Overview of pm133 on PostgraduateForum.com

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Signup date: 08 Jan 2016 at 12:02am

Last login: 30 Mar 2021 at 8:40pm

Post count: 1246

pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From TreeofLife:

Quote From pm133:

Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you tell the people who have offered you the position at the moment that you are considering another offer. I can't imagine any good coming of that. That would be an excellent way to have that offer removed and given to someone else. Even if you accept the job you are doing so under an awkward cloud from day one. They have absolutely no need to know your thought process.

I think employment law states that an offer can't be withdrawn once offered - it's up to the recipient of the offer to accept or decline.

Plus, everyone these days is applying to multiple places and supervisors know and understand that. It's a legitimate reason to delay acceptance of an offer.

I think that is only true once the job offer has been accepted.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From TreeofLife:
Be upfront with both parties that you are considering other offers and that's the reason you can't answer straight away.

Why would he do this with the supervisor who had offered him his second choice?
What's the advantage to the poster above of following this advice?

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From Flowerpot:
I'm in a bit of a pickle here. I got accepted on my second choice for a PhD. My first choice is still in limbo as I'm waiting for one more reference to arrive. I was promised it would be submitted this week. How fast the faculty reacts to that I have no idea. The supervisor though only seems to be waiting for the completion of my application to make a decision. I really want to pursue this one while my second choice comes way behind. The supervisor of the one I got accepted into doesn't want to wait for another two weeks.

So what do I do? Delay a few more days and hope my first choice receives all information and makes a very quick decision, otherwise accept? I feel bad about accepting and potentially cancelling again though. Both have industry funding. The one I got accepted into is to start in January, the first choice pretty much immediately.

I would hold off on making a decision on the position offered until they forced a date out of me.

I would then contact the supervisor on the first position and tell them I was sitting on an offer and being forced to make a decision within 3 days. I would ask them to declare formally that they want me within that timeframe or I would take the job sitting on my desk.

Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you tell the people who have offered you the position at the moment that you are considering another offer. I can't imagine any good coming of that. That would be an excellent way to have that offer removed and given to someone else. Even if you accept the job you are doing so under an awkward cloud from day one. They have absolutely no need to know your thought process.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From anz07:
My PhD journey has been long and tedious with the most bizarre and stressful occurrences happening (from my viva report being lost to an incorrect result being given to me). If you want to know more please read my old posts.

However, quite simply, I want to know how long you would expect to wait after submitting your thesis post-viva with minor revisions?

I was initially told by my supervisor it would probably take 2 weeks to get a result. It's now been nearly 4 and a half months and I've heard nothing. 2 months ago I was finally enlightened (after some chasing) that my examiner had been signed off ill but was now back to work and reading my thesis. But yet I'm still waiting...

The revisions should take about 2 hours to read through (an additional 12,000 words) which are all clearly marked in the thesis and referenced in my additional explanatory document.

I keep telling myself that I'll wait just another week...then another week...then another...before I start to chase this. I'm extremely concerned that something isn't right but certainly don't want to rattle my external examiner's cage by pushing for a result. However, I have lost job opportunities due to not having the PhD and, like clockwork, another job has come up this week which would be perfect for me and is close to home, but says 'PhD essential'.

Please could I ask all of you for your advice and as much of it as possible. You are all in, or have been in, the PhD struggle: if it was you, what would you do (if anything)?

Personally, I would now be pursuing formal proceedings with the university authorities to get this sorted out once and for all. I get that the other person was ill but I am utterly ruthless about my own career and I wouldn't tolerate anyone causing me to lose a job.
I would also advertise myself as a PhD-submitted candidate which I believe is good enough in many cases and I would suggest or accept a lower salary subject to PhD graduation. You can't be sitting around waiting.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From iwan:
Can any bio science researchers here share how many months/years it took them before they got a 'breakthrough' that would more or less set the direction for the entire course of their PhD?

Let's say you get three responses to this.
How does that help your situation?
You are either going to feel hugely relieved or you are going to use it as a weapon to beat yourself up with. Either way you are going to put yourself through violent mood swings for absolutely no reason because none of their successes or failures can possibly impact on your PhD.
For example, I have 5 papers published at a steady rate of 1 or 2 per year with the first after 4 months with 2 further papers waiting to be written. The guy sitting right next to me published only 2 papers but before he had started writing his thesis got a job as a Reseach Scientist at the Beatson Cancer Research institute in Glasgow whilst I have no job on the horizon yet with no guarantees of remaining in science at all. So the point I am making is that none of this matters. His lack of papers didn't make my PhD any easier and my large numbers of papers didn't affect his either. Of course he could have beaten himself up by comparing his record with mine but that would have been stupid given where he ended up relative to me.

