hi binta
the easiest way is to run a literature search. Use a good database, try Google scholar, Scopus etc. or even just Google it first and see what comes up :-)

love satchi

Thank you so much for your replies. It is true that I am depressed--but it's not mainly because of job rejections. Fortunately I am still able to function, get up in the morning, get dressed etc.

This part about staying close to former colleagues and helping out with their work--how do I do this if I am not living anywhere near my university? The main reason firstly is because I can't afford to live there on my own. How do I get around this? There are no universities nearby, the closest is still one hour's train ride away, if I were to volunteer, I still need to have money to travel and this spare money is what I don't have at the moment. I am not new to volunteering, but unfortunately the voluntary stuff I've done in the past will not likely help me secure a job.

love satchi

hi everyone, thankyou so much for your replies! I have seen "early career" job adverts as well, but the essential criteria seemed impossible. I have also seen jobs advertised on a lower grade, asking for a minimum of a first degree -- and yet, they ask for so much experience. Is the market so big now that many people with only first degrees have so much work experience?

I have also had trouble publishing--I need to get back to my journal manuscripts as well. It has been difficult dealing with myself because I became so depressed. Really need to pull up my socks---get back to it satchi!!!

has anyone applied for those short term posts advertised, for example--research assistant for only 6 months? are those difficult to get as well?

love satchi

Today I stepped out of the house in four weeks since moving! I walked past the bluebells and daffodils, watched a BT van go by, waved at an old lady passing by. I walked to the pharmacy and bought a pink Vaseline lippy. I couldn't resist it £1.20 instead of the using £1.99 :-)

I also read the responses from my thread about job rejections. Many people are affected as well. I feel comforted that I am not "the problem". The problem is not me. I have no problem--just no job, no income of my own--and I am not able to save any money (because there is simply none to save!) that is just the state that I am in at the moment.

Oh well.

:-)

Now I'm back home. Thesis revision again.

Thank you for letting me express myself.
love satchi

I've just received another rejection letter for another unsuccessful job application :-(
I have been almost 18 months without any paid work.

So far I have had 5 rejections, and the furthest I have ever gone is a job interview--and that was also unsuccessful!

How many rejections have others had? Until you landed one job.
Would anyone like to share?

I have to admit I do feel depressed now (but will work on it!!!)
love satchi

I've read somewhere in one of those "how to finish your thesis" help pages that we need to write something everyday to keep things going. I guess writing something everyday also helps us to concentrate and focus. For me, that is.

Since I started posting on the blog, I have done some work on thesis revisions. Thankfully.

For today I'll write about whatever's popped into my mind now--FLOWERS!

I have five yellow tulips and 4 strands of bluebands in my glass vase on my desk.
They seem to be smiling at me. Good.

I have another 5 strands of bluebells in a glass bottle on my mantelpiece. They seem to be in their own world, and totally ignore me. Oh well.

I don't know if it's illegal to pluck these bluebells---but I couldn't resist. I've only take 9 strands home with me :-)

ok thats it--and back to work

Thank you for allowing me to express myself

love satchi

hi antonsumarpo
what you can do if you don't know what to do--is to first have an idea what method you want to use (which protocol) for your research project. Talk to your lab mates, especially those who are farther in their phd, make friends with them, see what they are doing. Especially in labwork, reading protocols and papers is just not enough. You need to stick around and hang out in the labs, preferably get someone to show you--or ask someone if you can watch them work when they are doing something. Then you will feel more confident. Try to find someone who will still be in the university so that you can discuss your labwork with them.

I have this experience from my bachelor degree days. I didn't even know how to extract protein properly. One day I met a girl from the next lab, she said she had spare time, and she showed me what to do. Another time I was doing PCR for 3 months--and ZERO results, everyday no band. One Sunday evening, I met a phd student who gave me a PCR tip--and then I tried it and I got a band on my gel. Later he also helped me with the other steps in my protocol. But I will be honest with you. I used to stay in the lab all the time. I even slept overnight in the lab so that I could use the equipment at night when all the seniors (the masters and phd students) were not around. Otherwise I would have had to wait forever. Sadly there was a hen-pecking-kind of hierarchy in the lab, but that's lab culture, I guess. Varies from place to place.

Don't give up.
love satchi

hi oOGJOo
yes you can add it to your resume! Please do! List it under work experience--and then write a brief description of what you did, mention also what kind of "position", whether you helped the psychiatrist because he's your colleague, your uncle or friend etc., and then put (reference available upon request) somewhere. What is important is how much experience you gain from doing this--if you are able to talk about it during interview (if asked).

A lot of things we don't have certificates for, we can use in our resume! Oh yes earlier I looked at a job website--and seen adverts looking for people with psychology qualifications!
please do keeping looking, keep applying, you do have a good chance of getting a job.

hope this helps--and best of luck!
love satchi

hi wazgee
If you can get some teaching or research support work in your department, it will help you. The good side is that the pay is good, and you get to work in a comfortable place. The down side is that sometimes there is no work--for example if there are fewer students for a certain module, there may not be a need for extra teachers--so you don't have work. No work, no pay.

If you are an international student, perhaps you can look for language translation work. A friend of mine did Chinese-English translation for the police, I don't know how she got the job, but the pay was very good--it was very easy for her to translate a few pages, next to no effort at all. This job was quite stable because they always called her.

You can also look to see if you can work in your university library. It is also stable and you get to work in a warm place. Only downside is that it is very difficult to get a job there.

