Can only speak from experience in my area - arts/sociology orientated. Permanent jobs come up rarely and my uni relies heavily on employing academics on short term or casual contracts instead, regardless of their experience or level of qualification. When jobs do come up (once in a blue moon) they seem to go to candidates who either have already been working in that department/uni as a visiting lecturer or in another capacity, so know people there, or to whoever looks a good bet for bringing in external research funding, will be producing highly rated publications and will also be able to supervise other PhD students in the future. It is very competitive and the whole networking thing is very important, in knowing what jobs are coming up before they're advertised and to have some advantage of sorts over other candidates.

It's a bit grim at the moment I suppose, so you have to really want to work in that area to do it. It would be a good idea to read the HE press too, the Times Higher Educational Supplement as well as the Guardian Education to see what's going on in that sector, not just the jobs pages. Good luck with making a decision.

======= Date Modified 26 Sep 2008 14:41:15 =======

Congratulations ! (up)

80,000 words for an upgrade??!? I'm impressed, that's my PhD word limit too!

And the other one is sandwiched between Soho and its sex industry, and the slightly seedier end of Oxford Street, with Ann Summers shops and those places that sell cheap bags and unlock stolen mobile phones for you. Not to cast aspersions on their academic abilities of course, but definitely needs a look.

It depends what you're doing now and how mature you actually are.... if you're nearing retirement age then maybe it's not a great idea to do a PhD for career reasons, though we do have two retired students doing theirs for pure pleasure (presumably). If you're using that 'official' definition of mature - what is it, 25 and over or something? then it depends on how long you are thinking of working for - will you be happy doing an unfulfilling job for the next 30 years or so, or do you want to give something else a go?

How different is what you're currently doing now to what you want to do? If being a lecturer is your dream, where do you want to be doing it? You don't have to do a PhD and work in higher education, there are other parts of it you could teach in - FE, adult education, school age kids, the private sector - it depends on what your subject is and what level you want to be teaching at.

Yes, the job market is competitive, but doing a PhD helps you get into it - you become an 'expert' in your field. You are likely to get teaching experience related to your subject, so that's a toe in that door. All the jobs I would like expect applicants to have PhDs and a good research profile, as well as the ability to teach, so not doing one wouldn't be an option these days. I already work in academia, but I haven't always - had a gap for a while doing something completely different to my academic background, so doing my PhD helped me get back into it. I know what I ought to do after completion to end up with a job I would like and I know it will be a lot of work, but there's no point in not trying. Anyway, sometimes opportunities pop up along the way and it turns out fine, but in a way you didn't envisage. I'd hate to be a little old lady full of regrets about what I didn't do in my life, when it's all too late to try, but it's different for everyone I guess.

lol which one are you looking at??

Hello Lara and Armendaf, hope all is well with you two as you're the ones with the most hellish situations on this thread at the moment. Let us know how things are if you get a second and you can bear to relive it on the forum!!

Hhmmm, that might not be impossible - did you look at the photos in their brochure? And they might have been taken with a wide angle lens and then Photoshopped....

lol 404, better to be bored than knackered and grumpy with a decreasing tolerance level for pushy people with a scary ambitious gleam in their eyes. Perhaps I should call it a day!

The prospectus of the latter offers a lot of help for getting your visa sorted out, so Missspacey might be right there... can't imagine you'd get that in usual FE colleges. I might wander past and have a look if I'm up that way, it might just be a floor or two above a shop or an office in that area, like some of the 'language schools' round there. Still, it might be better than working for Office Angels.

Hi Alice, nice to see someone else over here!

I'm still quite new to the forum and this thread and I must admit I've been pleasantly surprised that it does actually help me get on with the whole writing-up thing. Even that 15 minutes stint to get you started when you're really stuck seems to do the trick. Plus knowing everyone on here is in the same situation makes a huge difference, more than I imagined it would. People are generally so supportive, which has surprised me too. In fact, this site's been a very good discovery - I wish I'd found it ages ago!

There was a ferret in The Bill a few weeks ago and apparently that was smelly, but loveable.

======= Date Modified 25 Sep 2008 14:01:13 =======
Aaaww go on Walminskipeasucker, tell us, we don't know who you are, do we!

I don't fit very well either, it's arts and humanities/social sciences. Jewellery and death.

I agree with the previous posters too. To me, it seems quite a pointless and rather abstract thing to be agonising over.