Can't believe i forgot to post on this thread as I've been whistfully eyeing it up for years!

Submitted January, passed viva April, submitted corrections last week, corrections accepted by internal this week.

Just got to get hardbound copy sorted for library and then graduation ceremony middle of July....and then submitting 3 publications to journals in July....

...but at this point, for the first time in a decade, I do not have a thesis to think about (piggy-backed MSc, MPhil, PhD) so to not have that sense of guilt when i'm sat not doing anything is what's most strange! Going to take some getting used to!

bit late posting on this thread but....WELL DONE!!! so happy for you! you really deserved a positive outcomes from the R&R!!

i've been a bit AWOL from the forum due to new job and trying not to think about my own viva (which is next week)...i feel a bit sick every time i think about it. but your good news has bolstered my optimism Pineapple!

YAY!!!! that's amazing news, and so much more the level of job you should be doing with all your experience!

i have a few post-doc interviews recently so might be able to provide a few pointers. just found out about an hour and a half ago that im starting a new job in the new year! so it is possible!

ive had to do some presentations in interviews recently and i have found that they like them to definitely to be within the time limit, and i also like to put as little text as possible on the slides. if you can communicate an idea with a picture or diagram rather than text, then all the better. also, and this is something that saved my bacon in my successful interview last week, make sure to take printed hard copies of your slides as well as an electronic version! i got into my interview last week to find no PC or projector set up, so my print outs saved the day!

i guess as well at this level they want to see some really critical thought, so dont be afraid to pick the paper apart both in terms of methodology and data analyses. and also maybe add some info about how you would improve the study if you were conducting it yourself. might also be good idea to mention one or two things that were done well in the study/paper, just for a bit of balance.

but the most important thing is to be yourself. its a cliche but true. many times when employers offer a job to one candidate over another, it's due to personality. try and relax, smile and make eye contact with each member of the panel, and show them how great you are!

i'll be keeping everything crossed for you Pineapple! do let us know how you got on. but remember, each interview you do you get stronger and better at them. i have applied for 10 post-doc positions recently, had 4 interviews re, and today bagged myself one in the private sector. so keep the faith as you will get there!

Snelison 8-)

very much agree with all of these! though one thing springs to mind for me, especially considering the situation im in at the moment. am weeks from submission, with last bits of feedback trickling in very slowly from my supervisor. am also waiting to start a post-doc that i was interviewed for, but the start date for that has recently been put back to the autumn.

so the one thing i have learned is that things will happen when they happen. you might push for tasks to be finished by a certain date, you might get impatient and curse the fact that in academia, everything seems to take 10 times longer than it does in the 'real' world, from getting back supervisor comments on your writing or conference expenses. but the moment you stop fighting it, and accept the fact that things will just trundle along at their own pace, the more serene it is possible to feel!

at least that's what i'm trying to tell myself at the moment!
;-)

morning Button! i too am on Lit Review duty today. have some feedback to wade through and some parts to amend. really lacking motivation today though. so knackered at the moment. hope your Lit Reviewing goes well! (up)

Ha ha! That's brilliant, we are basically all Oscar Wilde! That's actually a really good coping mechanism, if we convince ourselves we're Oscar and flounce about being all witty and decadent it may help the mental torture...

...i shall watch my Oscar DVD (amazing film with Stephen Fry in it) when I get home tonight.

Remember my darlings, "we are all sitting in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" (might have got that quote a bit wrong, bit you get my drift!)

:-)

Hello again people! it is comforting to see i'm not the only one freaking out a bit at this point in time. hope everyone is clinging onto their sanity!

i'm getting so bored of cutting and pasting bits of writing and changing chapter structures. you get to the point where you wonder if the changes you're making actually improve anything or whether its just a waste of time! just put two Lit Review chapters together after my supervisor advised me to, but now i have one huge Lit Review chapter and another teeny Lit Review chapter. don't know whether to just bung the teeny chapter in with the huge one and just have one really huge Lit Review chapter cos it feels weird having one massive one and one teeny one...

*sob* this really is the hardest bit isnt it? going slowly mental (sprout).... ;-)

Yep! I was totally thinking the same t'other day Pineapple29! I now have my complete thesis which is weighing in at just under 80,000 words, and I don't remember writing it! Well, I do obviously, but it hasn't felt lime a massive effort at all. It feels like one minute I didn't have a thesis, and the next its suddenly there! Contents, appendix the lot!

I think actually the editing is more stressful than the initial writing....

SO...who fancies writing an actual book next?! ;-)

ha ha! i am liking your work Sneaks!

thanks for the tips...luckily i have been doing some interdisciplinary work over the past few years so should be able to nail that one. as for the publications....i do have a few but none as yet for my PhD work (apart from a Cochrane review but im only 3rd author on that). best try and get a couple of articles out soon! :-)

Hi Guys, thanks so much for replying!

Your story about getting the job when angry is very funny Sneaks! I'm kind of imagining you turned green like the Incredible Hulk and the panel were scared into giving you the job! it is a good point though. looking back on previous interviews for things, i have always been unsuccessful when i have not been at my most confident, but then managed to do well when i have come across as being confident and relaxed in the interview.

in answer to your questions Dalmation, it is going to be a panel, with one of the academics from my frist interview, and then 2 of the centre directors who i havent yet met. the info i was provided with was that it would be just a talk type interview rather then a presentation or anything. i guess the first wave interview was to see who had the relevant experience etc and looked like they were qualified to do the job. i get the feeling now that the 2nd interview is a chance for the directors to decide which if the most well qualified etc candidates they think they could get on with and work well with.

flamin' 'eck! applying for jobs is pretty stressful. i think alot of it comes down to whether panels 'like' you as a person as well as all the other stuff. and that you can't predict!! ;-):-)

Hello everyone! :-)

I don't think I have ever started a thread on here so i'm bit nervous about whether i'll get any replies or not!

I had an interview for a post doc research post a couple of weeks ago and found out recently I have been invited back for a 2nd interview. Obviously super chuffed! But I am now rather nervous as I have never before had to attend a 2nd interview, and am rather stumped as to what to expect.

A Google search comes up with the usual advice, but nothing really 'academic post specific'.

So....I was wondering if any of you guys have ever attended a 2nd interview for an academic/research post, and if so, whether you could offer any words of wisdom.

Any advice would be very much appreciated! And good luck to all fellow post-doc hunters out there on the forum! (up)

We could also use this thread as a general post doc hunters group, so if anyone has had any recent application/interview experiences, it would be great to hear them!

Snelison :-)

yep! i'm feeling seriously porky at the moment! it doesn't help that thesis writing is stressful and comfort eating is way too tempting!

i've resolved to do the following when i have submitted;
1. finally get my wonky teeth sorted out and invest in an invisible brace (big treat as they are rather expensive)
2. start exercising again
3. stop eating cakes/biscuits/chocolate/crisps/anything nice!

oh god! it almost feels when you get to this point that you are just killing time waiting for your life to start again! :-)

1250 words done already....i'm on FIRE!!!

i heartily recommend Look Around You to all on the forum! it so funny, i recently bought series 1 and 2 on DVD. luckily there are a fair few of the sketches on YouTube for free viewing...enjoy! :-)

Good luck to all with aims today. small tip, when writing or analysing data it helps to listen to classical music. it helps you concentrate, something to do with how it affects the brains signalling or something. there is an evidence-base, i promise!

flamin' eck', you're a DYNAMO Espresso!!

i just about managed my goal for yesterday, but boy, it was tough!

today....get at least half of may Discussion Chapter written. about 2500 words....

Eye of the Tiger!!! GRRRR!!! :-)