hi wowzers, I think it always depends on your supervisor so it's best to discuss this with him or her :-)

mine was ok about working at home, and that gave me some freedom to arrange my own time :-)

on the other hand, my colleague in another faculty had a really tyrannical supervisor who insisted on 9 to 5 attendance in the lab, fill up the lab-book every single day because he would check it. He also demanded that she read at least 20 papers every week, and expected small reports from her about these papers (which were not exactly related to her phd). She had a very difficult time working under this person, how she complained and she was always stressed, thankfully she did not have childcare to worry about (her mother took over)---but guess what, she finished her phd in slightly over 3 years. In all that difficulty, she produced over 10 conference papers!

are you excited about starting the phd? :-)

love satchi

hi DrJeckyll
thanks for posting here. Sorry about the rejection letter. If you look at previous posts in this thread, others have also received rejection letters! I think getting a rejection is difficult for almost everybody.

For me, I take it one day as it comes. The next day I usually feel better, then next day, next day etc.

The more you worry about september, the worse you will feel. I know this exactly because my funding also finished in September, and that was 2 years ago. Do you have family you can go back to for support in the meanwhile? Like stay with your parents just until you find something to do (that pays something), until you can get back on your feet again.

I posted this link in an earlier post, if you can, do take a few minutes to listen to what this person (Eckhart Tolle) says in answering a question about how to cope without having a job. I really like what he said.

love satchi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQJnf9iassU

hi nusyana
hope you get all your data !
selamat berjaya
love satchi

hi elsie, janineG, ailicec and hazyjane

thank you so much for your advice. I need to think about this further. I just haven't figured out how to present the answer--if i am asked again during interview. What I'm going to do now is some time to write down my thoughts, and see how I can bring them up again (if asked again in future interviews)!

I did write about it in my personal statement--and the interviewer asked me again!
So I found myself saying the same things :-(

There was a research position advertisement (deadline ended 23/6) which I was going to apply for, but then there were 3 application questions--one of them was how you communicate with colleagues at work--and another was something like--name a different method of communication which you used to influence people---and I found that I couldn't answer them!

I was thinking, when I talk to people, I don't do all sorts of things to influence their decision, and after thinking for more hours I found that I was getting stressed--and in the end I didn't go ahead with this job application :-(

thank you so much again
love satchi

done, john! As much as I would like to buy organic food, high prices put me off.

I usually go to Asda after 6pm or around 7 o'clock when they start putting reduced price labels on vegetables. So far I've been very lucky because most of the reduced price stuff I've bought have been able to keep for some days (example, fresh coriander 42p--3 to 5 days). I've also bought baby pakchoi for 32p when it used to sell for £1.50. I also buy certain canned vegetables, example tinned potatoes from Tesco 15p, this is convenient if I don't have time to boil/peel fresh potatoes.

all the best for your data collection :-)
love satchi

hi Elsie and JanineG
thanks very much for your replies
what is the best way to answer this question then. The interviewer says, "I see you have different qualifications. Can you tell us about it?" or "I'm curious to know why and how you have these qualifications"

Twice I have told them the truth, that at first I did Geographical sciecnes and then I realised I was interested in studying people. It seemed like telling them my life story, I didn't tailor the answer to the skills because the skills I felt came later.

How can I improve answering this question?

A bit of a detour from today's post (and for anyone else who is reading this thread); here is a link I watched yesterday on youtube, and it did make me feel more worthy of myself!!

love satchi
http://youtu.be/KQJnf9iassU

hi everyone, thanks for posting!
universities' effort to reduce expenses by hiring new phd-ers does seem unlikely (to me, that is). For instance, how can they reduce expenses when the fees keep going up?

I do have a question, if anyone is reading today's post, what do you think about inter-disciplinary phds?

I did one, and I think it has given me a disadvantage (yes I know its too late for me, I can't change anything now)--during interviews, the interviewers keep asking me why my qualifications are so strange. For example BSc in Geography and MSc in Psychology.

Somehow in spite of the recent popularity of inter-disciplinary doctoral programs, phds etc., do you think that people (and I mean employers) are still STUCK in the old method of thinking, that if a job applicant did not have a SOLID say, physiotherapy qualification (all the way), he would not be able to do the job well.

So would it be that if someone with a Physiotherapy first degree, physiotherapy masters, physiotherapy phd, had a better chance of securing a job compared to those with mixed qualifications?

**hoping someone will say something positive about interdisciplinary phds!**

love satchi

hi everyone, and hi Journey!

thats excellent news journey--congratulations!!! and thanks for sharing!