Your lack of success isn't your problem.
Your attitude to your PhD very much is.
If you don't fix that problem you risk hating the entire process or being broken mentally before you are done.
If you don't believe me, have a trawl through the forum and look at the state people get themselves into.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From TreeofLife:

Quote From iwan:
Can any bio science researchers here share how many months/years it took them before they got a 'breakthrough' that would more or less set the direction for the entire course of their PhD?

What's a breakthrough? Ah, you mean that elusive thing all scientists spend their waking days trying to find? That Eureka moment? It doesn't exist. It's a myth. A PhD thesis is often just a collection of random experiments that might eventually link together to suggest that a hypothesis is correct or incorrect. It's highly unlikely this hypothesis is going to be very novel or interesting. Maybe after many years of collaborative research you'll realise you've found something that changes the understanding of something big, but by then it will have been so many years coming it won't feel like much of a breakthrough...

Don't stress yourself out at this stage - all the small experiments you are doing will lead to something, even if it's just what not to do. A PhD is training experience after all - that's why you're called a student.

P.S. If you must know, my thesis had three data chapters (all subsequently papers): chapter 1 - I got the main result in my first year, but then spent the next three years doing more experiments to collect more data, chapter 2 - I got the main result right at the end of my third year, chapter 3 - I got the only result in my so-called writing up year.

In fairness it is possible to get very lucky and find a result which leads to a series of other results. That happened to me but I don't think it is common.

The original poster gives the impression that a PhD student will be expected to roll back the frontiers of science and technology but it simply doesn't work like that as you say. Almost all PhD students simply make a series of tiny discoveries, nothing earth shattering etc.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From Bah:
Thank you so much for all your kind messages! You gave me a strong mental support. Unfortunately, my spouse is not so flexible and believes that family should be my first priority. He wasn't happy with my decision to start studying at the doctoral level and believed it would end in my neglecting my twelve-year-old who is in a sensitive age and needs attention and control. That makes my job harder. Whenever I study during a weekend, he gets nervous and thinks I do not pay attention to them. I am very successful in my studies and do not want to give up. Just doing my best to make a balance between everything!

You should consider divorcing your husband.
I'm only partly joking about that because I can't for the life of me understand why women allow men to get away with this sort of attitude in 2016 and why men persist with it. It diminishes both sexes. Just say No!
I can't print what I think of his attitude because I'll probably get banned from the site.
Suffice to say both my daughters have been repeatedly warned to identify controlling men like this and avoid them like the plague. If my son treated any girlfriend or wife like this he would be spending Christmas alone to teach him a lesson.

BTW having brought up three children to adulthood I can assure you that a parent's influence on a 12 year old child is next to zero so you should relax a little over that. A 12 year old doesn't need "control" and needs less attention than either parents or the child thinks. On the contrary, at 12 years old the child should be encouraged to start spreading their wings, gaining a little more independence and be controlled less.
If you start controlling them at a time in their lives when they naturally want to progress to adulthood then you are going to have 6 years of utter hell coming.

You have made the most important move here by standing up for yourself and taking on the PhD in the first place. It's time for you to start becoming a bit more vocal with your husband in my opinion. It's time for him to become more of a man and start helping you out around the house to allow you space to succeed in your life. If everything has to revolve around him then I don't see how you can be happy with that. As I said, I would cosider divorce.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

On another thread, a few of us are talking about job specs which ask for 10 different skills. This is a classic example. My advice would be to properly think through your job advert because this is clearly just a random list of skills and experience. If you truly want the best staff, you have to show that your job adverts are much more focussed than this.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

You should ask your supervisor for the desired scope of your report including length. It will differ from supervisor to supervisor.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Firstly, you are only 3 months in so it is way too early to be worrying about progress. If you have no results after a couple of years then that is a different matter.
Secondly, mistakes are to be expected at all levels of ability so dont stress when they happen.
Thirdly, a PhD is supposed to be about completely independent research. Working independently will make your thesis easier to write because all the work will be yours.
Fourthly and most importantly, you should NEVER compare your progress to others who started with you. That is the road to hell and madness my friend. It may look like you are behind your friends but you are already ahead of them. You are already coming up with your own ideas and working alone. Your friends sound like they havent begun the journey yet.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From HazyJane:
I'm pretty sure I can tell when the advert for a technical post has been written by someone with technical knowledge and when it's written by a generalist/HR/manager person. Listing a ridiculous number of skills and/or buzzwords suggests the author doesn't really know what the job involves. Or that the job is so fuzzy that they can't pin down what is needed - never a good sign!

I think there's probably a lot of reading between the lines that can help. For example compare:
1. "Essential skill: Experienced R user (3+ years)"
2. "Essential skill: Experience of using R/SAS"

In the first case I'd rule myself out as I don't use R and even if willing to learn would be unable to get to the required level on the job in a fast enough time frame. But in the second case, even though I don't use R OR SAS, I'd consider myself eligible as I use Stata which is roughly equivalent, and the lack of detail about level of competence means I could probably persuade them to let me use Stata, or train me up in R/SAS. I would emphasise that equivalence and willingness to learn in the personal statement.

