Hi Daisy, sounds like you are also on the home straight! I hope your sup is kind with the comments at this stage. I am looking forward to hearing more submission news from yourself and Ady soon :p

I have had confirmation that my minor corrections have been signed off so I will have to get the final binding done soon. That is one huge weight lifted post move. The move was very stressful and to be honest I did feel the need to pack the children in a box on more than one occasion in the last two weeks lol. Now trying to find my feet in another part of the country, arghh! However, I didn't get the job here that I applied for which was really depressing as I am in a very small minority of qualified professionals for it. So am very deflated and have no idea what career to pursue now :-( I am hoping for some better luck soon!

Hey Dunni, fab news about the corrections :) Congrats- you truly are finished now!

I bet the house move was exhausting- I'm due to move to a different part of the UK in 2-3 weeks and am shattered already just from trying to arrange it all. Also nervous about leaving my pals behind- I've been here for 8 years now so it's a bit of an upheaval. Am quite excited as well though, about the new location and also the post-doc, which is a bit of a change in direction for me.

So sorry to hear about the job not working out. Did you get any feedback? It's so hard right now and just when you get to an interview you can still be faced with someone who just has more experience, an extra degree, or 3 post-docs or whatever. I had two interviews for post-docs/fellowships which went well but where I was simply out-experienced by another candidate. It's not much consolation right now but at least you have the knowledge that your CV must be really strong to get you an interview. You never know what jobs are just around the corner, so fingers crossed there's one in the pipeline for you.

Best wishes, KB

Dunni - congrats on getting the amendments signed off. I can really relate to what you are experiencing re the job hunt. I had an interview for a research job recently and I didn't get it because they found someone with more experience. It is a tough market at the moment it seems. I'm struggling to get part time work too because it is assumed i'll leave when something better comes along (true!) It's so frustrating Best of luck - I hope something works out soon.

As for me I have now got a viva date of the 25th of October (I can't remember whether i've already shared this - sorry!) So if it all happens on time it will be out of the way in 6 weeks. Fingers crossed!

Congratulations to everyone who have already submitted and all the very best to those who are yet to submit and have viva in the upcoming months.

(up)

Keenbean - I got some feedback about the job, basically although I am qual'd and have moved here, but as I have had a career break of 2 yrs out of clinical practice (having three kiddies) I need to do a probation period to return. The other candidate had current registration and willing leave their current post to relocate here. Not helpful for me to get back into the profession unless I get a post elsewhere, which means relocating the kiddies and splitting the family 5 days a week. Kind of confused at the mo.

Hey Slowmo, great news about a viva date! Hope the viva prep goes well (up)

Hey Dunni, that's really frustrating. I am hoping to have little ones in a few years and have already been worrying about how difficult it might be to get back into work after being off for a while. But you must be amazing at multi-tasking, you will definitely have that on your side. I really hope something comes along soon for you. Are you looking at research jobs too? Or are you definitely wanting to go back into practice?

Slowmo- brilliant news about the viva date :) Good luck with the prep and try not to stress too much. There is only so much you can do!

Best, KB

Keenbean - job types are confusing to me at the mo, think I need some careers advice! My clinical career pays very well but has unsocial hours, on-calls etc so helps fund childcare but children can be limiting to my flexibility. Research jobs interest me with better 9-5 hours but am worried about short-term contracts (less security) and lesser pay to cover childcare. My PhD is a really small field specific to my job (ie only 380 qual'd professionals in uk) so I am unlikely to find a research post related to it, but does this matter? So as you can see I am really confused as to what to do next ;-) I am so pleased you managed to get the post-doc you were after, it is exciting to start something new :p As for planning a family, in hindsight I would have done things slightly differently to keep my registration current but whats done is done. There is never a right time as such so you will have to just go with your bodyclock on that one!!

Hey Dunni! Yeah- my PhD chairperson said there is never really a perfect time to have kiddies and of there was, it would be pretty difficult to arrange for them to arrive bang on schedule! Still, that's a few years off for me yet. Not surprised you're confused with the job thing- it's great that you have the options of practice or research though. At least in this job climate it gives you a few more options. In my first post-doc interview I was beaten to the job by someone who was a qualified practitioner and a qualified researcher, and I totally see why they got the job over me. Are you applying for jobs for both research and practice at the moment? Best, KB

Good luck to everyone aiming for the end of the month and congratulations to those who have submitted.
I can't quite believe I've only got 16 more days to do this. But looking forward to sitting down on the 1st Oct with nothing to do (except get a job, write a couple fo publications, panic about the things that didn't make it into the thesis..... but you know what I mean :p)

@Catalinbond, I know EXACTLY what you mean; I can't wait!

@Dunni, sorry to hear about the job. Rejections are really hard to take (I should know, I've got a drawerfull at this stage!). Hopefully, something will crop up for you soon(up)

Need to seriously get cracking with my thesis corrections :( I'm moving house so I'm not working on my PhD at the moment.

Someone who started their PhD the same time as me has just passed their viva with minor corrections.......I'm delighted for her, but I can't help but feel really jealous! she has also landed a postdoc post in our department! Feeling a bit tearful at the moment :(

Will I ever finish this PhD? Feeling like a failure at the moment :( (considering everyone seems to have passed with minors!) not a good place to be!

Anyway, hoping to finish this PhD asap. Best of luck to those of you working towards submission xxx

Pineapple, I am in a similar situation, my friend just passed with NO corrections - amazing and seemingly unheard of these days. She's also just got a great job too, and I'm so happy for her but also a teensy bit jealous!!
I have just got my corrections back today and submit 30th, so I now have tons to do in the next 2 weeks - not to mention the printing and binding part, which takes the best part of a week I've been told, eek! Stick at it pineapple, we'll all get there sooner or later! :-)

Hello to all of the summer submitters! I was wondering how we all did? So I had a little peek back through the threads and this is what I found, in no particular order:

Dunni73 (me)- submitted and viva passed
Pink Numbers - submitted and viva passed
Ady - submitted and awaiting viva
Keenbean - submitted and viva passed
Slowmo - submitted and viva passed
DrCorinne - submitted and viva passed
Determined Daisy - submitted and ?awaiting viva
Catalinbond and Fm - where are you and how is it going???

I hope I haven't left anyone out. So well done to everyone for submitting! Thank you all for your help, inspiration and support which was truly brilliant. Good luck to those awaiting their viva, it is a stressful time still but you are so near to completion. It would be lovely to hear good news from the final few very soon.

Congratulations, Dunni!
And thanks for that run-down; I am only new around here, but a list like that is great motivation to anyone at any stage. (up)

Thanks for that Dunni, it's so great to see that we all did so fantastically well :D

I don't know what I had done without this thread. Thank you all for keeping me going through the rough patches. It was an amazing experience to be able to share the process and be part of the process.

*BIG HUGS*