Hmmm, I think I see where you are coming from...I undertook my PhD with my eyes wide open. I'd worked alongside 2 PhD students for 3 years prior to starting mine and witnessed all the stresses of PhD life first hand. I also knew that there was no guarantee of a job at the end of it i.e. I knew that there were way more PhD students than post-doc jobs and far more post-docs than lecturer vacancies etc. If you had been led to believe that post-doc jobs would be easy to come by then clearly it's going to be more of a shock to the system

You're right, you were probably asking the wrong people. It's a bit like preaching to the converted, you were talking to a very skewed sample if they were already established academics with jobs (or people on the other end of the scale who don't know what a PhD is).

"As for the essay mills, I am not sure how they devalue the work of others?" - Badhaircut, these essay mills are basically crimial organisations, you devalue the work of every single hardworking student in this country. I worked my arse off for years to get a first (UG) and a distinction (Masters). I could easily have spent that time in the pub like the people you are planning to work for. You are basically trying to convince yourself that you are doing nothing bad but that this world is a bad place. But this is not correct: you are still doing something FUNDAMENTALLY bad if you work for a bloody essay mill.

Also, I'm starting to get annoyed by your rant-attitude, you tend to blame the system a lot, but don't necessarily take any advice of anybody on board.

Remember, although people gave you advice to do a PhD a couple of years ago, it is YOU who made the decision. You should never regret your decision because human beings will never be able to know what would have happened by going down a different route. Similarly, you can make the conscious decision now to leave this student/PhD forum (after all, you're not a student anymore) and to get an appropriate job somewhere (as said above, not necessarily in academic environment).

Everything will be better than

Essay mills are good and without them many students would never get a degree.

Otto-
On the contrary, I have taken advice from this forum and have tried to better myself. Taking the (hopefully) temporary job, the writing to other employers on spec and looking for work outside academia are things that others have suggested and I am looking into. The only problem is things take time, but I still have rent and bills to pay.

Unfortunately there is no forum for failed post docs, and if there was I would post on that instead. I would still consider my plight part of PhD life though, which is why its relevant here.

As part of my PhD, I am trained in critical analysis, which is why I find it hard to believe that an essay mill is a "criminal organisation". I also find it hard to believe "everything will be better" if I just leave academia. What I find harder to understand is that you, who as a PhD errant is also supposed to espouse critical thinking, analysis and exploration can be so dogmatic and Black/White in your thinking?

I'm not black and white in thinking. But being here and seeing the madness of the academic environment and although being fully aware that there is madness in the outside world, too, I can only come to the conclusion that you appear to lack self-confidence at the moment. This is understandable as you feel like you ran in the wrong direction for seven years. Still, it's not as bad as you currently think. All you need is a change of perspective. You are probably completely burnt out after all these years of fruitless PhD research? If you can, save money from low-salary job (please not from essay mills, they should be prosectuted and not supported) and take a holiday.

As for only blaming the system, I am not blind to my own naivety, my own flaws and my regrettable choice of supervisor (who is a problem). However, even you must admit the system we work under is far from perfect. I do not see what is wrong with actively working to rectify this ?

As for the argument that "you worked your arse off while others sat in the pub" sounds like jealousy and resentment more than something well reasoned. You rightfully obtained your education, got your job etc, whereas your peers didnt. Isn't that reward enough?

Or perhaps they could be viewed as exhibiting lateral thinking, street smarts, non-academic intelligence and a willingness to explore other options.

You are right, I am lacking self confidence, and am very, very scared. I am also tired, poor and very uncertain. If I could take a holiday I would, but as I am probably going to be homeless at the end of the month, not really plausible.

As for my research being fruitless, you may have a point insofar as it has not secured me relevant employment. That said I have been published several times in high impact journals, my work has been cited by others, and I have started to acquire a H-index. The actual research is the only thing that has made the last 7 years worthwhile.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I did not mean to de-value your research by saying 'fruitless'. Fruitless, only in the sense of not having the desired impact.
At least you got some real publications. Everybody around me has a publication list of 20 or more, but by looking at the actual content, it is often academic conferences (where they quite often did not even present).

I sincerely feel unhappy in academia

Steve, I am assuming your comment was deliberately provocative, in which case I really shouldn't be rising to the bait. However, I can't help but say that those students who can't get a degree without resorting to plagiarism shouldn't get a degree, period.

Interesting article here
http://www.kevinboone.com/university.html

Read the section entitled 'The Brain Drain', about a third of the way down the page. Very interesting discussion of rising student numbers and average IQ. Perhaps explains the requirement for essay mills.

Couldn't agree more Ann. I can't imagine why any self-respecting academic (or even person) could consider this essay writing thing. Badhaircut - I seriously think there's a lot more pride in being a waiter than doing something dishonest such as this. I can't imagine that you could feel comfortable increasing the number of academics thereby also the amount competition for jobs by this means which is what you'd be doing in the long run. I know you're in a bad position now but wouldn't you feel worse if you knew the competition had got through by unfair means??

Wow, Badhaircut,

reading your story this does not sound very promising, at least how you define things. Strange the imbalance between the amount of effort, stress and anxiety related to doing a PhD, which comes forward in this forum, and then the actual benefit consisting of not being able to find a suitable job.

I think your statement helps to put things into perspective, seeing the PhD an issue, but absolutely not the crucial thing in life.

Obviously feel sorry for you regarding your difficulties in finding a proper job.

I found that article fascinating, Ann. Plenty of food for thought.

Although in my field I have always 'known' that academic posts are few and fair between and I have always noticed that my supervisor works very hard.

I guess I shoudl start preparing for the reality that an academic post is the least probable outcome of my phd. I still want to do it though.