Met up with a good friend recently who told me something interesting (and rather depressing!) that I thought about sharing here. She's been working for several years at one of the largest oil and gas services providers in the world, based in nearly 100 countries. Some while ago, she got promoted into management from engineering, and got to see how the company runs, and how they recruit. Apparently, they have a "list of recommended universities" which they hire from. And if you haven't finished your degrees from the list, your CV won't even be looked at. She was lucky to have gotten in before our university got knocked off the list. And so a new level of discrimination seems to have started.

This comes at the tail of another series of rejections for my PhD applications, so I'm extremely frustrated. I'm quite sure that universities have adopted this too. The latest position I applied for, I custom-wrote a 14-page, 32-references research plan for exactly the expertise and equipment the research group has, extending a method the European Space Agency published just a few months ago this year (so it wasn't complete nonsense). But, of course that isn't good enough - because I wasn't a former Masters student. Everyone says you should put in time to tailor your application for the place you are sending it. My proposal was so tailored for the research group, it is practically useless for me to use in applying elsewhere, and all my time and effort is gone to waste. Its nigh on impossible to get a position these days without having done your Masters at the same place!

Academic discrimination has reached appalling heights everywhere!

The former doesn't surprise me to be honest, it's all fraternal nepotism really.

I've noticed a few students on this forum struggling to secure PhD positions and I'm just curious as to why you need to join a project, as opposed to doing your own? Is that the nature of the discipline you are studying? When I applied there wasn't a 'position' that I had to apply for. Rather, I had to develop my own research project/area and get supervisors. However, I'm a social science in Australia.

Are theses positions meant to be like employment/paid work? I'm just interested really, seeing as I have a very different experience?

I think it depends on the country and the funding.
I'm in engineering, and have been trying mostly in Europe (I looked into Australian engineering PhD's, but they have a different focus and approach than what I would like to study). When I email professors, they usually tell me that I must apply for an advertised position. Some of the advertised positions are on already planned and developed projects. I usually still ask if I may propose my own ideas for the position. Sometimes the professors say that the project is fixed, other times they say that I can attach my research plan, and they'll judge.
Other positions are open calls - you can send in your own proposal.
Usually, all the positions are paid employment. And almost no professor has agreed to look through my proposal individually, they all say it must be sent with the application.

In my experience, it doesn't seem to matter either way :-/

I think most professors like to pursue their own agendas, so in many cases you are better just applying to an advertised project and keeping your ideas to yourself...

And therin may lay your answer.

In the UK at least, it is rare for prospective students in science, technology and engineering subjects to propose their own research plan, unless they are coming with their own funding from somewhere. The vast majority simply apply to an advertised position which has a specified project. An exception to this might be where an existing research assistant puts together a fellowship proposal or a project grant proposal, with the support of their supervisor, while already in post. But it is usually difficult to do this 'cold' i.e. when you don't have an existing link to the department that would host the work.

So I would follow the advice you've been given and apply for advertised positions if you really want to do a PhD. There are many structural problems with academia and I've become quite cynical about the whole thing, but I think in this scenario you are hitting a wall not because of those issues but because you're not trying the conventional application route for your discipline. I really wouldn't spend time putting together a research proposal unless explicitly invited to.

Hope this helps.

I always ask before submitting a proposal whether the project is already fixed due to funding or the professor's interest, or whether I am expected to submit my own proposal. At times, when I have been told that the project is fixed, I just apply like I would to a job - crafting a tailored CV and cover letter. When I'm encouraged to send a research plan, I take the 3 or 4 ideas that I have and mould them towards the advertised area, department's expertise and facilities.

As I said, neither approach seems to be working for me. What seems clear is that professor's aren't really interested in hiring outside their lab.