It's quite a while since I posted here, but I thought I'd drop in again with a query for you all :)

I graduated with a PhD in Politics from the University of Liverpool in December 2011. My thesis focused on Irish Republican ideology. It had become abundantly clear well before graduation that getting into academia - particularly coming from a Politics background - was going to be very difficult indeed. For the past year or so I've done temporary administrative work and a little bit of freelance stuff on the side. But this has neither paid particularly well, nor been all that stimulating.

And now I've discovered that there are fully-funded PhD studentships on offer at a different university. Fees paid up front, £16,000 tax-free annual allowance. Throw in all the other discounts/exemptions you get as a student, that starts to look a very attractive prospect!

But would applying for a second PhD like this be a total waste of time? Would an institution be willing take on someone like me if my research proposal was good enough (I think it would be genuinely useful research, by the way - far more applicable to the 'real world' than my previous project).

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Ta muchly.

If your ultimate end goal is to achieve some kind of long term employment, then yes, this would be a waste of time. It would be unlikely to enhance your employability in academia (compared to, say, getting some papers/books published) and it would probably make you look unemployable to non-academic employers.

Sorry to be blunt, but I really can't see any merit in this route other than giving you something to do for three years.

No need to apologise for the bluntness. I want realistic replies.

The thing is, in terms of suiting my lifestyle (money-wise this will be fairly decent, I actually like conducting research, it would give me stability for at least the next three years, location wise it's perfect) this is perfect. I take on board your points about the impact of this in the future. I probably agree with you. But all I really want to know here is whether my proposal would be considered.

Honestly, given the scarcity of funding for Politics PhDs I think this is unlikely to work. It would I think be seen as a bit dodgy - you know denying someone funding who hasn't got a Politics PhD already to give it to you, would I think be quite hard for a selection panel to justify. If you really wanted to do another PhD, I'd suggest a change of subject - try a Business School. They're about the only ones with any money, there are far fewer applicants for research degrees or jobs than in Politics and actually if you look at them carefully, there are some people there doing stuff that many would see as applied Politics.
It's not clear from your OP whether you've actually been applying for academic jobs or just made the decision that you are not competitive for a Politics lectureship, which given how things are is understandable. If it's the latter, and you just like ersearch, have you thought about looking beyond the subject for RA work across the social sciences, broadly defined - if you did the ESRC-mandated methods training, there's quite a lot of transferable skills into another discipline. I have a friend happily ensconced on a five year grant in a Business School for example, know someone who went into rural development research and a third person who moved into public health. There's a growing number of scientists interested in working with trained social scientists on things like risk too. It just might be worth thinking beyond the subject categories on jobs.ac.uk...

Financially, I guess it would keep the wolves from the door for another 3 years. However, your selection for a funded position would probably be hampered by you already having a PhD in the same rough area. You are denying someone else a chance when funding is stretched. (If unfunded, you'd have no problems I guess, but that's not what you're asking.)

I know from this forum that other people have come back to a second PhD in a different area sometime after their first, so it's not impossible. But as much as I actually enjoyed my PhD, I would not want to put myself through the pressures and long hours for a second time.

You might only be able to obtain short-term or basic, menial work at the moment, but that's better than nothing. You should be looking to move on with your life. To echo what others have said, if you want to improve your employability then you should look at what journal publications you can strangle out of your current PhD.

The continual or professional student you are risking becoming is more common in Europe and especially Germany where it's not seen necessarily in quite as bad a light. However, overloading yourself with qualifications in most countries will ultimately damage your employability, especially if escape into the real world is your plan B.

Because of ill health years ago, I ended up doing a second Masters as I thought I'd failed my first. I ended up with both and explaining to a real world employer I was was not an intentional continual student was quite a task in itself.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

I'm one of the people here who's been a PhD student twice. First time full-time science. Second time part-time arts. But that was because I had to leave the first one, uncompleted, after falling long-term seriously ill with a progressive neurological disease.

When I reapplied for funding the second time I had to declare my past funding, and there was a high chance anything I was awarded funding-wise would be reduced because of the prior research council funding I had received. Therefore I have very grave doubts whether you would even be eligible for funding the second-time around.

I also think it's a very unwise thing to consider for future employment prospects. Within academia such a move would be viewed very negatively by future potential employers. Outside academia it would be yet another excuse for potential employers considering you to be over-qualified for their jobs.

Don't do it. Do something else, even for less money. Also make yourself more employable in academia by turning your thesis into academic papers. This can be done outside an institution: I'm managing it easily myself, even though due to the severely disabling MS-like illness paid employment is not an option.