In case you have not seen my story, I have recently handed in my PhD thesis (resubmission) and I currently work at a fast-food restaurant making sandwiches... full time! I had to hide all my postgrad qualifications in order to get the job, which pays national minimum wage.

Also, I had to apply with my maiden name, in case people googled me and discovered my academic profile, etc. Luckily, my personal ID is still in my maiden name (I only use my married name in academia).

Funny that. It reminds me of the first skype interview I had (to work as a secretary for a local doctor) and it didn't go very well. But I do know of several people (academics) who have had job interviews via skype - and one got the job!

So, yes. It looks like this is a model of interviews working well in academia. All I can think of is that maybe the university has selected to interview all applicants via skype. If they had to interview some of them face to face and others via skype, would it not appear a bit... discriminatory?

Hi Sloss and congratulations for getting that far into your PhD - it takes a bit more work and you will get there in the end. As someone who was asked to resubmit her thesis, I went through this myself (and resubmitted a couple of weeks ago). I went through sleepless nights of stress, and the like. I drove myself insane (literally).

First, I would like to remind people that R&R in PhDs in certainly not rare. My student union said that about 1 in 12 PhDs gets an R&R - and this number (they said) has increased in the last 3-4 years - at least in the UK). So, it does happen. Every university has a different system of progress. If you are awarded major corrections, then you will be given some time (if you are in the UK this is going to be from 6-12 months). If you are awarded a R&R it will be more (t depends on the university). Usually, major corrections come with some safety attached to them (you do the corrections and that's it). Your examiners can still fail you after a R&R as effectively your examination progress starts from zero. A new viva may or may not be required. But if you do all the corrections as requested (to the letter) and keep your examiners happy, I do not see why the examiners would fail you.

The problem in your case is the lack of supervisor. Your university is responsible to make sure that they provide you with the right person to supervise your corrections. They will probably do so.

So, take a breath, await for the examiners report, and start afresh. Don't give up please.

Hi there

You describe your situation in great detail and although I realise that you are experiencing problems at the moment, I would like to remind you that in essence, we are all responsible for the way we lead our lives. There will always be problems, and I am afraid that you cannot change this, no matter how hard you try. You will never be 100% happy with a situation. All you can do is hope for a better future, work hard and attempt to control everything that is under your control. You may struggle with things that are beyond your control.

I would recommend some patience. We (PhD students) tend to idealise post PhD life. Little do we know that we may end up making sandwiches for a living after we hand in our PhD (personal experience).

Second, I would recommend you to remind yourself your aims and priorities. Sit down somewhere quiet, and write what you want to achieve, and how you can attempt to do so. Usually, priorities are not that straight forward and require loads of sacrifices. For instance, do you place your domestic services over your academic career? (there is no right or wrong answer, you choose).

Also, what I found really helpful is to try and make a plan of my week. Try to stick to the plan, but if it doesn't happen, please don't worry. Making a plan increases your productivity.

Lastly, you are not alone and certainly you are not the only PhD graduate who experience problems. The fact that you are in a troubling region and work environment is understood, but remember, even in the heart of England, some people struggle with communing etc (I live in London and I can assure you that communising is very expensive and also chaotic).

Try and stay positive if you can. Good things happen to those who wait. And take things, one thing at a time.

Dear all, thanks! I started work yesterday and I signed a contract with them. I promised myself that I will keep applying for my dream jobs, and that the sandwich making job will not interfere with my academic work. I still do research, but research (publishing, etc.) will be my number 1 priority. Unfortunately, my research involves attending and presenting at academic conferences in the following months - no idea how I am going to do both. Of course I won't put making sandwiches over presenting at academic conferences. When it is time to go, I will go. Meanwhile, I will make us much money I can.

