Cool! Good luck with it!

Dear Lude:
I'm still studying my Masters in Crosscultural Communications but coincidentally; last semester I researched crosscultural differences in rhetoric for the genre of Job Applications and Cover letters! You would be amazed at how important it is to know EXACTLY how to write the application. What to put in, what to leave out, what tone to use and even how much space in between lines! In a nutshell: 1.- DO NOT ASSUME you know what you are doing. The only way to learn is by looking at successful applications from the institutions you are interested in! 2.- Although English is the universal language, different European countries express themselves differently while speaking English. Again, RESEARCH. 3.- Do not bother with general guides on how to write a CV and cover letter. You need to look into: 'Academic CVs and Cover letters in (Country)’.
Oh, and don't bother to just send an application when you know it is not going to be accepted (as you said you were doing) It will only help to put you down more.
Good Luck : )

I hope my comment will not be viewed as controversial.
Here is the little observation I have made; when you check on many research groups you will see that there's a connection between most Supervisors (or Principal investigators) and their PhD students or Post Docs. Most people will agree with me that a foreign supervisor is more likely to recruit his/her compatriot over other nationalities. Take a walk or browse through most research groups and you will see this trend. The other trend is that, a supervisor is more likely to recruit a student whom he/she has had previous working relationship either as a former student at undergrad or MSc level.

This post is not intended to be disrespectful or to incite hatred against hard-working foreign academics, but merely to highlight the fact that academics enjoy academic freedom and that includes right to recruit anyone especially those whom they feel will be successful. That partly explains why most of us have to churn out 50 or so applications before being successful.

LOL I sent an application for a PhD to an old supervisor and I still got rejected. I have seen that too, the amount of people who do their PhDs at their alma mater. Your not ruffling feathers Mr or Ms Engineer, you're being truthful!

Hello all.
Well I graduated in 2011 with an MPharm degree. Whilst I was doing my pre-registration year in 2012 (training year to become qualified), I applied for three PhD's, but was told for one (didn't bother with feedback for the others) that I didn't have the experience, and truthfully I don't think my heart was in it. Cut to 2014, after some jobs in between, I realised I wanted to give it another shot, and this time my heart was in it. I applied to two or three, but the applications, particularly the CV's, were rubbish. I knew that I wasn't getting anywhere so I spoke to a colleague, who dropped out of their PhD, who gave me excellent advice.
My fortune changed. I applied for three PhD's and got three interviews. I found out I was successful for the first interview before my other two.
The short answer to the above post is 6/7.
We interviewed for the funding and the two successful candidates got to pick their projects. Compared to the rival candidates I think I had much less research experience, however I had read around the topic and my job and clinical background helped me retain and display a 'worldly' outlook in the interview, which helped.

Phormulater, What excellent advice did your colleague give you?

I applied to St Andrews for a PhD and the disabilities office have already contacted me LOL NEVER had that before lol!

Well that sounds promising then I would say Janine!

I've been applying since my final year BSc (about a year and a half now) and I've had at least 40-50 rejections. Within that time I have had 5 interviews, all at good universities, and in each case where advice was given it was to do a masters. Within the North East (UK) I have struggled greatly with getting any lab experience and this is unlikely to change and therefore a masters is the only real option of gaining more experience for me. 3/5 interviews I came tantilisingly close to getting the PhD, in one, the only other candidate had the supervisor as his undergrad project supervisor, in the second it was the funding panel that wanted somebody with more experience (feedback was to do a masters) and in the third they also found somebody with more experience (again feedback was that most candidates had a masters). In the last 2 interviews I have been told that I was an otherwise strong candidate and have received similar comments from a few positions that did not invite me for interview.

I certainly understand how disheartening it can be but it is certainly worth continuing through and looking at getting as much experience as possible. It also most certianly worth getting interview experience as a PhD is so much more "personal" than many jobs with respect to the relationship between the supervisor and student (hospefully a good one).

Sound advice Jack thanks. And I would say to you to keep applying for PhDs as well. You seem so close now. I also got told in one PhD interview that I needed lab experience (I already had a MSc) and then 5 years later, when I applied for another PhD with still no lab experience, I got it. Sometimes you really can't predict it - it is such a subjective process and the feedback received isn't 100% true or honest.

I applied for 3 but got accepted for 1

Back in 2007 I applied to 4 unis for the PhD. I was only accepted in one - the university I had completed my masters at.

I should probably add that although I have met a number of people that don't have a masters based on the advice that everybody seems to give me, it is something that would appear to increase ones chance of being offered a place. Or at the very least it means that they need to come up with a better excuse - I am often left asking that if I am a good candidate then there must be something I can do in an interview performance that improves my chances? - it is very expensive to do one in the UK and -even though I have a weird love of learning- I am highly reluctant to do one because of the lack of a suitable funding source (I would happily take out a second student loan, just not from the banks).

A masters may not yet a requirement for most, but it almost feels as though its a case of everybody else has one so where is yours? - Incidentally, that would be a good question to pose to the current cohort of PhD students to see what opinions they have on the matter.

But unfortunately, luck probably has more to do with acceptance than anything but my advice (I'm actually following my own advice for once too) is to try to get experience and to never enter an interview if you've not prepared more than enough. My first ever interview was for a PhD at a particularly good uni (and a particularly tough supervisor) and I messed up by being unprepared/nervous.

I had to get the MSc to cover for my first degree course being shut down just as I was due to go into the honours year! I have a huge gaping hole for UK degrees, but oddly I am following the european model of BSc then MSc as mine was with the OU.

Reponse I got from my local uni:

"Thank you for your enquiry. Unfortunately, we are unable to consider an application from you for this studentship. Applicants must have a minimum of a First Class Honours degree or a good 2.1 Honours degree and/or a Masters degree."