Nice to hear :) May this attitude take you far in life.

Sounds like a crappy place to be :( I can't really offer any advice but your situation sounds kind of similar to mine..

A few months ago I tried to quit my phd; it was going nowhere and I accepted that if I stayed to finish it I would become more and more depressed and unhealthy, all for the sake of a phd I didn't desperately want. My supervisor, too, became emotional and unreasonable and in the end I stayed (it was funded, though, otherwise I'd have been out the door like a shot!)

Unsurprisingly, 5 months later I've got nowhere with the phd and I've allowed it to eat me up. It seems that this time around I will be allowed to leave, since it has become apparent that I'm not magically coming up with a thesis I never thought I'd be capable of writing. I haven't decided whether or not I'll continue with it; having allowed it to sink me so low I now think it shouldn't get any worse and I feel like I at least want something out of it, but I have no idea how to write a thesis on a topic I have such a minimal understanding of. My supervisor's made it clear that I've had more than enough help and a very positive experience from the outset, and that if I haven't written a thesis then it is as a result of my own stubborn refusal to do so.

You say you aren't sure if you can finish; is it a lack of desire, ability or both? If you have the desire, can you overcome the other problems? If you lack the desire, then what's keeping you there and is it worthwhile? I'm sure you've thought about those things a lot already, but I guess in the end they'll be the deciding factors.

I also have a supervisor who is very busy and generally rubbish when it comes to the whole 'supervising' thing. I'd encourage you not to be too disheartened by a supervisor like that, there's no reason why you can't finish a phd with such a useless supervisor (I've seen enough people do it, though I have no idea how). At the same time, if this is one of the main obstacles in the way of completing your phd then it may be one there is no way around (unless you could change supervisors).

Anyway, best of luck. As I've been telling myself since last September: whatever happens, at least in 'x' months it will all have finished (one way or another) and by then it will be nothing to worry about for the rest of your life! Maybe this is BS to you but the important things in life are family, friends, any passions or interests you've managed to keep throughout the phd... these are the things that will make life worth living and stave off the depression that things like phds will cause you.

Hi Buzzy, thanks for your reply and sorry to hear the phd isn't going so well either. I think I find the recruitment websites more baffling than frustrating: lists and lists of things you're not qualified to do without experience, apart from sales & marketing, accounts and recruitment. Really?? Is that all graduates do these days?

When you used a CV writer before, how much did they do with your CV? Did it help you to get interviews?

Best of luck with your search (and/or phd!)

Hi all, I've been an intermittent lurker (mainly during times of phd misery) and now I've decided to post (it's a miserable post. Sorry).

I'm in my 3rd year of a funded science phd, which I haven't got on well with. I don't want to aim for jobs in the field, and I'm certainly not cut out for academia. I won't finish within my funding period (it's unheard of in the group and almost unheard of in the dept., not sure if it's like this everywhere..?). Therefore, there isn't much point hanging on until the bitter end so that I can leave uni broke, jobless and with a qualification in something I don't want to use (albeit with the right to change the details on my bank account to 'doctor').

I'm now looking for jobs, but don't know where to start (or where to look for help). I considered the Fire and Rescue service, but recruitment times are few and far between (none scheduled for the foreseeable future). Mainly, I don't want to run from the phd straight into another job I'll hate, as I'd be no better off. I'm just not sure how to find something I'd like to do. I'd rather be active than sitting in an office, rather work outdoors than in the lab. I'm not chasing money and I don't care if it's a 'graduate' job or not, but I do need enough money to live on (obviously!) so I'm wary of eating away my savings whilst training in something else (that I may or may not be able to find a job in).

So.. anyone got any advice? On where to look or who to talk to? I've tried all the main jobs websites (the ones full of 'graduate recruitment consultant' vacancies - even if I knew what that was I don't think I'd want to do it!), and I've never found uni careers services to be much help in the past (if you can use google then you're as clued-up as they are, sometimes). The problem is that I just don't know how to think through what it is I want to do (!). How much 'risk' is it 'safe' to take? (eg. applying for grad schemes that string the application/assessments out over a year - would I be mad to do that instead of sitting around my phd office getting nowhere but getting paid?)

A final question - does anyone have any experience of professional CV writers? I know most people see them as a waste of money but I've never managed to get any work or interviews based on my own CVs, and now I'm in the messy position of having half a phd to justify.

Thankyou to all who manage to read this far! I know I sound like a moron. I'm rather confused right now.