That's great news Jennypenny! Celebrations all round!

And I got the postdoc! So I must have done something right :) :)

Not sure of the start date yet.

So on my postdoc journey so far: one rejection without interview, one successful interview leading to job :)

Good luck to everyone else!

your link doesn't work Lily

Go to your pastoral care staff or another trusted member of staff? Check your student handbook and see the advice they offer.

Contact the administration department and ask them

Welcome to the forum!

Hi Jennypenny, glad your interview went well! Mine did too, I think, although it's hard to tell! I could answer most of the questions they asked but they did have to prompt me a bit on some questions and one I just had to say 'i don't know' because I couldn't think of anything at all!

They also said it seems like I have done a lot of teaching etc for a PhD student, so that's good bit of feedback about my CV.

Sometimes it can be hard to win your supervisor's approval, especially if they have worked with the postdoc longer than you. Think what it is about the postdoc/other people they seem to like, and then try to be like that.

It's not normal, and she's in the wrong, but next time it might a good idea to send the abstracts to all coauthors for approval before submission

You probably could get on a PhD, but why would you want to? You won't be able to be 'lazy' and pass a PhD. You can expect a lot of hard work, consistently, for 4 years. I would think of other options if I were you.

It would be worth bearing in mind that there will still probably be PhDs advertised that you can apply to for an Oct 2015 start though. You could consider accepting this now, and turning it down later on if you do find something advertised. I don't think it really matters though - it's an extra year of funded research, so you may as well do it whilst looking for PhDs to start Oct 2016 IMO.

Why not do it? It may lead the way into PhD offers and it will give you experience. As long as it's funded of course...

Good luck with your interview Jenny! I also have an interview this week, but for a postdoc position, so I'm preparing too!

That thing with the article is strange, I've never heard of that before, but it seems to me you are on the right lines. I think you should read other things from the lab too and generally about the research area of the PhD.

Ask them about what other students, postdocs etc in the lab, possibilities of small group teaching, demonstrating etc, training for PhD students, conferences etc

There are many people who get positions after taking a break from studies for several years and work in completely unrelated jobs (including me) so don't give up Lude