Hi all, I am applying for another post and would approeciate any thoughts you have on a particular issue. I have tried to contact my supervisor, but he is not available and the deadline is Friday, so I'm hoping you may have some pearls of wisdom.

They are asking for someone with a Ph.D. I do not have one yet, I'm about half way through, but I do have all the other criteria they are looking for, including a lot of rare and very specialised stuff. So I rang the HOD there and she said their reasons for wanting someone who already has a Ph.D is because she has seen colleagues really struggle to finish and hold down the job, she says they and their Ph.D tend to suffer and she didn't want that to happen to anyone else. She also said that I should think about how I would manage my time etc when in the post and that if I made a convincing case as to how I would do that in my application form then they would still consider me, she also said my skills and experience are rare and valuable.

I would love to work for the department, it is in sympathy with the way I teach my subject, my research, my previous background and it has a great reputation (that woudl make a nice change for me in terms of teaching). It would also include research and teaching in the two main specialist areas that I love: my great passions, shall we say, and it's not always possible to find that. So! Apparently, according to the HOD, lecturers at her department have 10-12 contact hours per week, one day for meetings and one day for income generating research - I would have to do my Ph.D on top of this. Do you have any insight into ways in which this would be made more feasible? Like could I write my Ph.D as a series of articles, thereby doing the two things at the same time to an extent? Do you think this is possible?

I am 2.5 years into my Ph.D, but I could study for another 4.5 years if I needed to - I transfered after the first year so have a year which my supervisor says could be added or removed. I am actually about half way through the work.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Esk X

Hi Eska

I woudl say - go for it - you will kick youself if you find out that they gave t to someone who also was only part way through the PhD.

I don't knwo what your university rules ar ebut PhD by publication (ie a series of articles) is usually a different route and needs to be specified at the begining. At my uni it is for people who have a storng research record but never did the PhD - I don't htink it is an easier option if the articles don't already exist as you ahve to write them all AND then write a wrape around that pulls them together.

I am doing my PhD part-time and working full time as a lecturer - I have 14 hours a week teaching classes plus another 2 hours a week supervising dissertations and 3 hours a week of office hours. On top of that is marking, preparation, departmental meetings, staff development etc. I won't pretend it is easy but it possible - I have about 200 hours allowance on my workload for PhD (whihc equates to half a day a week) so I have to do it in the vacations. I have youngish children so that is another demand on my time. I have to be very focussed about reading around the subject (not much) etc.

That said when I can devote reasonable chunks of time (and that is the problem PhD gets squeezed into the odd few hours here and there which is not the most productive) I get very into the PhD.

I think you should go for it.

I've been to a few job interviews like this. So far I've said that I'd do the PhD in my spare time. I go on the fact that they want someone to do their job in x many hours per week - so they won't want you using those for the PhD - they're not wanting to pay you for that.

I also say that because I've done xyz e.g. lecturing, voluntary conference work, seminars and workshops not linked to my PhD and any other work I've picked up, I am very good at compartmentalising my work and juggling multiple projects.

So I would highlight your organisational, project planning/management skills e.g. setting deadlines, handling multiple projects and that you are used to working weekends.

I made sure they realised that THEIR work was the most important and would always come first.

I've got 2nd place in a few interviews now, I think the PhD was the main reason, but you can't do anything about that now, so why not go for it, highlight all your skills and good luck (up)(up)

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Hi Sneaks and Jepsonclough, Thank you for your advice and comments I used it directly in my form, highlighting the skills you mentioned Sneaks, particularly. I'm ok with it - I actually quite enjoy writing these statements sometimes, I had PMT and having to think about why I am wonderful and read it all back to myself - did me the world of good! Anyhow, it's all in the lap of HE gods now so I have my fingers crossed and say thank you again for your helpful comments. xx