Another question about for job application strategy---would it be more advisable to apply for lower grade positions instead--because I don't have any publication, and very little work experience. So maybe if I don't put my hopes too high, would that increase any chances of getting a job???

love satchi

hi Catr
I am also a foreigner. I prefer to work on my thesis in the UK because it is easier for me to meet with my supervisors and get the help I need instead of using email. Once I leave the UK, there is a time difference--it is really not the same. In the UK, my supervisors can speak to me on the phone, but it would not be easy, if I were to go abroad.

On the other hand, France is not too far away from the UK. In fact, if you want to pop back in for meetings, it would not be as difficult compared to flying from India, Africa, HongKong or Australia :-)

It is true that you really need to be motivated working from home when you are abroad. It's the same here in the UK for me too, as I no longer live in my university area. I have had to move away, and it is hard when I am in a relationship where one of us is unemployed, and doing a phd, the other is having a normal working life and cannot really understand the ups and downs of a phd.

Sometimes I feel very lowly of myself because I have not been able to support myself (have you seen my job app thread) but thankfully my boyfriend is supportive, and we are going through this phd journey together, job interviews, thesis corrections, warts and all.

my advice to you is to try ways of motivating yourself (example regular breaks, little rewards for yourself when you have achieved something etc.), and keep in touch with your other phd colleagues because that will help encourage you, when you know what's going on, you won't feel left out.

A phd written back in France is definitely possible!

love satchi

hi janineG
what do you mean by "the course had to close"? did you do your BSc in Dundee? Is there someone from your old university who can give you a phd studentship?

My first supervisor once offered me a studentship if I didn't get the phd I was applying for. I thought that was really nice of him but I was interested in another topic.

love satchi

ok I am not shortlisted for another job application (again!). Just found out a few minutes ago. Oh well.
never mind.

love satchi

hi webking
the citizens advice bureau works for residents of the UK, and that includes you. If you go inside on a busy day, you will see a lot of foreign people there.

I hope you can resolve this problem without having to go to court, as it is a long and strenuous process going through the courts.

Have you spoken to people from your embassy? Perhaps they could suggest something to help you.

best of luck

love satchi

hi JanineG
sorry to hear about Glasgow. Have you called the people at Dundee? I'm sure something will come up soon. Have you seen this website http://www.erasmusmundus-gem.eu/ my friend sent it to me. I remember you said that your topic is quite rare, perhaps you can find something here?

hi Swetchha
Visiting research fellow is definitely very encouraging! Its great that you have good chances of getting more publications!

love satchi

hi janineG, sorry to hear about the Aberdeen studentship. I'm sure something else will come up for you to apply. I'm also waiting for one more reply (job app). After this week, if I haven't heard, then I know I haven't been shortlisted. There hasn't been anything else on jobs.ac. that I can apply for at this moment.

How long has it been since you applied to Dundee and Glasgow? What you can do is call up their HR people and ask them about it. Remember to quote the reference number and name of Institute, project or supervisor.

love satchi

hi kathy
People have different opinions of others working in their country, if your supervisor doesn't like foreign nationals, that is his problem, not yours.

If you are not happy with research and would like to quit, you should tell him so, because things are the way they are. You can't pretend to like something when you clearly don't.

At the end of the day, it is YOUR life.

Your mom will accept whichever decision you choose to make. Remember, again, it is your life, you are living your own path, not your mom's. You'll have to do the ONE EAR IN, ONE EAR OUT when she starts grumbling or scolding you, but that's normal. She wouldn't grumble and nag if she didn't love you (some parents can be like this!)

If you strongly believe you want to quit, you'll have to face up to telling your supervisor one day (sooner or later). If you speak to your supervisor (of your decision to quit) honestly and frankly, then that is all you can do, don't worry about burning bridges. If he can't handle it, that is his problem. You have to be clear and happy with yourself first.

Have an idea of what you may want to do--if you quit your phd. Look for an alternative, make sure it is what you want--and how you can proceed from where you are, and then only tell your supervisor abut quitting (if that's what you want to do)--and then inform your mom.

The easiet way for me to approach my professor is to make an appointment in his office and speak to him directly. I would start with, "I need to talk to you about my phd..."

About convincing your mom, you don't have to convince her about quitting. When you quit, you just quit. You are a capable and independent adult. I would imagine that it is easier for us to speak to our moms than our professors. I would go with "Mom, I need to tell you something about my phd. I've decided that research is not my thing, and I'm quitting. HOWEVER---I have other plans---" and then you tell your mom what alternatives you have.

Telling her about alternative plans will help her to understand that you are doing your best to steer your life in the direction that suits you. And whatever suits you, is usually good for you. Trust your heart.

don't worry, you'll be fine
love satchi