Does that interpretation sound reasonable to people with recruitment experience?

[BTW I thought in the UK it was no longer possible to specify years of experience as it is a form of age discrimination against the young. Rather, I thought the idea was that you were supposed to specify competencies instead].

I wouldnt have thought it would be illegal to specify a number of years of experience. What you cant say is "must be over 30 years of age and under 45".
Mind you, academia is able to get away with using phrases like "young scientists" in job adverts which sends a lovely message to older PhD students.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From DrJeckyll:
am I the only one asking the obvious. The position should be advertised, and the successful candidate should be selected from a pool of diverse people. Adam would be an unlikely candidate without a PhD in any case.

Some departments tend to hire the internals in position after position. This is not beneficial neither for the group that is inbreeding stagnant in the same ideas, neither for the young academic that stays in their comfort zone never exposed to new challenges and expertise.

Bottom line, I left my group of 6 years to join a new group. Terrifying, but worth it. I really progressed as a researcher in a way I wouldn't have otherwise. My advice is probably meaningless, as I wouldn't have even believed myself from the future.

Good luck

Firstly, in the real world, people buy people. If I have a person who I know I can trust I will hire them. End of story. You can make me advertise all you like but I will pick whoever I like. That is as true in industry as it is in academia. Who you know matters.
Secondly, staying in the same group doesnt automatically make you or your group stagnant. That is just nonsense. Why would forcing someone to move away from family and friends be a good thing if it ruins their quality of life? Advising such things in the manner you have done is appalling advice. In fairness it is advice which is very common in academia but then academia is stuck in the 1930's. Ironic that new academic staff quickly learn how to spout the stagnant advice of previous generations. Times have changed and it would be nice if academics could start playing a different tune in terms of their thinking when it comes to career paths.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From Nesrine87:
Hey everyone,

I'm in an awkward situation and I'm not sure what to do, if anything. I’ve given minimal background to avoid a wall of text but feel free to ask for more details.

My friend (Adam), who is a first-year PhD student and has the same supervisor as me, just finished a two-year unfunded MPhil at the same uni and got really high exam results. He was really disappointed to then not get any funding for PhD living expenses but did get his tuition covered. I’m a fourth-year, hoping to submit early next year.

When speaking a few weeks ago, Adam told me that our sup had won a big grant and was looking for a research assistant from early next year, and that he hoped he’d get the post since he desperately needed the extra money (our sup knows this). I assumed he would get the post, and kinda forgot about our conversation.

Today my sup informally asks me whether I’m available/willing for the post (I am). He said I’m qualified and already know the necessary material. Nothing’s set in stone but it looks unlikely that Adam will get offered the post.

I feel really guilty. I don’t need the money as much as Adam. I am very lucky to have had full funding and also other sources of income. However, my field is very niche and the experience will be great for my CV especially as I’m hoping to take the following year out for maternity leave (if my body cooperates…)

I guess my question is…should I do or say anything? Is it better for Adam to hear the decision from our sup? Should I apologise? We’re quite close and I don’t have many friends in academia. I know he’s going to be really upset when he hears the news even if he acts happy for me.

Thanks for your help!

EDIT: maybe relevant? Adam mentioned that our sup advised him against applying for a PhD.

What Adam wants is utterly irrelevant.
You should take the job if that is what you want and feel no guilt. I would however talk to Adam first before accepting it.
If he is as good a friend as you think he is, he will understand. If he doesnt understand then he isnt a friend and not worth worrying about. My career is more important to me than friends so my viewpoint is probably more ruthless than most.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From HazyJane:

Quote From pm133:
A serious question given all the posts about typos above. Are you talking about spelling errors or grammatical errors? Surely everyone uses a spell checker for the first?

That doesn't stop the wrong word correctly spelled sneaking through. Hence someone I know only spotted in the middle of printing that his thesis said 'pubic health' instead of 'public health' in one place.

Also worth bearing in mind that for very long documents Word gives up the ghost when it comes to underlining stuff. I've just worked on a report that was around 100K+ words where there were so many bits of science jargon and author names, Word gave up highlighting them, necessitating a manual click through spell check. Given how long it takes to do that, it's still possible to miss stuff unless you're uber focussed.

Pubic health. That is actually quite funny.
As for red underlining, I have written my Thesis in Latex which is essentially a programming language. The spell checker picks up programming keywords as typos making it very hard to spot genuine errors.

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pm133 1246 posts
9 years ago

Quote From Incertus:

Quote From pm133:
A serious question given all the posts about typos above. Are you talking about spelling errors or grammatical errors? Surely everyone uses a spell checker for the first?

Mine are grammatical, either missing or superfluous words, or erroneous punctuation, or formatting issues (e.g. titles of books not in italics)

Ah OK. Hard to guard against those.

Overview of pm133

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