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Thanks Ady and Skig. Hope the viva revision is going well for you Ady. Skig that is so frustrating you haven't got a date yet. In my opinion, it's helpful to have a date to work towards. I feel for you and hope you get a date soon. Keep me updated on how you're getting on.

Just received a rejection letter for the interview I attended but was half expecting it and so I'm OK about it.

Jimmynew, me thinks it was all too good to be true! We'll both get there though...This, if little else, I do know!!!

Good post Wally! Not a similar experience as such but the thesis I produced, which was effectively a first and final draft and having received no criticism from my supervisors throughout the PhD, it came as a shock when the examiners failed to recognise my piece of perfection and delivered more feedback and suggested corrections than I ever got from my supervisors over the 3 years!!!

I took a break whenever I felt jaded and knew I wasn't working effectively. I'm very lucky because I never felt gulity about not working but I suppose that was partly because I worked to small, manageable and achievable goals and always felt I was chipping away at it.

Got turned down for another two (on top of the others) yesterday but such is life! I'm not the only one in this boat and at least it gives me time to do the corrections:-)

I hope all is well with you.

Ouch - very irritating and painful...Doesn't seem right but I'm not sure what you can do.

Ady, try to remember the odds are firmly stacked in your favour. Your supervisor would not have let you submit if your work was less than PhD standard (and your supervisor read your thesis carefully). You've worked very, very hard and know your work best. Your examiners would rather pass you than fail you. However, you are lacking something...confidence. Throughout your three years you'll have had to make decisions about how and why you did things, you just need to defend those decisions if questioned about them. You can and will do it - I know it!!! I just feel sorry for all of you that have to wait until the new year.

Thanks Ady. Just received another 2 rejections today by email but I do appreciate people taking the time to let me know the outcome as I can tick them off my list.

Starshine. I just filled in the relevant sections of the main form and put a side note of when my funding ended. I then had to fill in an additional form at my first jobseekers interview. I made it clear that I was just short of submitting but was in a position to work full-time and was actively seeking employment (which I was and am).

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I reviewed my thesis the day before the viva. On reflection, this was not ideal because the lack of preparation made me nervous but interestingly no amount of preparation could have prepared me for my experience. I am being very honest about that. It's often said and I now honestly believe it that the decision is made prior to viva (at least in most cases). I did expect an easy entry to the viva but apart from the first question which was straightforward the questions were tough, designed to pick up on all the perceived weaknesses of the work, and it was a very unpleasant experience. Looking back, I now believe they intended to pass me and didn't want to waste time going through the thesis but picked the parts they wanted clarification on. Expect the unexpected but with your work ethic and thorough supervisor do expect to pass.

Do as much preparation as you need in order to reassure yourself but I feel you know your thesis. If you know of anyone who has had your internal and external ask about their approach to questioning (softly, hard, direct). What threw me was I was told my external had a reassuring manner and would do all to put me at my ease. The reality was the external was professional, fair but took a very direct approach to questioning and wanted no fluff or padding.

Thanks for the support. A bit disappointing but I'm not taking it personally and see it more as a sign of the times.

Just received word, not even shortlisted for a research assistant post! I'll keep trying.

Not in the UK, to the best of my knowledge.