Another one is to look for a part time council job. Another friend of mine (from Nigeria) did part-time cleaning, he worked 2 hours a day from monday to friday. He did not opt for pension contributions, so he received the whole pay, which was what he needed at that time. Later I saw my friend also working in the gardens (!) while waiting for his viva date. He could manage it. The good side is that the pay is not bad and it is stable. The down side is that if you have a phd to do--and if you have say, meetings which run until the time you have to rush off and do your council job, this could be difficult to balance. You could end up feeling very tired.

Another alternative is to give home tuition. I did this but only had 4 students. It is difficult looking for students when you don't know anybody. So if people can recommend you--and they have to know that their children will be safe with you. The home tuition I did was one day a week, and that helped pay for food and groceries.

hope this helps
love satchi

hi Tulip
I've just seen your post and also the ones from people here. I also did not socialise much with my colleagues. I don't know whether being based in another building had anything to do with this--but I suppose that this did isolate me from others. I've also learnt that we can click with some people, others we can't. I have a colleague who never answers email, especially if you email him to ask him for something, he pretends he never got it. It takes one email from our supervisor--to tell him to give me the document etc. then he suddenly remembers "oh yes" and then I have whatever it is I was supposed to have received.

I have another colleague who seems to be nice and friendly on the outside--but she also never answers email. Sometimes she smiles when she says HI and I feel it is a fake smile. But I smile back anyway, I am not fake.

I always answer email :-) thankfully I haven't been bullied.
I think we all need to strike a balance somewhere as well.

Another thing I wanted to say is that sometimes we never know how we may need a colleague--or how others may need us. For example--I have never spoken much to this other colleague of mine (she is based in another building--again) but I needed help for some software--and she helped me! I really appreciated it.

Hope I haven't gone out of context :-)
Hope you are ok.
love satchi

Hi Dan
I think its best to ask them when you are nearing the end. I have found that discussing job options with my supervisor has been really helpful--but this is my experience, other people may have different advice on this. I feel that it all comes down to having a good relationship with the people who will be our references.

:-)
love satchi

Today I realise that, just like many other people, I have phd-related anxiety, depression and stress. Life has also got in the way (moving house etc.) which can't be helped, I guess. Life is Life! My phd-related stuff is mainly those never-ending revisions, me having to do them (yes I know I must do them to complete the phd), and especially, me doing everything else but my thesis revisions!!!

Everything else is housework, watching TV, going online to look at clothes, make up and a lot of things I don't really need.

Nevertheless I have been fortunate in many ways. My boyfriend supports me financially so I don't have any money worries at the moment. However, today I realise that I have been feeding my anxiety and stress in many ways --e.g. I have been buying shoes that I don't need, and clothes I can't wear. Thankfully my boyfriend has not complained. I have in mind to order a make up primer I just saw online 30 minutes ago. I'm going to will myself not to press ADD TO BASKET.

I am making this blog post to motivate myself to start all over again.

To do the things that motivated me in the past which allowed me to finish my thesis ahead of schedule.

Now I really need to finish the revisions (for the last umpteenth time!!!). I'll start by making a list of all the things I need to do, and this includes housework, shopping etc. so that I don't get carried away and spend hours at the mall again.

God help me.

Thanks for viewing, and thank you for letting me express myself.
love satchi

Today I realise that, just like many other people, I have phd-related anxiety, depression and stress. Life has also got in the way (moving house etc.) which can't be helped, I guess. Life is Life! My phd-related stuff is mainly those never-ending revisions, me having to do them (yes I know I must do them to complete the phd), and especially, me doing everything else but my thesis revisions!!!

Everything else is housework, watching TV, going online to look at clothes, make up and a lot of things I don't really need.

Nevertheless I have been fortunate in many ways. My boyfriend supports me financially so I don't have any money worries at the moment. However, today I realise that I have been feeding my anxiety and stress in many ways --e.g. I have been buying shoes that I don't need, and clothes I can't wear. Thankfully my boyfriend has not complained. I have in mind to order a make up primer I just saw online 30 minutes ago. I'm going to will myself not to press ADD TO BASKET.

I am making this blog post to motivate myself to start all over again.

To do the things that motivated me in the past which allowed me to finish my thesis ahead of schedule.

Now I really need to finish the revisions (for the last umpteenth time!!!). I'll start by making a list of all the things I need to do, and this includes housework, shopping etc. so that I don't get carried away and spend hours at the mall again.

God help me.

Thanks for viewing, and thank you for letting me express myself.
love satchi

hi brit27
thanks for sharing your experience! I'm so sorry to hear that you've had a horrible examiner. I'm sure you'll get through eventually. My supervisor once told me, that when she hears of a so-and-so being a "problem" during viva, she makes very sure that that "so-and-so" is not invited again. She even remembers who is nice and who isn't. She was telling me this when I confided that I was afraid of failing my viva.

For example--if somebody asks me some statistic question, I am done for.

Sorry to ask you at this point, but what will you do now if the changes are against your research principles? Is there a simple way to get round it?

Hope you are ok, and thanks again for letting us know.
love satchi

Feeling demotivated and demoralised, which is unusual for me because I'm always cheery and upbeat! I felt like speaking to somebody, anybody--so I typed in "chat" on google and simply clicked on one with "clean chat".

When I entered a chat room (the Lobby) unfortunately I didn't know what people were talking about. Then I had a PM from someone wanting to know my asl--then I realised this person wanted to initiate sex chat, or perhaps this was a con artist sitting in some hot cubical in somewhere in Africa. So I closed the chat window. So much for wanting to speak to somebody, anybody.

I'm very glad this blog is here. I will be able to express myself. It is also my First Blog Post!

Oh my. I feel better already. Thank you so much.

love satchi