Cut off!? Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that Peljam. You must be so gutted. Hug!

Hopefully all the interview prep work you've done will be useful for the next job that comes along. Good luck!

I have been to one of these and I have to say it was well worth the time! Very informative and lots of useful exercise (e.g., interview and CV workshops). Would recommend. (up)

Well done!! I found all the interview advice and tips on the Vitae website really helpful so definitely worth checking out if you haven't yet.

I think questions specific to the project are good ones to ask, if you could work them in a way that would allow you to "casually" throw in some selling points of yours (that you haven' previously discussed/showed in the interview) then even better. Obviously you don't want to sound too pushy, but shouldn't miss any opportunity to show why you are a better candidate than the others.

I wasn't required to do a presentation either, just a panel interview. However my post wasn't officially advertised as a post doc position so I don't know if that explains it.

Best of luck with the interview! Let us know how it goes.

PS: on the topic of sweet snacks - I've recently discovered sweet Ryevita - it's the only sweet version of Ryevita crispbreads. It's got currents and roasted sunflower/pumpkin seeds. Once I have one I have to have another one! When I bought it I just thought it'd be "healthier" than chocolate cookies. Never did I expect it to be tasty and even addictive!
PPS I love baklavas too Matilda!

Hello everyone! Just thought I'd pop by to say hi as I haven't checked in for a long time.

Good news is that I have sent in the final draft!! The past few weeks had been very intense, I was glued to the laptop for most of my waking hours, and never got enough sleep at night. But at last I can feel a little less anxious and worried as it now looks like I can submit before moving to a new city at the end of the month!

After taking a couple of days off for a proper rest I'm working on the thesis again, but I can't seem to concentrate very well. So I'm starting to feel a little worried about getting everything done in time. Apart from revising and editing there are lots of other jobs to do e.g., formatting and references. I feel like I'm losing steam a bit but I just have to press on I guess!

Well done on the final draft Sue! Have you heard about the job Sue? And how's your doggy doing?

Well done on the final draft too MatildaL - when will your baby arrive? What an achievement - a PhD AND a baby! :)

I hope you find something good to apply for soon algaequeen - it will come up! I had been looking for months and just as I started to get seriously worried about the prospects of finding a job (I'm in a very small/niche area) something came up and it was almost exactly what I hoped for! So keep faith!!

alpacalover - i know what you mean about paper-conscious. But i'm also going to print out my thesis for final revision/editing. I think the fact that you're reading it off paper will make it easier to read from a reader's perspective and hopefully easier to spot the unclear passages for editing/rewriting.

Good luck everyone and have a good weekend those of you that are taking a break. I'll be glued to my thesis again though.

Not long to go now!! We WILL get there!

I've been accepted to do a talk at a conference held in early Sept and I am now deciding whether I should go or not.

Basically I'm planning on submitting my thesis next month (in Aug) and I will be starting a job in Sept (the starting date is flexible, could start on any day within the first two weeks. i.e. could start after attending the conference). Problem is however that I'm still not absolutely certain if I would be able to submit by the end of Aug. I will try my best of course, but have not got a complete draft done yet (but will be in the next 2-3 weeks, i.e. by late July) and my supervisor has already implied that I should start the job later to have more time for my thesis. In fact, he's advised me to tell my department that I will submit in Sept even if in reality I am trying for Aug. I should also add that however he's never been particular supportive, often takes a very long time to give me feedbacks. I'd like to go to the conference because it is on the research area my new job is in (not the same area as my PhD), it's also the area that I'd like to be in in the long term (this job will be for 12 months only, so will have to apply for jobs again in half a year or so). I thought it'd be nice to get a crash course in this new area as well as meeting people and just get a general feel about the area. However I'm also worried that I may really end up submitting my thesis in Sept instead of Aug (i.e. no time for the conference). I have to make my mind up by the end of this week because if I don't register now my talk slot will be reallocated.

There seems to be 3 options open to me: 1) register for the conference now and hope for the best, 2) not register now but if things go well register later to attend but not to present (my slot will have been given to someone else), 3) give the conference a miss but check out the conference programme later and possibly email people that I'd like to be in touch with. (I don't know who these people may be at the moment but looking at last year's programme there weren't that many people doing presentation on the topic most relevant to my upcoming job. And I probably should add that my future boss is one of the key people in the area so it's probably possible to network through her (rather than this conference alone) too.

What do people think? I'm a very indecisive person and just can't make up my mind!

Hi PhDJane,

If it's not too late then yes PhD students do use title on their business cards. "Doctoral Researcher", "Doctoral Candidate" and "Doctoral Student" are all commonly used. When you give it to people you think may be "useful" in the future make sure you write something on the card (or on the back) to remind them what your research is about. This is the advice I've read about but personally haven't really done it, mainly because I haven't met many people who are in the same research area as me.

