Great start to the weekend. Enjoy your well-earned wine :-)

Didn't even notice - I noticed "headng" though ;-)

Yes, our society is changing dramatically (and horribly!). Gloomy times indeed. I'm feeling a lot of "oh what's the point" at the moment. I'm sorry it's hitting your actual research too. As if the hit academia and, well, society in general is taking isn't bad enough.

Hope you recover from your shell-shock soon (gift)

I've done this twice today - once by hitting the "reply" button- that's not even close to "post"! Crappy day indeed!

I hope you feel better soon 4matt. Technically it's Friday now - such a joyous day. Everybody should be happy on a Friday :-)

P.S. Milly, how's your "course" going? ;-) Sorry, couldn't resist (mince)

Wait and see if doors are open in three years' time? There's a door open now! Many people in this forum have complained that they did a PhD and found no doors open to them after all of that hard work. And your post suggests that you believe the job is more beneficial to your career prospects. Never have I more confidently advised someone that I know so little about: Take the job! If you want, you can do a PhD at a later time, but this job is the real opportunity here.

I wish I could think that I would be satisfied in any job outside academia. The chances of me landing the career I want are minuscule, but I have to try because it's ALL I want.

Congratulations on the offer, and good luck with whatever you decide (up)

I think it depends who you get. Most people I know have found the JC completely useless, but one friend actually got a fairly decent admin job at a college with no experience and average GCSEs - she's earned a degree paid by her employer and climbed the ladder a fair bit. But they're mostly useless - they just don't care enough.

It sucks to be in that position, Wally, after so much hard work for so long in academia, but it could be worse - they could have refused to pay you unless you immediately apply for every soul-destroying, poorly paid position within a 300 mile radius. Good luck with your search jobseeker (up)

Ah that's really crappy news, Sneaks. Hopefully, at least one of the people whose decision it is will be too principled to hire her just because of those reasons. Or maybe she's clearly not as credible a candidate as you, in which case they might not want to be seen to be so unfair. You never know, the people making the decision might not even really like her. They might genuinely want the person who will be best at the job for the sake of the department, so don't abandon all hope just yet.

Congratulations on a good performance! Even if you don't get it, it's good experience and hopefully a confidence boost.

My fingers are crossed for you :-)(up)

Well I have no advice I'm afraid, but a lot of sympathy for your position. I would have hated it as an undergraduate, and they're likely to blame you as the person setting the task. Honestly, I think the idea is horrible and has many downfalls. As an undergrad, we had to evaluate each other's presentations, to work on our ability to critique constructively, but that feedback wouldn't be shown to the presenters. Any feedback we gave that the presenters were told about had to be given face-to-face at the end of the presentation. Regardless of how we sugar this situation, their work is absolutely being sent round the class to be judged - it is possibly being mocked and harshly and unfairly criticised too. Many students dread what it is their lecturer is going to say about their work, never mind fellow students. And fellow students aren't necessarily bothered about damaging others' confidence or helping them to improve. Even those who are sensitive and considerate might not know how best to encourage a particular student.

Try not to let it knock your confidence. They're not dissenting because it's you that set the task. It's not because you failed to sell it to them well enough. As an undergrad, I strongly objected to being told to keep a learning log (not as a graded assignment, but because they seemed to "know" that it would help me and every other person doing that module). I really liked and respected these lecturers, but you know what I told them? "I don't learn that way, and it wouldn't be an effective use of my time"... Incidentally, I was right (and I never did do it). I would've objected to this task at the time too, regardless of which lecturer set it.

Do you think the task is a good idea? I can't make out from your post.

Try not to take it personally. I hope you feel better soon (gift)

Congratulations BevCha! :-)(up)

Is it really bad that I'd be tempted to take option 2?
I'd set up a rota- I'd discuss it with them first though, more like 'negotiate' a rota. If someone set out a timetable dictating when I had to do things without consulting me, I'd be irritated.
Option 1 would be out for me, if someone's gonna tell me to do something, I would consider that a manipulative way of doing it, which would irritate me.
Option 4 is definitely out.
So 3 is best, but if it didn't work, I'd be telling them that I won't live like this, and that something has to change (in a manner leaning towards option 2, but more subtle and friendly, of course).
:-)

Well done Emmaki (up)

Always good to hear about the high points too :-)

Good luck (up)

You're lucky! If I left my hair to dry, it would be a frizzball.

I don't put anything in my hair but I have to use the right conditioner and attack it with straighteners if I want to look human. If I was male with short hair, I imagine I'd have a whole cupboard full of products to tame it.

How lovely... and true! Sneaks, you have five PGF stars for God's sake! Surely there is no greater affirmation of your ability. Just remember your prestigious PGF rating and there is no need to be nervous at all ;-)

What really jumped out at me about your post was that you consider quitting to be grabbing life by the horns and taking some happiness back. You make it seem like the most constructive and assertive thing to do. I don't know- maybe for you it is.

You may have doubts about the course and the money, but I think the real motivation to quit is your isolation and that you don't like the impression the people there have of you. I understand how unhappy this can make a person. I left many jobs for just this reason. I was once shy and making friends was really difficult. Part of me wanted to be involved and to socialise but another part was so uncomfortable speaking to people. It was my discomfort that people noticed, but they would generally not attribute it to shyness, instead I unwittingly built an image of someone who didn't care enough to speak to people, arrogant, unfriendly. And this image was built pretty quickly, and once it's there, it's difficult to break. So, I was often in a similar situation to you (except I went home at night) - my work days were lonely and, worse than that, I hated the way others saw me - it was inconsistent with who I am.

You can still make friends and change their perceptions of you. These already established tight groups are often not that difficult to get into. This is the area where I think you need to grab life by the horns and take some happiness back - and I doubt it involves quitting. Looking for a club or a society is a good start, but I think you should make a real effort to make a friend or two on your course.

Good luck (up)

Ooh yes, I've heard this many times- can make a person seem more in control, confident, assertive, all kinds of wonderful things (it's probably related to some kind of sexist subconscious notion we've all been socialised to have). Didn't Maggie Thatcher purposely lower her voice considerably to become PM? Important not to go too far with this suggestion though - only slightly. And practice first! There is real potential to look (well, sound) like an idiot! Apparently breathing so that your stomach region expands (as opposed to higher in your chest) is helpful in lowering your voice and helps to reduce nerves.

P.S. It's just occurred to me that I'm not sure what you mean by "lower"! Obviously I mean pitch rather than volume.