Brit27: you are describing my life. My external examiner was also 'unknown'; I did not know her, neither did my supervisor. She was also a professor. The result was a resubmission. She did not disagree with me during the viva, but she wanted me to add more things. I should have expected this: she wanted to see more discussions that were more related to her own research interests. Anyway, I did the revisions, even though I did not agree with all of them. I was nice to her during the viva, even after they told me that I had to resubmit. I thanked both examiners for the valuable feedback, etc... I did not argue. 2.5 years later, I resubmitted a much better thesis. I am now waiting for the results. So, moral of the story: to all friends out there, do not choose examiners you or your supervisor do not know. Do not choose professors, older examiners with great academic experience.

Brit27, I would take some time off and see what corrections I can do. Make a list of them. Make another list of the corrections you cannot do. Can you justify why you cannot do these corrections? My supervisor told me that if you can justify why you cannot do certain corrections, you don't have to do them. I did all corrections in the end, but it was nice to know that not doing all of them was an option.

Thank you all for your advice. I have decided that I will get this job, and meanwhile carry on applying. This is the same advice I received from the career services of my university. In fact, they told me not to hide this job from my academic CV (as I was originally planning on doing). It shows that I can multitask, work as part of a team, work with the public, and that I am hard-working. They in fact said to me to emphasise this 'sandwich artist' work on any cover letters: say, for instance, that I have been making sandwiches since I submitted my PhD, which has taught me A and B, but I am looking for something that is more appropriate for my academic background.

In fact, I was told that having that type of job could make someone offer me a better job. For instance, if I spread the word that I am doing this job, people may offer me a better job because they may think that 'she deserves something better, and I will give her a chance'.

OK, OK, I know I don't have a PhD yet, but I have resubmitted and it is likely that I may have the PhD soon.

I have been applying for jobs in the last year, with no luck, and all of a sudden, I have nailed an interview at a local fast food restaurant and they offer me a job. Not just any job... but a full time job making sandwiches!

Of course I have never told them what I have been studying, etc. I applied with a CV which did not include my postgraduate degrees, otherwise they might not hire me as I could be considered overqualified.

Whereas making sandwiches is not something I would put on my CV, I need the money. But a couple of close friends and my family tell me not to be stupid and not to accept the job. They say that it is kind of embarrassing doing a job that only requires a highschool diploma, and that I should better leave this job to someone who is more appropriate for the role.

The whole situation has made me think: if I do accept this job, of course I would not openly tell people (especially people in my field of study) what I am doing for a living. I feel embarrassed, to start with.

What would you do? Take the job, not tell anyone, keep applying, and leave when something better turns up?

Grizzle, I wouldn't do anything if I were you. You may put yourself in a very awkward position if you do so (and even make things worse). Something that the university may say against you is: 'if you didn't like the way your supervisor worked with you, why did you not complain before submitting your thesis? You had X years to do so'. Plus, us others write, it will cost you a lot to file a legal complaint. Universities are not sympathetic to personal situations, like raising children. It is well-known how academia and parenthood don't blend well together. Sad but true. I am sorry for what you are experiencing and I wish you luck.

I do not know the score, even though I know that turnitin works with percentages.. I received an email from my supervisor, and another one from my department, which clearly stated that no signs of plagiarism were detected, and that all resources and 'quotes' were cited according to university regulations.

Back in 2007 I applied to 4 unis for the PhD. I was only accepted in one - the university I had completed my masters at.

Good luck all of you!

Congrats! There is a very high chance that you got the job - it all sounds positive to me. No, I don't think that they would change their mind at this point. BUT - I would not tell anyone but very close family yet. Better safe than sorry.

The thesis passed the turnitin testing today. No plagiarim was detected. It is now sent to the examiners. I will keep you informed next when the university gets back to me with the final result. Thanks for all the support. 5 days have passed since I submitted and I still feel like a zombi.

Make sure that you keep some sort of balance in your sentences. Don't start with past and then carry on with present on the same sentence, but make them match instead. Your use of tenses in the examples about John (2012) are both acceptable. But your example of the '8 hypotheses' would sound better if the tenses were the same, in my opinion. What you need to make sure is that your abstract is written in past tense. This is what my supervisor told me. Past tense shows that you did the research - and that you are not still doing it. It gives a sense of completion of the thesis.