I graduated my PhD 18 months ago in a social science, -passed first time with no corrections. I was fully funded through out. I got a book contract almost immediately. I published five journal articles in good journals, and did three internships during the PhD its self. In addition to the three I did before my PhD). I started applying for postdocs after and have been rejected from all of them ( I lost court after the 50th application ).I applied for around 200 ( Again n I have lost count) of non academic posts. I have put my CV s and cover letters through all the right resources ( uni careers service, people who work in the sectors I am applying to)who all say my applications look good.

I was forced on to the dole because I was broke

I have (finally) found some temp seasonal pub work. But it will stop at NYE. I guess I just want to vent, but it seems that I have done everything right , and have gained nothing. I think Im actually worse off now than if I had just left uni with my BA

I have had a few interviews but have been told I lack experience. I cant afford to do anymore internships.

Is anyone else in this position , I’m really losing all energy and willingness to do anything much, its getting harder to get up out of bed in the mornings(not a good sign )

Is anyone else in such a position, I just want to know I’m not alone here. And that there may be some light at the end of this long and dark tunnel . Also any advice as I am out of ideas of what I can do with my life.

Sorry to hear about your situation, it sounds deeply frustrating.

Out of interest, what kind of non-academic jobs have you applied for? Do you tailor your applications/CVs for those or use the same one each time? With the non academic jobs, are you applying directly to employers or is it via generic job sites where applications are often first handled by recruitment consultants?

Considering how well you did on your PhD plus having a book contract, that is quite puzzling. Maybe the assistance of a senior colleague in assessing your CV and applications would be helpful.

I am only going to comment on the non academic jobs, it is very market dependant. In 2009 I was looking for a new role and I kept every application, I was getting an agent reply rate of 10% and an interview rate of 10% of the agent replies.

Yes.. 1% interview rate. But I had experienced the same thing in 1999 (Y2K era) agents were getting 350 applicants per role, reading the first 50 and deleting the rest. So I knew it was a numbers game.

2014 I changed roles, applied for 7 jobs got 5 interviews, got turned down for 1 - accepted 1 and turned down further discussions with the other 3. I know it can be soul destroying but here are my observations:
1. It's not personal.
2. Read and reread your CV - get it reviewed and tailor it slightly to each role.
3. Agents are awful.
4. A lot is luck because of no.3
5. Treat getting a job as a job - it's 8 hours a day of graft.

Good luck.. keep going.. a lot can change quickly and you'll wonder why you ever doubted yourself.

HazyJane
NGOs, civil service, intergovernmental orgs, - generally third sector or government. Im dyslexic so am supposedly meant to go through on 'two ticks' scheme - still no luck

I do a lot of tailoring, and read through the CVs/cover letters obsessively and put applications though colleagues, people in similar jobs, even people in the same institutions!

generally i apply direct when i see posts advertised on the organisations websites, or through the usual job boards (indeed, monster etc) that link you to the organisations directly

I am baffled as to why i am doing so badly and getting worried that the longer i am unemployed for the less employable i will become. I 'happy' to give up on academia, as i feel massively let down by the system.


AOE26
I hope you are right and it is just a question of applying and applying until eventually something happens -

You guys thing the 18 month gap ( part from pub work) is not going to effect applications too much? I worry that there will come a 'point of no return' where I'm just considered to far from having a ole to be considered for a new one .

This is just a suggestion and maybe something you are already doing but might a skills-based cv rather than a traditional one be worth a try? It might also blur the date issue a bit, but I was mainly thinking that possibly the titles of your PhD/publications/internships don't adequately convey the skills you have? I'm also a social scientist and a couple of my former colleagues who had real trouble with the job market, had done theory-based PhDs with titles that really didn't convey anything to someone not working in that theoretical tradition, and this is finally what seemed to help for them. Sorry if it is something you're already doing.
Also it's tricky to manage if you are on benefits, but have you any expertise in a particular country / policy sector etc that might lend itself to short term consultancy? Some sorts of short report / evaluation type of work is often farmed out to available experts - might it be worth sending speculative applications to NGOs and the like asking them to keep your cv on file in case any short term opportunities turn up? It's not ideal but it can help get a foot in the door and some relevant experience.

As an employer if I see a gap on a cv I will want to know why. As long as you were actively seeking a job and keeping your skills relevant then that is ok. Make sure you address it as I know HR can be ruthless about gaps.
So make sure you include "during my search for a new position I used it as an opportunity to be active in xyz, increased my skills in blah blah blah". I am in IT and I love seeing that people have technology as an interest outside of work.