======= Date Modified 04 46 2010 15:46:37 =======
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Ok,

18 months to go in my phd and I can't shake the "what am I going to do when I submit" feeling. I know it's early but I remember as a UG student being told to start thinking about jobs halfway through second year, so I'm applying the same principle.

I love my research and it's great fun, I work the same hours now as I would if I were a postdoc (50+ per week) so the step up in work load shouldn't be an issue, what does bother me is the niggling feeling that academics in engineering are somewhat undervalued compared to their private sector counterparts. I'm not after a mega bucks salary (but if you dropped it in my lap I wouldn't say no ,-)  ) but it would be nice to have a job that was more permanent than the first few years of an academic career are.

I've been hunting around on the internet (not exactly a great time to look for perspective jobs I do realise) and it seems quite difficult to find jobs targeted it PhD level graduates. I am guessing I am over qualified for graduate schemes but companies seem unwilling to discuss this or don't reply.

If anyone has gone through this (particularly in electrical/electronic engineering) and has some advice or just willing to share experiences that would be great. Although I am an engineer it would be great to hear from anyone who has been though similar thoughts and even made the move into academia or out of it

Cheers and happy new year

Simon

Difficult to find a lecture job in Uk?

Hi Lin,

It seems a little hit and miss really, certainly you have 2-3 temporary contracts as a post doc before much chance of a lectureship. I guess the reading I have done is more focussed on the negative as people are more inclined to write negative stuff as a way to get it off their chests. That's one of the reasons I'm posting, trying to weed out some positive stories that would otherwise have gone unheard, from both industrial movers and academic stayers

Cheers

Simon

Just a thought - I'm guessing you are a professionally accredited engineer? Might it be worth trying the professional body for advice - they might have a better idea than the university careers service. Or have you looked at vitae.ac.uk ?

Hi Bewildered,

No professional accreditation yet, need 5-7 years experience to get chartership but I am a member of the IET and hadn't thought of searching their site or contacting them. Thanks for the suggestion.

I had come across vitae but hadn't looked at it for too long, it is on my list to spend time looking at though

Thanks again

Simon