My mind is blank. I just can't think of a good and original research project. Everything I think of has been done. How can I think of something original?

ARGH!

I have been advised by my sups that I should look for editorial opportunities at academic journals but I'm not sure how to go about this! I've looked at the relevant journals but I'm not entirely sure how to ask if there are opportunities available because there is no guidance for this. Am I being really thick? Is there an easy way to find this out?

Thank you.

Eeek, thank you. Will keep you posted.

Thanks Teek! I've just been looking online and have actually found some really nice suits that don't look corporate at all. I agree with you that it's better to be formal/professional looking so I think that's the way I'm going to go. Also, it probably won't do me any harm to have a suit in my wardrobe. Thanks for you help.

Hello,

The impossible has happened and I have been offered an interview for an academic position. I'm trying not to get too excited because the chances of me getting the job are probably not that high. So, I'm concentrating on my outfit instead: What do I wear to appear professional but still have a semblance of my personality?

I am female and generally wear smart-casual when I lecture (a mixture of skirts, blouses, cardigans etc.), however, I didn't know whether a trouser suit or a skirt suit would be more appropriate? I've never worn either before and always feel like they are very corporate but at the same time think that my usually smart attire is not quite smart enough.

Does anyone have any suggestions/experience of what to wear? I would be most grateful for any advice. I actually quite like clothes and if I get a suit I would like to get something that would last for a while.

Thanks for your help and for reading.


:-)

Thanks Koturu: Good to hear about some positive experiences. Keep your fingers crossed for me :-)

I'm in the writing up stage of my PhD and just applied for a lectureship position in my field. I'm now concerned that they won't consider my application because the job start date is a month before my hand in date. Does anyone have any experience of this? Thanks.

Hi guys, thank you so much for you honest views and for taking the time to write such good advice. You have all pretty much confirmed what I suspected. As depressing as it is, the Hollywood analogy is terrifyingly accurate! Only a small percentage of academics go on to be very successful, usually the ones that are very career focused and driven. However, I think that having a family is more important to me than having a very successful (or even moderately successful) career. My biggest concerns are the financial difficulties, I am quite happy to be stuck in a moderate position but I am actually concerned that I will never get a permanent position, which would give me the security (and maternity pay) that I crave. I mean, do you even get maternity pay on a part-time, non-permanent contract? I think I had romantic notions that the PhD would open doors, and lead to to bigger things, however I fear it is more of an obstacle and I would have been better working in the industry, with a steady job. Unfortunately neither my husband nor I are in a stable financial position at the moment, so we couldn't even rely on his income to support us. However, as you all say there is never a right time to have children, and I don't know what's going to happen in the future, so they only thing I can do is wait until I finish my PhD and see what happens. Thank you all so very much for your advice and different experiences, it have been really helpful.
:-)

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Not sure what's happened to be but I've been getting very broody recently. I'm married, in my 30s, but also nearly in my 3rd year of my PhD and not as financially stable as most people with normal paying jobs ;-)

We've been thinking a lot about having children, I can wait until I finish my PhD next, but then what? I mean, I'm not guaranteed a job, and even if I did get one, do you even get maternity pay with a post-doc position? I'm not sure we could afford to live on the £100 a week the government pays.

Why, after so much study and hard work, are we not rewarded with the same types of benefits other graduates are? Why does it have to be so difficult for PhDs and for post-docs to have children?

Does anyone have any advice or experience with this. Thanks.

I'm having a real PhD low at my moment because of my primary research. I was so comfortable, perhaps a bit too comfortable, writing my literature review, and now, when it comes to my original work, I am failing miserably and I feel out of my depth.

I have to start approaching people to take part in interviews and focus groups, and I just don't know how to start. I mean, what do I write in letters etc? I know I know all of this, deep down, but I'm starting to panic. Do I just explain my project and what I want to find out, or do I need to go into more depth. My brain is emptying at the moment and I'm finding it difficult to do the smallest of things so any advice would be gratefully received.

How are the rest of you organising your primary research? I was hoping to finish by the start or mid Summer and then start analysing the results. Thanks in advance for your help.

After a relatively stress free and easy first year, where I felt I did nothing but read, I've found myself in my second year and with a large workload which includes teaching and other non-thesis activities. This has meant that I've not worked on my thesis for a while and I was wondering what sort of stage I should be at for an Arts and Humanities topic? What stage is/was everyone else at? What do you suggest I do now. I suppose defining my methodology is a good stage. Does anyone have any tips?

Craft

I was promised some teaching this year (I'm in my second year now) but nothing has materialized. Has this happened to anyone else? I often feel like my supervisors make grand promises to me to placate me, but then forget about the things they promise me. The thing is, these things give me motivation but when they don't materialize I feel demoralized. I've been desperate to do some teaching, not just for the money (although that would be much needed at the moment) but for the experience because I want to become a lecturer after this research is finished (touch wood).

Why do supervisors do this!?

There's a conference in NZ that I really want to go to, my supervisors and a few other colleagues are going, and they haven't mentioned it to me yet. It is an annual conference that is in a different place each year. This year it was in London in March and I went down myself to present a paper. My supervisors really encouraged me to go to the one in London and present a paper, even though they weren't going and I found it to be great experience. I would love to go to the one in NZ too but nobody has mentioned it to me this year and I don't know if it's because they don't want me to go to a conference so far away, it will cost quite a lot, or they think that I'm too busy with my research to think about going, or if they think it just won't be useful for me. I'm too shy to ask because I still don't know my supervisors and colleagues that well and I don't want them to think that I just want a free holiday! The deadline for submissions is the end of this month, so I take it they don't want me to apply because they haven't suggested it? Or do you think I should take it upon myself to apply? I'm quite new at this so don't really know what's best, or what the etiquette is!

Bonzo - Thank you so much! You have really made me feel so much better. I've started to have irrational fears, which are stopping me from progressing and I really need to just stop being so silly! I have an idea of how I can offer something original, so I'm going to take your advice and look at similar papers now. Thank you, again, so much.