Hi there,
I feel like I need some independent advice on my situation. I have been doing my PhD for a little over six months. It's in a subject I had an interest in at the start, however lately I've started to feel uninterested and directionless. This coupled with the fact that I don't seem to work well without structure has led to me spending little or no time on my work. I also now feel like there's no way I want to be an academic, and so I'm starting to question why I'm doing this.

On top of this I have recently applied for a job as a software developer, just because it seemed like a good opportunity. They liked my CV and sent me an aptitude test, which were some programming tasks. I've spent the last week working on these problems much harder than I've ever worked on my PhD. Just waiting to see if I get an interview now.

So basically now I'm in limbo. If I get the job, I'm dreading leaving my PhD, because I like my supervisor and other members of the group. But at the same time I really feel like its not right for me. If I don't get it, I don't know whether to just look for other jobs, or carry on or what!!

Any advice would be appreciated. Also, anyone know about the process of leaving ie: how much notice you have to give etc...

Thanks,

Ryan

Hi. Its so hard leaving a PhD, and I am considering my options now. However a PhD is not an easy path to tread and if you are struggling now, might be worth thinking long and hard how you're gonna feel in 2 years time if you stay..

Be great to hear how you get on....

Hi Ryan

Tough one. I think 6 months is really not time enough to decide if you are 'an academic'. In my experience (Just over 18 months through, having wriiten transfer report and transfer presentation and a father who is an academic) research is peaks and troughs. Days where you can't get out of bed and can't see the point at all, to days where you are in love with your subject, absolutely on a high from achieving results and wondering how on earth you could do anything else. I think until you have been through a 'cycle' you can't make a decision, getting started ie the first 12 months were tough for me and I think are for everyone while you find the best way to work for you.

Plus, as someone who is planning to go into industry in a similair area after my PhD (Financial modelling) I think you could find a better job with a PhD, more independence as you have proved you can handle it, more of a challenge. Oh yes, and more money.

you can also consider this: perhaps it is not the PhD in general that is not good for you, but certain aspects of it. you mentioned the unstructured days... and you can think about what makes that job so attractive. i have a suspicion that it might be the immediate feedback you got, in the application process; the feeling of having a clear, limited task with a foreseeable end...

if it is like that, you should consider if there are ways you can change/adapt your PhD life to make it more suitable for yourself, instead of giving up on it. i'm not saying you should not quit, just that there might be other options worth considering.

that is so consoling Rutherford. I totally agree. I was lost for the better part of my first year and now things are beginning to pick up. ryan0583 - am also not a person who works well without guidance and direction and I have struggled with that. i haven't quit yet because i believed that if i hang on long enough i would be able to find direction. and its working! am still learning how to work on my own with little guidance or direction - but that's what a PhD is about. learning how to do one. No one expects that you know how to do it when you start. so i'd agree with Rutherford that what you're going thro is pretty normal. Don't doom yourself with escapism by applying for jobs, it's time consuming, not doing anything for your emotional wellbeing and taking away the mental and emotional stability you need to handle the PhD by getting you stuck in a dilemma.

Have you tried speaking to an academic with a PhD about this? Your supervisor sounds approachable, why don't you let him know that you are struggling, then he can see how best to assist you. I did that with my new supervsor and although we have a rollercoaster relationship, when he's being constructive in his comments, he gives me a lot of direction in my work.

interesting shani - where did you learn that from?

Hang in Ryan. As the others have said, do try to explore your options about why it is not working for you and see if they can be fixed.

In my experience, it is much harder to go back to a PhD after a bit of work. I am increasingly meeting people around 40 who are now just starting their PhD's, have children and other commitments, and find it very difficult.

If you really want to do the PhD, sooner than later seems the best. But it is good to be honest and ask whether this is for you or not.

I agree that seeking out your supervisor on this is a good step. Also maybe seek out someone in your program who is just finishing or finished recentley and now working. They may give a perspective a little closer to your situation.

Thanks for the advice guys. I know I haven't been doing it long, and that by it's nature a PhD has peaks and troughs. I haven't really been looking for jobs actively either, I just found this one whilst casually browsing. I only applied because everything about it seems right (location, salary, area of work etc.), and I've NEVER found a job that ticks all the boxes!

Take the job.

People do pick up PhDs later, as universities are always grateful for the academic cannon fodder, but good experience, vital contacts and (gasp) a salary cannot be under appreciated. Take the job. Academia can wait.

I did half my PhD full-time, got fed-up, then went part-time and got a good job. Still finished in 3.5 years !

Have you considered this?

jojo - what do you mean?

if it's the thing about the clear task with a foreseeable end... well i don't know that, it's just how it happens to me, why i consistently get sidetracked. any little project seems more rewarding than the PhD which will never end (at least not for several years) and for which there is so little feedback. every now and then i need to hear someone say "well done", so i go get that somewhere else.

UFO, the new Superman. Super-UFO enrols for his/her PhD, gets a fulltime job as an investment banker, works 16 hours a day, comes back home, works all night, completes the part-time PhD in less than 2.5 months.

Maybe I should have considered this?

On a more serious note. Take the job. You haven't wasted too much time with your 6 monhts in and as Badhairc. has said, academia can wait. In fact, you can always come back, later, when you will have more time for this time-consuming hobby called PhD research or just for fun. Now is the time to make money. If you don't, you get older too quick and probably too detached from the real world to be able to go back ever. Seriously, PhD research is like travelling to Mars in a spaceship that has never been tested before. What happens is: you lose touch to friends/family/partner and you lose touch with the real world. Additionally you might die along the way as nobody has never been there before (i.e.quit/fail/give up). Once you successfully arrive as the first human being on that planet called Mars, two things have happened: you're probably much older, and all the people you've ever known have forgotten about you.

Summary: run while you can