If you don't get into academia, what do you want to do?
I'm trying to build up a CV which will get me into heritage/museums, but after reading Chrisrolinski's post I'm wondering if that is going to be as difficult as trying to get into academia! I'm doing volunteer work so I can get experience and also gain access to free training courses. I'm hoping that something will come up in my specialist area. I can probably get a museum job in visitor services as I have done that before but then the money is pretty bad but once you are in somewhere there are usually more opportunities. I've actually given up on the idea of earning a good wage, but if I can pay the bills and have a job where I am stimulated and happy, then that is all I require. Is that asking too much though?!
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After having a big stress about whether or not I wanted to leave my PhD, I decided I'm going to try and stick it out. I thought that if I left I would do a psychology conversion and try to get on the DClinPsy in future years but it definitely sounds like I would have had a tough time judging by the posts on here. I think if I finish my PhD and decide I don't want the uncertainty of post-doc jobs around the country/world I might still try to pursue the clinical psychology route afterwards as I find it really interesting, and my PhD has some relevant components. I also have a bit of experience in mental health care as well as research.
Failing that, I think by the time I finish I will want to start a family so I might just accept any half decent job that comes my way in a place where I can live with my fiance! Things I've considered include mental health nursing, counseling and psychotherapy - I love brains! ;-)
I'm trying to build up a CV which will get me into heritage/museums, but after reading Chrisrolinski's post I'm wondering if that is going to be as difficult as trying to get into academia! I'm doing volunteer work so I can get experience and also gain access to free training courses. I'm hoping that something will come up in my specialist area. I can probably get a museum job in visitor services as I have done that before but then the money is pretty bad but once you are in somewhere there are usually more opportunities. I've actually given up on the idea of earning a good wage, but if I can pay the bills and have a job where I am stimulated and happy, then that is all I require. Is that asking too much though?!
Good luck Pam. I have a temp casual job in visitors services in a musuem and have done it before as a full time job. I also have volunteer experience and need to get more over the next few months.... hope something that I am eligible for will turn up!
I've thought about this quite a lot, even though I am only starting my PhD this year. A large part of my PhD will look at psychoanalytic theory, specifically Lacanian psychoanalysis, I also hope to use a method of narrative analysis that is based on psychoanalytic concepts which I will need extra training for. If I don't manage to get an academic job after my PhD, I will most probably train as a psychoanalyst, it is something that I am considering for the future anyway, the main reason that I haven't already done that is because I don't feel emotionally ready for it.
I'm sick of feeling never good enough, never officially qualified and the idea of fighting in the rat race of academia just makes me feel tired, I want to know I'm eligible for a job and that they won't take it away from me every two years.
Teek, I soooo agree and feel the same. I'd love to stay in academia, but think it's too hard, there's no jobs etc. And I can't take poorly paid research jobs as I have financial commitments and am older, so need more financial security. I'll look around for a research job, but am not hopeful...
So - will be back to the civil service for me and I'll work in a subject area related to my research. The work will drive me nuts at times, the sheer mediocrity of the civil service gets to me, but the pay is better than academia for me, and I quite like the idea again of a contained job, where I don't have to work week-ends.
