Big congrats on your 1st submission!

UKPhDStudent is spot on as well as others. I have posted a thread on videos I found on the academic job market. Sure it mostly deals the US system but there are nuggets of wisdom in there, including what many have said which is that Search Committees are looking for a colleague above all else. A good fit, regardless of how brilliant you are. So don't be boring, which was a complaint that many employers had about candidates.

Biomaterials, don't fall into despair. It is tempting and all of us fall victim but you MUST believe that everything you have done up to this point has played out exactly the way it was supposed to for a reason. As an aspiring academic you have to be a problem solver and get creative with advancing your dreams and aspirations every single day.

You need to ask yourself what have you done (besides fill out applications) to move forward professionally this week? Have you revisited old mentors or contacts? Have you revisited old websites just in case there is a call for papers / articles? How about your old M.Sc. department? I have been giving the opening speech at my old M.Sc. department for incoming students the last 2 years running

Are you humoring your imagination and jotting down ideas as they come to you? Are you looking past your PhD? Whats next? What aspect of your field would you like to attack next? PhD was a phase, don't let your mind gather dust like your finished thesis.

I know it can be soul breaking in the Job market, but you must be unconventional and shrewd if you want to not only survive but thrive. You just have to hit life in the mouth one good time and it will make way for you.

No one is going to get you of of the rut. Only you unfortunately. You cannot sit, wait for opportunity, you literally have to get out there, and either tear it from your competitors hands or create your own out of thin air.

My MSc was in International Trade Law, however my PhD is in International Environmental Policy. As for getting into the UN or of any of its satellite organizations there are a few routes. There is a Young Professionals development program the UN runs that is designed for just that, the World Bank also runs a similar program. The European Union also runs one as well. There are some exam components in some of these programs (I know the EU has a series of competitions), however in most of them, once you are accepted you tend to stay in.

The route I took was to Intern with my old org, then work a string of consulting contracts until you make staff.

Most people do the Intern > Consulting > Consulting > etc however it can be VERY stressful as the contracts run from 3 months to a year (if you hit the lottery) and it is project based. Think of it as a series of very well paid, tax free, very short post-docs. As you can imagine, you cannot plan much of a life around a 3 month contract. Most importantly, be prepared to move to either Geneva, NYC or Washington DC as that is where the lions share of the UN's business is conducted.

There are tons of websites like unjobs.org etc to give you an idea, but MOST UN jobs (and there are a ton) are advertised via the UN's inTRAnet, which you have access to as an intern or by word of mouth.

P.S. There is a UN organization which mirrors most academic research fields, so it's an option for many of you.

To me, the most cruel caveat about being an aspiring research university professor is that if you step away from academia and go work in the industry (UN, NGO or Consultancy firm in my case) it seems like that's a big no-no and unless you stick it out, being a charity publishing machine until you get lucky, then forget about academia.

When I meet my supervisors in April I will pitch them 2 proposals, the one I got accepted on, and one that came from an article idea. I still ave to develop the second one properly to confirm its viability, however if it works out, it will be honestly my dream research topic and a fun 3 years (for the most part).

Wow, how is this even possible? At no point in time in the past 2 years not a single person told you they thought your research had potholes? For 2 years it was magical and now its trash? Something is missing here.

Did they give a reason for their 180 degree opinion on your research?

This post can only go one of 3 ways: Either you COMPLETELY ignored the few critics you had the past 2 years, if not your supervisors are clinically insane, or there is some crucial information you have not shared here.

CONTD

4.(This applies to other PhD posters on here as well) YOUR SUPERVISORS ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. I am literally prepared to successfully negotiate my PhD if they assigned me Adolf Hitler as my supervisor. Understand your interests and your position. You interest is to GRADUATE! Your position is that your colleagues should at least be cordial and pleasant. Guess what, your position does not matter!

5. Take responsibility. I read that your supervisors wanted you to come in at 9 AM and you said you are not a morning person, so you came in late. Well guess what??...you also got kicked out of school because you were not a morning person. Your interest was to graduate however your position was that you needed more sleep. Without struggle there is no progress. You clearly decided that you were not willing to wake up early to ensure your future. I don't care if you were taking care of a baby all night, I do it all the time at get up at 3AM to do my research.

6. I love you. I really do brother. Stop hurting yourself. Pick yourself up off the floor, and get back in the fight. We all get taken down in life, but if you give up you will die where you are. If you get up however, something will replace that pain one day. Just get up, leave that pain behind, and just start walking.

P.S. Money problems always go away when action is taken, hence why I didn't bother to mention it.

My 2c

Ok i'm not usually a very cuddly touch feely advice giver, however I tend to tell you what others have not or wont, and sometimes exactly what you need to hear. You have my permission to feel offended.

Full disclosure, I am also a father of a 1 year old married a very successful wife and about to start my PhD.

1. You got screwed, now get over it. Seriously. Take the time you want to feel sorry for yourself, think all the crazy thoughts and then get over it! Your wife and child needs you. Pick yourself up, decide if you want to go back at your PhD, teaching, research or another career. Make a plan and move on. This guy failed the legal bar exam 47 times. You may want to read his story:

http://archive.calbar.ca.gov/Archive.aspx?articleId=54802&categoryId=54503&month=2&year=2004

Heal your body, mind and spirit. I don't know if your are spiritual, but even listening to positive thinkers is a start. Go outside for a run and clear your head. Look for some light in the dark and follow it. But just like fat loss and quitting smoking you have to want it. A priest once told me, if you found you dug yourself into a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.

2. Stop using words like "my life if destroyed". Far as I can tell that is a huge lie because 1. you are alive and 2. you have internet access. So unless there is free WiFi in heaven, you are A LOT better off than many suffering souls today. Get a grip man.

3. Do not take this shit out on your wife and family. Its not her fault and not theirs. You did not mention it, but the kind of anger in your posts, I am afraid she may be a casualty of your ire. Be careful how that affects your marriage. Trust me, I know.

CONTD..

Well firstly about the salary (or lack of mention), for the academic field, that's usually discussed when an offer is made. If this is not an academic position, then there is no hard and fast rule.

I don't mean to sound cliche but as with any courtship the "make or break" variable is almost never found in the mount of minutiae, however all of us are guilty of indulging in this very human ritualistic introspection. Simply put if it's YOU that they want, short of stripping naked after the interview, they will make that offer.

P.S. If it so happens that they do not make an offer, make sure to have very precise questions as to why, why the other candidate, and how could your future applications/ interviews be strengthened.

With the only difference being that if you don't win a money lottery, you are exactly the same person. However if you lose the PhD lottery you wake up homeless LOL.

...I needed that...

Transitioned from owl to lark between my M.Sc. and PhD. For the simple reason that from 3AM to 6AM I am 100% guaranteed to get interrupted research done. So if I have a good day, great I get more done than the average person. If I have one of those "end of the world days", I can still sleep soundly knowing that I was productive for at least 3 hours before all hell broke loose.

Good advice. However, be sure to drop a "warm up" email asking if this kind of informal interaction is ok. LSE for example has a person who handles all the pre-application Q&A for the department I was interested in, not allowing direct contact with "potential supervisors". So while it is common, some Uni's will have some type of "selector" they call them, assign a supervisor to you post-application.

Congrats, I guess you were good enough ;)

Hey incognito, make sure to check out the video advice thread I just put up. There is some detailed interview tips for academic job seekers. I see these tips request come up so I just threw up all the best vids I have found to date.