IntoTheSpiral - I haven't ever encountered the exact option that you describe in zoology, but I have previously applied for Doctoral Training Partnership PhDs. I haven't published my thesis: my supervisor never really raised it as an option, and it wasn't an ideal setup due to various issues. The only indication I've ever had of problems with my application are from one interviewer who gave me advice on how to improve my personal statement rather than my interview technique; I've always tried to apply her advice since.

Caro - thanks for your point about the difficulties of this career path; it does give me food for thought. While academia would be my ideal career, I've been trying to keep my options open and have applied for a range of things over the years. Sadly, these options aren't much less competitive.

The topics I generally apply for are animal behaviour, evolutionary biology and herpetology. I always aim to express genuine enthusiasm so I can't see how that's a problem - however, I've done so much work with amphibians and reptiles in the past that if the PhD I'm being interviewed for doesn't involve them (i.e. behavioural work on another model species), I tend to be asked about why I'm doing something different. My supervisor recommends applying for a broad range of PhDs and I've tried to do so. I also do attend conferences and make an effort to network at them.

Can anyone please give some advice?

Hello,

I am 28 years old and currently looking for a zoological PhD. I gained a first class BSc in Zoology in 2008, and an MSc in Animal Behaviour with distinction in 2011.

After I finished my MSc, I thought I would rather get a job than a PhD, and got a number of interviews without success. I was unemployed for eight months before eventually getting a job as an administrator in a non-science-related area. Around this time, after giving the matter more thought, I decided I would like to get into academia and so I have since focussed on PhDs, though I still look for related jobs as well.

In about 3.5 years, I have managed to get seven PhD interviews, still without success. When I ask for feedback, it generally goes along these lines: "You interviewed very well and are clearly a strong candidate; unfortunately, somebody else was more qualified for this project." In some ways, this is more frustrating than if I was doing something wrong which I could improve upon.

I understand how competitive things are at the moment, and I know I should keep trying, but at this point I'm afraid that no matter how hard I try, someone else will always be better on the day. I've been looking for opportunities to maybe improve my CV, but these are limited due to the time demands of my admin job and my location; there just aren't any places for relevant work experience near me. The best I've done is helping on a couple of zoological volunteer projects overseas; I'm going on another in May.

Is there anything more that I can do to improve my chances?