Dear Fellow PhD people

I just saw this book recommended on Versatile PhD - "So What Are You Going to Do with That?": Finding Careers Outside Academia - and wondered if anyone had read it? I have a mountain of things to read not to mention a thesis to write, but am very concerned about what comes next (submitting in September) and thought this might help.

If you have read it, what do you think? I'd be grateful for any input.

You're welcome Lindalou - I've just spent a goodly time browsing in the fascinating world that is the Versatile PhD site and feeling hugely cheered that I am not alone in wondering 'what I will be when I grow up'!
:-)

I hadn't seen that site, Bewildered, so thank you very much indeed for the suggestion - and for reminding about the Leverhulme!

Hi Lindalou! thanks for your thoughts - I was assured by a senior academic in my own department recently that he too hated the thought of lecturing and would take hours to prepare, but that this had got massively easier as he has gone on ... But I know deep down teaching isn't for me: whenever I've acted as postgrad tutor, I've been really stressed beforehand, worried for hours, got grumpy with the family, and have always been glad when it's over. And in previous lives I've dabbled with school teaching too - something about the flexibility of teaching keeps drawing me in, and each time I re-discover how much I really hate it... I think I could get better at it with practice, I agree, and that's a good point - but I also think life might be too short to force myself into something I would dread!

I agree there are other options out there for using/doing research, and I wish you luck with your quest post phd. (And don't worry, I didn't think you meant academia was meaningless! :-) )

Dear Fellow PhDers

I am writing up, on track to submit in September. I had always held before me the somewhat 'vague' goal of being an academic at the end of this process. But I've always known I'm not really cut out for teaching - I quite like small group and one to one stuff, but would be useless as a lecturer - and it's really not what I want do to. So I have had to come to the depressing conclusion that my dream of being an 'academic' is an unrealistic one ... I am in the humanities... I know research fellowships exist but they seem to be rarer than hen's teeth. And a recently advertised one in my discipline , paying less than my AHRC stipend, wanted you to teach 6 hours a week and be a specialist in two different fields too ...

I am not sure how any of you can help, but thought I'd ask the collective wisdom for ideas in case I am missing something. I LOVE research, I love writing, and think I am quite good at it. Disadvantages are - I'm 47, and will need a decently paid job within next few years when husband retires and our children are still young. Has anyone had success moving into writing for the non academic market? Does anyone know of a good source of research fellowships that I don't know of?

Grateful for any suggestions.
Jane

I started with one idea (and thus was accepted on the basis of that idea) and within the first three months, had changed the focus quite drastically. When I ran it past my second supervisor, he pointed out he had changed his much later and much more drastically, so this seems quite normal. I imagine it's not that unusual but may depend on your field, your funding, etc. Good luck!

Rowena Murray's 'How to write a thesis' or some such title is useful; and I also like Dunleavy's 'Authoring a PhD'
Hope that helps.
Take advantage of any research training courses your uni offers - mine did one early in the process called 'Managing your Research' - the cynics didn't much like it but I found it useful.

I'd love to hear any tips from anyone - in the same boat: heading down the back straight, all going well, but more distracted and less focused than I have ever been... I can't find any replies to this topic, although it shows 5 people have answered, which is a shame - I'd love to know what the collective wisdom has been so far!

Thanks Ziad, good to know that the more recent Office for Mac is better.

Thanks Dafydd for you advice - glad to hear Pages works well for you. - I do have Pages but don't seem to get on with it, despite having spent a lot of money on it! I've decided to go with Scrivener, which seems great to use and really helping the way I work - it seems to suit the way I write. Best wishes Jane

Thanks for this; I may well end up working in the separate docs... My uni doesn't run ANYTHING for Mac, and although they ask you if you're a Mac user in any course, they really can't help you much, and seem to view Mac as a nuisance.... I agree with you about the speed of getting online! and the speed generally - after a long time of struggling with a laptop PC that took minutes to wake up, minutes to load, etc... and my Macbook is generally awake and ready to go in seconds, which I love. I've just been reading on line about Scrivener, and wondered if anyone has used that?

Greetings fellow PhDers
I'm just beginning writing up (cultural history). I have masses of material and two chapters already, but they need revising, so it's basically a start from scratch on a large document. So, here's the issue:

I work on a Macbook at home with Office 2008, so the Word I use is a Word for Mac within that. I went to a course in my college recently on setting up a large document with Master and sub documents. it all seemed sensible and practical. However, when I tried to make my own here at home on the mac (with the different Word - they use )ffice 2007 there for PCs) it all seems to go pear shaped, sometimes sub documents are just not appearing, sometimes the sub docs appear in full on the front page,etc - aaaghh....

I'm keen to get some calming advice - should I just keep all my chapters separate, then work on them much, much later as a master doc, in the one or two days a week I can be at college, where they have PCs and Office 2007? Should I buy a laptop cheaply that is a PC and buy the ordinary Word? (money tight but a couple of hundred might save sanity if that's the only way to do it?)

I have two children (10 and 12) and so can't just take myself off all day every day to work at uni, much as I would love to, and our other home computer is also a Mac.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Someone on the forum a while ago recommended Bryan Garner's 'Legal Writing in Plain English' - I have only read part of it but it was invaluable in helping me write a couple of chapters I had to write for my upgrade. Like you I am about to start writing - also in the humanities - and so perhaps I will re-read those parts of it I have looked at so far!

Good luck

HI Frew!
I guess it varies from university to university, and at mine, even between departments. I am researching cultural history within a musicology framework, and I can tell you about my experience a month or so ago. My university does it towards the end of your second year, with a straightforward annual review at the end of your first, so I guess that is a little different to yours. Anyway, I had had to hand in two chapters (technically limited to a certain number of words but every one in the department suggests you do two chapters not one). Also a detailed thesis plan, and some other paperwork required by the department. Ours last an hour, and part of it is also a 20 minute presentation, which for some of us was a formal paper reading (me, although the 'paper' was on how I started my topic, how it developed etc, at their request) some just spoke off the cuff.

In my case, there was a group of 3 - my sup, an advisor and the D of Grad Studies, and the aim was to make it like a practice viva. They were kind and interested but probing - their questioning revealed gaps in what I had done, but I was glad to have those uncovered now, not later. They told me readily I had passed, but I know others who had to leave the room and wait for them to deliberate.

The key thing is - don't panic! Read your departmental post grad handbook where it should be clearly set out what you need to hand in in advance, and that should make you feel calmer. They will be keen for you to get through, and even if they don't feel at this stage that they can pass you, they will give you another go, and advise you what to do.

It sounds to me like you have used your time well since Feb, and keenness on the topic is a great help. Everyone's plans and ideas change drastically within the first year, within the humanities anyway. ... You can also talk to your sup and ask him/her what to expect, they are supposed to be there for you, even though you haven't seen much of yours.

Good luck with it, and remember, the aim is to prepare you for later stages as well as assess your work now, and your own enthusiasm for your subject will be a great asset.

As to techniques or suggestions on getting through, don't run away or quit! Breathing is always a good idea - several deep breaths before you go in. And this may sound flaky, but I also try imagining myself in a warm column of light, as if from the sun, when in need of calm!

Best wishes
Jane

Hi Cupcake
If you order only 50, and choose the royal mail shipping rather the courier, it is currently £16.19 - didn't think that was too bad for a really nice product, but maybe I just convinced myself that was reasonable as I was so taken with them!
Good luck with whichever ones you choose
Jane