Thanks for the replies.. I am very much interested the impact attaining a PhD had on your (non academia) career and how you leveraged the benefits i.e. by gaining status through publishing or using the research as a basis for your work.

Interested in 'chatting' to anyone doing or has done a PhD who is not planning on going into academia afterwards. i.e. pure career reasons.

Did you ask for candid feedback? I always say why I turned down a candidate - that doesn't mean A.they like it B. the agent communicates it.
You could try dropping the hiring manager a polite email sayng "I recently applied for xyz position, unfortunately, I was unsuccessful but I would really appreciate you giving me some feedback so it will hopefully be of benefit in future applications".

If they appeared over qualified I'd want to understand what their motivation for wanting the role was - I'd want that even if they appeared over/under/perfectly experienced for the role. I wouldn't discount them purely on too much experience. I have worked with people who have "downsized" their roles due to pressure etc

I turn down CV's without interveiwing for (generally) these reasons: I need a specific skill and it's not on there. A poorly written CV - if you can't be bothered/have the ability to write 2-4 pages that is your personal advert then you lack the required attention to detail I look for. A lot of different jobs in the past 5 years - that just rings alarm bells.

If you want to a role in academia then a PhD is a great idea. If you want a career in 'business' then a PhD will not open those doors.
I have to say only a fool of a hiring manager would turn someone down for appearing over qualified. Similarly as a candidate it would be foolish to think a PhD gives you the required qualifications (ofc - unless the role specifically requires a PhD).
Obviously it all depends how high in your company/industry you wish to progress, those at the senior levels tend to have higher levels of education because they have a high level of drive/commitment/ambition/intelligence etc
As an example, I am on the leadership team of my company (i.e. one below Director level) of the 8 at my level - all have at least a BSc, 2 have Msc. But a degree is not a requirement let alone a PhD. From what I can remember in the last 25 years I have only come across 2 people with PhD's, one painted my lounge and the other was a Business Analyst.
For anyone staying in business, do a PhD because you want to - not because your career will accelerate.

Hi Esay - I did a MSc with no BSc so you will be able - apply to your chosen Uni's with a decent proposal and if possible, references/support from your job. I had 25 years in the industry as my experience - not sure how much you will need to show how you have improved from your BA but the Uni's will be able to guide you on that.
Plus, if you have funding in place it will make the process 10x easier!! My PgDip to MSc application went like this:
Uni "Who is sponsoring you?"
Me "Me"
Uni "Welcome aboard".
Didn't even need to go through my proposal!! Ok, I did have a distinction for my PgDip which helped.

Now set up a rule in your mail to auto set all his messages to read and dump them in trash or to a folder. That way you won't feel guilty about having to read them!!

I bet I can make you like Outlook.... Use Mac Mail for a while.

So he actually meant to say 'mewing'?? Is he the jokey type and meant no harm or is he being serious? If the former then I'd laugh it off.. if the latter I'd ask him to explain himself in person.

Yes I am a man but my experience (in business) has taught me to be thick skinned and to stand up for myself - and no - I am not saying you do not.

That's actually a funny typo!!! I wouldn't worry.. as Thesisfun says it's just a mistake. I would have replied something like "I will keep the crying to a minimum!!"

A quick "Hi Friend D - my news? Just the usual research nailing my time which I do not want to bore you with. Hope all is well with you. Really need to knuckle down with the research and pump in some hours. Sorry I can't commit to anything for the near future, will drop you a line when things ease up". Then it's your call when you reply.

If you don't want to be friends then be up front! Yeah it's never nice but sometimes people need a dose of truth.. they may not like you but you may save someone else the same hassle!! "Friend D - sorry to be blunt but there is no way of saying this nicely but I cannot continue to take on your problems/issues... I do find it quite draining. I hope you manage to sort xyz and good luck in the future. I need to focus on just a few things at present i.e. PhD and I am sure at a different phase of our lives we could have been good friends.".

Sounds like a nightmare but I think this depends on the sort of person you are on how you want to get out of it. Here is what my reply would be:
Friend A, thanks for the last 14 emails, I really don't have time for masses of mail currently or to answer each individually. Busy busy busy.. I'll drop you a line in a few weeks.. bye. AOE26

Then again I am not known for subtlety!

How about a RAG status? Have the tasks evaluated on two (or more) criteria, say risk and complexity (or % complete and priority) etc add the criteria together to give you a number and then format Red/Amber/Green based on that.

It's a nice simple visual way to track tasks.