I'm coming to the end of my PhD and with the fun of writing looming I've become a glutton for punishment and started looking at postdoc positions and sending out CVs. I'm finding it very disheartening at the moment: sending out so many CVs and not hearing much back. Is anyone else having fun with this at the moment? This is the first time I've really had to apply for a job (flowing through from GCSEs to A levels to Degree to PhD) and it's actually quite scary not really knowing what I'll be doing next or where I'll end up :-O

Andy, I have been ever so casually looking, as I am about to start writing up and have only approx 8 months to go. Although I haven't been agressively searching there appears to be a big fat zero of posts advertised in the places one would assume to look. Depressing.

ooops hit add message too early there. I have had expeierence of working, the PhD is my 2nd career change & I wanted to say try and feel a little excited about it. On the up-side, working is good, because you get money and hopefully a job that doesn't eat too much into your head space during the evenings and weekends.

Hi Pea and Andy

Note of caution...whilst I don't want to be depressing or alarmist, don't expect postdoc-ing to be in anyway easier or less work than doing a PhD! Ok, so you don't have to write another thesis but you have to write papers and grant applications galore and unlike PhD days, you tend not to be concentrating on one project but have multiple projects (and are trying to write papers from your PhD too!) and teaching/supervising commitments too. I foolishly told my partner things would be easier (in terms of having more time) when the PhD was finished but that simple hasn't been the case (so far). That said, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else!! Good luck with the job hunting!

I have applied to about 15 post docs, (about half in my field, the others related). This doesnt include speculative letters I sent for more informal teaching work/ research jobs to every contact I had. Still no dice, and am on the old "temping to riches" path.

Hoping it will pick up after the summer.

Thank you for your wise words Ann. Definately worth baring in mind as the PhD has been a huge source of contention in my relationship & I think b.f is counting the days until its all over.

I guess I was thinking more about a move over to industry when I was describing not having to think about things at weekends and getting well paid. My research has a commercial element and I've been looking at consultancy and agency work as well. The salary compared to academia is a lot more, so at the end of the day, I just don't know if I''ll be able to afford to say working in a uni, sad but true.

Thanks for the replies. Thanks Ann for the word of warning I'll keep shipping out the CVs (tailored to the role of course!) and applying to advertised positions Fingers crossed...

Hi, well I've been applying for post-docs for the last year, but not many because there aren't many in my field that are advertised. They all go into what I call 'a black hole', i.e. you spend quite a bit of effort writing a good letter and making sure your cv is up to date, send it off and never hear anything again. I've only being applying for ones that I have exactly the right skills for. No luck so far…

…However, I've found a more lucrative route - work from the inside. A lot of post-docs aren't advertised, because post-docs are named within the proposal. So, find someone you want to work with and get written into a proposal they're writing. Basically I told anyone I knew I was looking for a post-doc and now I've been written into two proposals. Admittedly it's not guaranteed you'll get the funding (2 failed already, another 2 waiting to hear, but these latter two have a much better chance of getting funded)... but you know that if you get the funding you'll have a post-doc and what's more - you can get some input into what you do in the post-doc. I submit end of September, and I will hear about my post-doc funding some time in September.... after over a year of effort... fingers crossed! Good luck!

But pea, if you move up the career ladder in academia and progress to professor or reader, the money is not bad compared with industry jobs. Well, but you've to wait and struggle and ensure the huge publication pressure, which is not pragmatic at the moment.

I have applied for 2 postdoc jobs. Both of the interviews went great, the panel members were so positive and nice, but in the end they didn't want me. I also applied for 4 teaching jobs, and 2 fellowships, same story. I always get short-listed for interviews but never got any positive replies yet. Finding jobs used to be so easy. Now I find it so difficult. I applied for a few "easy" jobs and the feedback I got from them is that my qualifications are not suitable for them, whatever that means. I wish you luck and all the best though.

Okay, I am going to bore you all with my sad story regarding my job-hunt now. I am going to do this primarily because it will make me feel better to vent to an anonymous audience, but also to sympathise with Badhaircut and 404.

13 months ago I finished my experimental work and started writing up and applying for "real" jobs. Estimate of submitted applications so far: 50 responding to advertised jobs and 30 cold-calling letters. Net result: 0 interviews, 0 jobs. All of this in a country celebrating its lowest unemployment rate in more than 30 years.

I have a casual job as a shop assistant to fill in my days, which pays me the Aussie equivalent of about 3p a week.

I have applied for a wide range of positions; from post-docs to technical officer/lab glasswashers and everything in between. I have applied for jobs outside my field and closely related to my field. Still no luck. I spend hours preparing my applications and before yo ask, I do write the cover letters and resumes to suit each position.

People say "you must just be applying for the wrong jobs", but I only apply for the positions that I can satisfy all the selection criteria for, so that can't be the problem.

People say "you are living in the wrong city", but I refuse to believe that in a city of 4 million people there isn't a single lab that could use me and my skills.

Bugger what "people" say, Piglet: you know you are doing everything you can. I admire your fortitude.

I am angry, I am disappointed, and worst of all I am becoming bitter.

Every day I ask myself the question "How did I get to this point?". What decisions in my life did I make that lead to me being 31 years old with a PhD and unemployable? Was it when I started my first degree? Was it when I started my PhD? Was it my choice of PhD project? Was it when I moved cities 13 months ago? Or worst of all, is it just me? Am I so crap that people can sense it via an online application?

The frustrating thing is I know I can do the jobs I apply for. I know I would arrive work on time every day. I know I would not take a day off unless I was genuinely sick. I know I would treat my colleagues with respect. I know I would work hard in the lab. I know I would work ovetime if I had experiments running. I know I would not go to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol. But still I cannot get an interview, let alone a job.