Well thanks for the spammy bumping as I had missed a couple of replies!

I had a word with the recruiter and have been put forward. It's not a small world in finance - it would be a very small chance of anyone knowing anything. No harm with references either - I never put them down, just "available upon request".

I think they wouldn't be surprised about location, they know I really don't think much to where I am. Although things have changed a bit at work at the moment so there might be some opportunities coming up more aligned with what I want to do. So need to talk to my boss as there's one project I would be really happy to take over.

A case of "we'll see" 8-)

Bottle of water is a must - all that talking will give you a dry mouth and useful to compose yourself when you need to think!

Firstly, what a great idea !

I agree it's quite an unusual prospect going to a Chinese university, or even many Asian universities generally, but as the world gets more and more globalised it's probably going to become more and more common. There are some great universities in China, very research intensive, which consistently score highly in World University Rankings - Beida springs to mind as comparable to Oxbridge or Ivy League.

In terms of benefit, well, employers always like to see if you'd done something "different" - I don't know what your long term plans are but going out to a different culture, with a different language and living and studying would be seen as very positive by many employers. Plus if you're publishing in well rated journals then the quality of your work will hopefully speak for itself.

Hopefully some more people can give a more detailed view on what it's actually like, but I would say go for it, I'm really struggling to think of anything but benefits. Especially if you've already been there so it won't be a total culture shock either.

Are you sure you want to be doing time series modelling on this?

And statistical modelling in Excel?!?!? I think my eyes have just started to bleed! Aghhhh it burns , it burns!!!

I have to say I don't get jealous of other people - I know I have a lot of good qualities of my own and know better than to judge people from what I see externally. Met too many people who seem nice and look good and brainy who are just complete cunts deep down.

Nobody is perfect. Apart from the guy who was tutoring two course on VBA I went to but that's another matter...

I had 3 supervisors, all of them were great. Never had reason to complain about any of them once.

Still go in with your list of typos, although I did that and they just said to me "we've noted down in the thesis some typos, we won't go through them now but I'm sure you're aware of them anyway". I don't think it's all that big a deal - after all it's still not the final end product. As long as you show you're aware of them then it shouldn't be a big issue.

And if it makes you feel any better, I have found 2 typos in my finished, bound thesis!

Thanks. I know the situation at my current workplace and if all goes well, I should get towards promotion at the end of the year. However, it would mean staying in my current job which I don't mind but it doesn't particularly fire me up. THere is opportunity to move into a different dept but I need to get the promotion in my own in order to stay at that grade transferring across. But this other job really is absolutely the direction I want to be going in so many ways.

But I guess no harm at all, just feel a bit odd given that it's been so quick after getting this job (and it took AGES to get that all sorted!).

Okay suppose you were in the following situation.

You'd moved jobs a few months ago (less than six) as a means of career progression. The job is okay but you did it more to get into the company itself than the job you're doing, ready to move across departments and progress upwards fairly quickly (say, in an other 6 months time). You really dislike the location but life is okay.

You get regular contact from recruitment agencies but dismiss most of them as you're not really looking, you've not that long changed jobs. However, you get a mail about a job that would perfectly suit your ambitions. The pay would be good, you have the skills for it and it's in a location you like, having already lived there.

So what would you do? Dismiss it out of hand , given you've not long changed jobs and think it's better to stick it a while and let things progress naturally? Or just make a few inquiries, I mean, it's not like you're committing yourself to anything at this stage?

Oh and this is all for a friend, of course (snowman)

I am sending motivation vibes through the power of the brussel sprout

(sprout)

Hey Clairette,

Your question is quite relevant to many social science and non-lab based science students too! I did a science based subject that didn't involve having to come into a lab and did exactly what intheheadplease suggests - some days I'd do very little work, some days I'd do 15 hours, sometimes I'd work early in the morning, sometimes late at night. One of the great things about a PhD, especially if you work from home a lot (as I did) is managing your own time and schedule. I hate the whole 9-5 thing, it's completely counterproductive if you're not geared up to work around those hours. And don't feel guilty about it either - it's much better to go with things on a roll than force it unnaturally.

There's certainly nothing wrong with doing so, the fact you were granted it before probably means they are quite aware of the problem and happy to do so.

I would, however, keep quiet about the part time work - it is almost never acceptable as a mitigating circumstance and may offset asking for extension due to depression.

For those of you who do YouGov surveys, I've just been asked an interesting question!

"Dentists in the UK are currently allowed to use the courtesy title ‘Dr’ provided that it is clear that they are a dentist and not a medical doctor.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Dentists in the UK should be allowed to use the courtesy title ‘Dr’ in this way"

Opened up as a poll, be interesting to debate this as I didn't know they were actually allowed to do this!

Hi Karlala.

Well firstly, you're right, it's good to have a good relationship with your supervisor - it makes things a lot easier when the going gets rough to have someone supportive behind you. Having said that, the idea of the PhD is to become independent as a researcher and will invariably mean lots of work off your own back - you supervisor is there to guide so it's as important to have someone who is good at the area as well as the "personal" touch. Maybe exchange a few emails with this potential supervisor to get a "vibe" and ask any questions you feel are important.

Research indeed can be a hard gruel for those who want to move up so a degree of flexibility is certainly important. However, I'm not sure where you're based (I'm assuming UK as you mentioned someone relocating from the States?) which could mean that there are enough research centres within a reasonable commutable distance. You have to decide what it is that's most important to you. Nobody can do that for you unfortunately!

Agh, that might be what it was then - it was quite a while ago but I do remember signing up at the Uni fair. I did have a look the other day how much it cost to join up again, it wasn't as expensive as I thought (but then I earn a lot more than when I was a student, so it's all relative!)