Enjoy the conference!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!(up)

You must be so proud of yourself that you've done it despite all the difficulties! You're an inspiration!

Hope you're taking some well deserved time to relax and unwind!!

Thanks Sneaks. Phew!

Have you told your friend what you thought was wrong with his/her stats? It's lucky that the examiners didn't pick it up, but if they submit papers to journals the mistakes would probably be spotted eventually?

Sorry to be hijacking the thread, but Sneaks: any chance the violated assumption you referred to was to do with variance? I've actually had instances where my Levene's test yielded significant p values, but I err ignored it as didn't know what to do, and the stats book says in that case it'd only "compromise" the F value, and my supervisor has read almost all of my analysis results and didn't say anything (though he's not a stats expert at all, to the extent that I suspect I may be more familiar with multivariate stats than he is...). Getting bit worried now over the prospect of having to do all the analyses all over again and rewrite everything...

Hehe Algaequeen - not long now til we can all congratulate you!

No correction - wow. When you said they were completely wrong Sneaks do you mean this person used the wrong analysis? Or reported the wrong bits/values?

I know somebody who passed with no correction, he'd already published papers from almost his entire thesis.

It's rare to get no correction right? I just want to pass. Can't wait until the PhD is over...

Oh Sue my thoughts are with you too. I agree with Algaequeen try focus on one thing at a time - may help you feel a bit less overwhelmed with things. Let us know how your doggie do!! Poor doggie. As for the thesis, you're so close now!! Almost there!

Algaequeen: I've always found it difficult working with my sup. I just really hope he'll give me the support I need at this crucial time, and actually read my stuff (in the past he often took months to read a chapter, and his feedbacks were mostly typo-related...). At least, in a few months time I'll be (relatively) free from him and have a new boss! Good luck with your move! I will have to move home myself too next month, although it's just to another city in the same country (though it's some 7/8 hours drive away so will have to get everything packed and moved in one go!) Gives me a headache just thinking about it. Really hope by the time I have to move I'll have finished the thesis...

Thinking of you Sue! and Good luck everyone!!

Hi Vilee,

I'm sorry to hear about your worries. I was wondering if you've had anyone else (i.e. other than yourself) telling you that you may not have enough data to pass the PhD? I hope I don't come across as patronizing but in my experience everyone have self-doubts from time to time, and their work may not be in as bad a state as they think. Secondly I can relate to your problem with your supervisor. Mine has always been pretty absent, and in my opinion hasn't given me enough time and attention (he often takes months to read my work, and we have a meeting approximately every 2-3 month...). I had also been advised to give him more pressure to give me more attention, but I'm afraid i have never managed to do this... Having said that I'd advise you to try get as much time/attention/support out of your supervisor as possible. It's his job to help you pass the PhD too! Do you have somebody in your dept/faculty/uni that supports postgrad matters that you could talk to and get advice from?

Is there any chance that you could extend your PhD too? You didnt say if you are in the last 3 months of your 3rd or 4th year. If you are in the 3rd then lots of people take longer than 3 years i.e. you may still have time to get more data for you thesis. If funding is a problem have you talked to other people in your research group/dept to see if there may be small jobs that you can take up to help you going? Also, I'm not totally sure about this, but even if the examiners don't like your thesis you don't necessarily get a MPhil? I know people who have been given major corrections and another year to do their PhD. I know it's not great having major corrections, but it's certainly not as bad as failing and never getting a chance to get the PhD. Even so, I heard that major corrections are rare. Anyhow I think it sounds like the most important thing you have to do is have a proper meeting with your supervisor and assess just how much more data you do need (if at all), if you haven't done that yet?

I hope you get things sorted out soon!! Good luck!

Hi all,

Thanks for the supportive comments - I did feel better after taking the weekend off (after bit of a meltdown!!) and since then have been making steady progress. Not working huge amount of hours each day I have to admit, but certainly have got back in work gear and the anxiety and stress is under control (so far!).

Sue - I really admire the fact that you could put in so many hours a day for such a long period!!! I tend to work really long hours for bit and then once I've met a deadline I need an extended break (as in a day or two) to recover. I'm sorry to hear you're not that happy in the civil service job. How are you doing juggling the job and the thesis? Hope it's going ok. I have to say I also fantasise about a holiday too! If I can manage to finish before my job starts then I may have a chance of a little holiday, but I don't know how likely that will be, given that my supervisor has more or less implied that I should negotiate to start my job later so I could have a few more weeks to work on my thesis. :( Well i will just have to try my best and see what happens.

Algaequeen - how's the move going? Sorry to hear you got annoyed with your dad. He's so sweet to help you scan books and papers. I know what you mean though it's difficult sometimes, you know you shouldn't be annoyed but you are. It's just the stress of the PhD!

Good luck everyone. We're getting there!