When it comes to job hunting, it boils down to whether you have the time during your write-up to job hunt, and then prepare presentations/papers etc for jobs. I wasted two months on a job I didn't get (writing an article/and presentation). Academic jobs hunting is simply a lot more time-consuming than the corporate market.

Gaps after a PhD are completely understandable because the transition from a PhD to a job can be difficult (eg you can finish your PhD at a time of year when recruitment is low). You can also fill the gap by extending the dates you worked on your PhD.

But ultimately, there are so few jobs at the moment, lots of students, mostly graduates but also PhDers, will end up taking casual work or signing on the dole.

My brother was speaking to the head of HR at a large corporate firm the other day, and he saying in this climate more things are forgiveable on a CV (eg. gaps, working on a succession of temp. contracts, moving jobs a lot etc.).

I got a medical clearance form when I started my PhD - it was some generic form asking lots of medical questions that would only be relevant to medics/scientists. I binned it.

The relevance and need for disclosure ultimately depends on your discipline, January. I would imagine they're more interested in the issues Hypothesis outlines.

So many students (and staff) have depression or eating disorders these days, it's really not something that would exclude you from work.

If a company is interested in your medical clearance, they usually send you for a medical, because GPs can be biased/unreliable.

Thanks for the replies! I'm drawn to the Netherlands - the pay looks quite decent from what I've seen on job advertisements (3,500-4,000 per mth, but the tax system is punishing).

It's difficult to get into the UN or any other leading international organisation, unless it's admin or translator work. People normally progress through government work, and then are seconded to an international job. Or they've been in the private sector, and then moved over. It's very competitive!

Cyrus, you need to visit at careers advisor.

======= Date Modified 05 Jul 2009 07:32:47 =======
When you say the 'following offers' does that mean you've got the offers, or those are your considerations? Or your offers were conditional on a 2.1???

If you already have conditional offers, and you're just shy of meeting a 2.1, I reckon you'll still have a very good of getting into some of them and particularly if places are still available (if you were looking at international relations or law or economics, I'd say you had little chance) - for the most part, at masters level it's very much a bums-on-seats policy, but it also depends on how strict the admissions are in each uni - some places will not waiver from the 2.1 because they publish data on the calibre of their students.

I know people who have got into LSE and Manchester on 2.2s, but can't speak for the other uni's.

I'm looking at applying for lecturer/ass.prof jobs at English-speaking programmes/uni's in continental Europe (particularly Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany)? Does anyone here have experience of working/applying for entry-level academic jobs?

I'm trying to ascertain if there are any particular differences between some European continental countries v the UK in terms of what's expected from an entry level academic. E.g. do they respect UK educated academics? Do they have an open door recruitment policy like the UK (or will they recruit home-grown talent)? Do they expect more publications than the UK? Is the job tough? (I've always found non-UK EU academics to be a happy bunch cf. to UK academics!!).

You need to get back to the uni to get clarication on this, but I 'think' a 'residential 'scholar' means that you are integrated into the faculty, and will be involved with the general academic life.

...or to use geek terminology:

An internet shill engaging in sockpuppetry!

I agree with Phdbug, you have to tell her, or you can't go. You'll most probably need your supervisor to sign something anyway (if not providing a full reference).

There is nothing wrong with pre-planning - I did this for a stint abroad, and sorted everything out, and then told my supervisor I had an opportunity available at X university, and it was okayed on the basis that I was there for the purpose of my PhD research. Say something along the line of 'I've been making preliminary enquiries'.

You need to answer the question: why do you need to go there and how will it benefit your research? And ensure it's not just for the purpose of having a glamourous US university name on your CV.The fact you mention you're at a 'top university' in your post makes me think you're a little brand-happy. Although, if you're planning to work in the US, then having a US uni down on your CV will go a long way, as US uni's are never keen on hiring foreign faculty (unless they are superstar academics).

Thanks for the replies. My discipline is law, so veers to humanities/soc. science conventions.

My supervisor has not passed comment on the length, but it is very dense and descriptive with info.

======= Date Modified 02 Jul 2009 22:44:26 =======
Ok, I'm being naive here...but what passwords would a techie get off a computer? Can they get into online bank and e-mail accounts?

All you can do is change all your passwords Ogriv. If you have credit card/bank card numbers on your computer (which you shouldn't), just phone the bank and say they are lost, then they issue you with a new card and new number. I often do this because I do all my shopping online, and hundreds of sites and libraries must have my credit card details on file.

Hey all, I'm a little concerned about the word count/length of my chapters. I'm writing a 95-100k thesis, and have 8 chapters, and they are very different lengths (7,000 to over 30,000).

I'm a little concerned about the 30,000 word chapter (which may end up around 35,000 words) - in my opinion, it's simply to long, and may annoy the examiners.

I could make the first 4,500 words into a neat separate chapter, so I'd have 4,500 and then 20-25,000.

But would 4,500 words be too short for a chapter in a 100,000 thesis?

Here's another volunteering site with the UN (on a cynical note, I know a few people who do volunteering work with the UN to enhance their CV):

http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/vol/index.html

I'll try sending it again, the last message I got didn't show up as new, I just noticed it (maybe a little glitch).

Yep, 100,000 is the limit, but I still have to so much do, and I hate editing down my work.

I'm reading through some of my earlier work and think 'OMG, that's sh*te!'.

Hey Lara, I've sent you a PM.

I got through the 100,000 word barrier yesterday, which was quite nice...not that I'm anywhere near finishing!