I'm here and ma brain dead too;-)
Goodluck!
bzzzt

Very happy for you Treefrog. I think you made the right decision!
Goodluck with the post-doc interview, and with the high street job!

"Whatever" by Splender. Have my supervisor on my mind while I'm at it ;-)
Not really a motivational song, more like a vent one :-)

I carefully crafted my CV to send to a very very good prospect. I not only e-mailed the HR, I e-mailed the hiring manager as well. After much ado about it and finally sending it off, I found out that I had 2 CVs attached, and they are NOT the same!!!!!!!!!!

My email attachment view showed only one! Fcuk!!!!

Hello KB,

It's definitely not pathetic to miss your uni counsellor, I think it's a normal reacton especially that you had been seeing her for a long time. IMO, the phd is a high-pressure job, not to mention that the nature of academia is all about exposing one's self to criticism, constructive or otherwise. I think the others are right, it is probably stress and the fact that we all try to keep it together despite the pressure and our vulnerability.

Hang in there :-)

A catsuit :p

Kidding aside....usually business casual to formal, depends on the conference. Don't they have a recommendation on the site?

You might meet people/professors who are are the lookout for post-doc recruits, so play it safe.

Goodluck!

Hello,

I get that you're not trying to be arrogant. I really get what you are trying to say. I appreciate your post because I think it's written with raw honesty in terms of revealing what you think/feel.

I have no sound advice as I'm not an expert in terms of psych stuff and workplace dynamics. What I can tell you though, for all my 2 cents's worth, is that I think you're starting or have started to get disillusioned with academia. We have an understanding/impression/conception that the ivory tower is a haven of intellectually superior, mature people. As a consequence, we have high expectations of it. The "truth" is, no matter how A-level you get, people are people. People get rubbed off the wrong way, hold grudges, hold on to their egos, driven to project an image of success, and most of all, find it hard to accept that we make mistakes once in a while. The last one is especially hard to accept when "phd" follows your surname or "professor" precedes name.

It's a sad realization, but it looks like being able to get through or succeed in academia does not only require intelligence, but the capacity to navigate your way through its politics and daily entrapments-- pretty much like everywhere else. Not all of the published and well-accomplished academics have Einstein IQs, they just work their a**es off and stick to it. I think you may be having a bit of a culture shock. Some of us stand outside the walls of the ivory tower, thinking it must be so great to get in there, very impressed with people with all kinds of titles and what not. But once we get there, we realize that it's not as grandiose as we have imagined, and can even be petty as it gets. "Isolated" is a typical description of being an academic. Not all academics are necessarily isolated, but there's a good chance that people work alone on their research.

In my opinion, if you'd really like to be a professor, then expose all the flaws in your colleagues' arguments in a paper and publish it. Wish you the courage to get through.

Congratulations! Well done!

Hello everyone,

Just sending a little something to lift your mood up. It's not a funny read because what the guy goes through is not funny at all. However, the way he says it (a la break up letter) is kinda quirky.

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php?topic=66956.0

Sending luck to go with that link. I'll soon be in the same situation as you are, just a few months more and I need to get into job search.

Just sending sympathies, really, to guys on job search, especially to you Treefrog and Claudia.
Go get that ice cream and river walk!

:p;-)

Is it over yet!?

PhD student: Professor X, do you agree with the argument in my draft that A implies B, and therefore leads to C. I especially need help on this point. When do I get the feedback on the draft I sent you?

Professor X: You should be able to work independently.

[After 3 weeks]

Professor X: Are you making progress on your dissertation?

PhD student: I'm stuck on this A, B, C argument. The lit says little about it.

Professor X: Why don't you ask me? You should just ask me, you know.

Hello Keenbean,

Congratulations for getting the interview!

I think if it were me, I'd wait until I have a solid offer, and take it from there.

After all, academia is not uber-quick, and some decisions can take months. This can buy you time to decide where you really wanna work.

Lots of luck!!!!

Hello Hiccup,

Yes you can do that. You can hire your own research assistant, with a programming background, and pay her/him using funds from your grant. That is totally acceptable at least in my field. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be in yours. Unless of course, if the objective of the PhD is to demonstrate your programming skills.