new to field.
Everything was rest on my shoulders and I was like a ship with magnetic needle and myself captain.
Landed in trouble and wasn"t awarded the degree at the end. But I learned after 2 years of my PhD,
that I could have done the project in a better way - all I got was confidence. But after returning to my
home country I did not find a job for a year as i have problem with my memories and grades - though
my profile in CV looks good - any interview I faced gave different opinion to the interviewers.

Through God's help and reference I got a job in an Indo-British JV start up company...did not settle well
coz of personal reasons....as I am desired to do PhD....after 3-4 years of attempts, I am going to have 1st
interview for PhD....

May I know your background and types of jobs you are after....I will see whether I can be of any help....

hi Drwo8ea, which field of masters are you doing? Is it MBA? I did speak to a careers service lady at uni some time ago. She told me I could also apply to do portfolio jobs. Ideally I would like to do research work in health area. I know lectureship is next to impossible to get (my part time teaching work which i did during phd is still not enough and I haven't published anything yet!). I live with my boyfriend, that's why I moved away. He pays all the bills. We eat at home. If I really need a dress, for example, I only buy from a sale, and he pays for it. There is enough to survive as long as I don't go crazy and buy things like cosmetics etc., but really no spare money for me (or him!) to use. He also has car instalments to pay, MOT etc.

hi kovurs, looks like you have been through a lot. I'll share this with you. When I was doing my 1st degree, I always wanted good CGPA. I thought, if I have more than 3.5 I will be happy. I got into the honours list, and I had a good CGPA. But I wasn't happy. Then I thought I would do a masters--and I got a full scholarship to do it, I passed with all As. But when I held the Masters degree paper (the certificate) in my hand, I still didn't feel happy. I don't know why. Still not happy. Then I did a phd--and today I am still not happy. I have learnt (for me) that this has not led to any happiness in me at all!

What I should have realised long ago--was that I could have been happy with myself without even going to university. It took me so so so so so long to realise this.

Anyway I am glad you know what you want to do with your life. Don't be worried about your telephone interview! Enjoy it!

love satchi

No, it's bioinformatics. It's meant to be a very promising area workwise but seems like if you don't go into a PhD you're on your own, at least with my uni.



I feel you. I don't live with my boyfriend, he lives - literally- on the other side of the country but I took a loan to cover my fees and he covers everything else. We made the decision together because we were both stuck at dead-end jobs and we hated the town where we lived, so something had to change.



That is a really brave thing to admit. I think I just started realizing this now. I got 2 scholarships to study fashion design but I dropped them to study science, cause my mother put in my head that I wouldn't get a job if I studied fashion. The irony.. I studied science and look where that left me.

Have you considered forgetting about academia and doing something you really enjoy? I came to learn in life that if you love what you do and you're good at it, you can make it into whatever you like; you'll always have work and won't feel like work. I'm considering other options. Life is short to waste it away just for a title so you can be constantly unhappy and feel inadequate (that's what senior academics make me feel like).

hii Dwro8ea
I love fashion! but can't even sew a button. yes I have considered leaving academia. In fact I rather like being a housewife and my boyfriend likes me being at home. We used to say to each other "at least one of us has a job!" but ideally if I would love to have some paid work, that would be great----so I won't give up. In fact I am feeling more encouraged since I posted my job worries here. Thank you so much for your response.

love satchi

Hi Satchi.
Here is one piece of advice from me which may be of use to you and everyone else having difficulties landing a job.

I have found that accepting your situation and appreciating the generosity of your support network can help you feel much better. Looking for a job is a horrbily painful process and for some of us rejection is an all too common feature. Personally, I have never met anyone like me who has got nowhere with their job search in such a long time (my friends took at most eight months to get jobs). I feel much better by truly accepting that, unlike my friends, my job search is a long-term affair. You have to explain to those around you, such as your loved ones, that you are not simply being lazy or taking advantage of people who help you with money, clothes, food etc. They are willing to help you because they see you are really serious about your career and are actively gaining professional experience, such as writing a paper, doing RA work for free, going to conferences etc. So really focus on gaining some experience! Be patient, it might not happen over night as it takes some time to form relationships with colleagues who you can collaborate with.

Note, though, when accepting you are involved in a long-term job search, you also need to realise there is a possibility you won't get an academic job. I don't want to sound really negative and put you off trying, it's just that nothing in life is ever guaranteed. So when getting your work experience, don't be put off by taking up stuff outside of your area. Gaining expertise elsewhere will really help finding work outside of academia and could lead to a job (and one which is probably better paid!). So keep active!

Good luck!

hi journey
thanks for your advice. It was really nice and thoughtful of you to post back.

love satchi

congratulation!

I have just recently done a MSc in Science - I studied drug chemistry and basically neuroscience. I just today got rejected for a job and a PhD at UCL. I was told that there were about 20 high quality people going for the one job.

In terms of trying jobs elsewhere, I have recently applied to the local post office for a part time vacancy and also applied to various shops with no success.

HI Satchi and everyone ! I am also in the same boat. Looking desperately for jobs for 7 months after my viva but no luck. After completing viva with no corrections, colleagues around me had much hope that I will land in a good job but I don't know when the day comes. It really is frustrating !! At some point I thought that I will end up my career as a housewife but I have not given up my hope. Have been busy in volunteering, unpaid consultancy work etc.

hi JanineG, sorry to here about your job rejection and the UCL PhD. Hope you're feeling ok. Do you know anyone who works with Royal Mail? I've heard from people--like if you know the manager, they can recommend you for jobs with Royal Mail. When I was looking for my phd, I also had 2 rejections, and 2 interviews. I hope you find something soon, and thank you so much for sharing.

hi Swetchha, its really great that you can be in a position to do volunteering and unpaid consultancy work. I just found out today that a friend of a friend of a friend got a job with museum (don't remember which one). The thing was that she had a BA for something not related to History, but she liked museum jobs so much that she did a lot of volunteering and internships (she planned activities for kids coming to the museum etc.) and then she landed her job as a coordinator in a museum. Well, a real job with a real pay. When I heard this I also felt more encouraged. Hopefully something good will turn up for you, and thanks for sharing.

as for me, I posted off two job applications yesterday--today I did some gardening (planting potatoes!!!!) I have never grown them before--but at least this takes my mind off worry or thinking about things I shouldn't worry about!!!! I'll look at jobs again tomorrow.

:-) love satchi

Hi Satchi, just wanted to wish you luck as well. I am also looking for jobs, and it's very stressful! Like you I have a lot of papers to write (and rewrite...), so there is plenty to do. I hope all of us looking will find great jobs soon!
E. x