Overview of pm133 on PostgraduateForum.com

Overview of pm133

Signup date: 08 Jan 2016 at 12:02am

Last login: 30 Mar 2021 at 8:40pm

Post count: 1246

Recent Posts

Should I apply to multiple universities? - Would I use the same proposal?

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From TreeofLife:
You need to discuss this with your supervisor before doing anything. They will tell you whether they are ok with your submitting this proposal elsewhere.

Normally I would strongly advise anyone against following this sort of advice when approaching more than one employer for a job because quite frankly it is none of their business who else you are applying to. In this case however it can clearly cause some problems and an open chat probably is the only way forwards.

Supervisors and feedback

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

I send updates from time to time to my supervisor but it's out of courtesy to keep him up to date. I don't expect a resonse and I don't get one. If I have a specific issue I request a face to face meeting which both of us prefer but that is pretty rare. Things have changed in the last few weeks now that I've had feedback on my thesis draft and we've met more often as he remembers things that I should add or change. The whole PhD has been largely hands off supervision though and that's how I personally prefer it. Just need to dig myself out of the pile of crap I have landed myself in with some changes I put in this week and then I can relax a bit.......
I would definitely expect more supervision at your stage of your PhD though and it sounds like you are getting it.

3 months into my PhD and I'm already thinking about quitting. Am I screwed?

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From batangkilljoy:
Finally approved - any thoughts?

It sounds to me like you are in the middle of a full blown panic attack. The most important thing you need to do is calm down enough to allow you to think clearly otherwise you are going to continue to make bad decisions and make your situation worse.
Once you have calmed down you need to start researching careers which would interest you. Finding a job that you want to get out of bed for each day is a full time job in itself so be prepared for a slog. Getting a job, ANY job is easy. Getting the right job can take a huge amount of effort.
It might also help you to get some perspective. You have a good degree by the sounds of it and a girlfriend. Take a step back and cut out the negative self pity ("Who would employ me anyway?") because it's utterly destructive and a waste of time and energy. Give in to these feelings and they will genuinely ruin your life.

Problems with supervisor

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From Selkie:
Hi everyone,

I'm interested in how other people might handle this situation. I would change supervisors if I could identify a good replacement and project, but at the moment that seems unlikely.
My supervisor told me recently that the reason the director of a field site won't answer my emails is because he is 'suspicious' of me, and not prepared to lift a finger to help me until I submit him a research plan in writing. She seemed to think this was fair on his part. Why haven't I submitted a plan in writing yet? Basically two reasons: my original project plan, approved by my funding body, stated the first year of my project would focus on data analysis. Field work was going to come after that, and although we were talking about some ideas there was no indication from her that the original time frame should change or I should be contacting this guy at a certain point. Then, she was actively discouraging me from going to this field site, highlighting problems etc and trying to get me to go to another one. It's clear, both from things that happened before and her latest comments, that she has encouraged him to be 'suspicious'. There is slightly more to it, but those are key.
This aside, quite a few times she has jumped to conclusions about me and what I've done that consist of her interpreting me in the worst possible way. They are too long to describe here. I pointed out a couple to her where she was clearly wrong. I tried to explain the field site situation from my perspective once but she wouldn't listen.
Despite what i've said, our relationship isn't all bad. Should I hang on in the hope things will get better? Should I change? My current thought is some kind of middle ground where we discuss all this stuff with grad school support, but I'm not sure that won't backfire.

Does anyone have any similar experiences of resolving such issues?
Thanks
Selkie

Is there a reason why you won't either complete the research plan or listen to your supervisor and go to the other site.
Nothing in what you have posted makes it "clear" that your supervisor has encouraged anyone to be "suspicious" of you.
It sounds to me that you are being overly defensive. Your comment "I pointed out a couple to her where she was clearly wrong" is a red flag for me of a potential attitude problem on your part.

Either way I am not sure about involving grad school support. It feels like you are not giving out the full story here. Certainly not enough of a story to warrant advising getting grad support involved. That would almost certainly not end well for you and it should be a last resort.

Anyone using outside help with presenting tables professionally in thesis?

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

This might not be helpful to you but I wrote my entire thesis in Latex. Tables were not a problem, maths in particular is done brilliantly and I got a consistent look and feel through the thesis. I would never use Word now and would always recommend Latex.

University reputation , supervisor reputation or funding?

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Thanks a lot your answer was invaluable. Should I ask potential supervisors on whether I will be given an opportunity to publish reports or is it something that I do by myself? If so, how do I get such opportunities? Apologies on my naive question, I am a newbie

I recommend asking as many questions as possible. Particularly if this is important to you. It is easy and understandable to be wary of "rocking the boat" at the interview stage but this can cause serious problems down the line.

For example, I wanted to know that I would be writing my own papers, able to work flexible hours and be largely left to get on with things without being asked for progress meetings every week. These were and remain red line issues for me so it was vital that my supervisor was happy on those fronts. For example, had I found out that the supervisor wrote my reports I would have terminated the PhD and started again elsewhere.

Master of Arts – A waste of time? Please help.

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From CeceOR:
Hello,
I’m junior marketing professional with a couple of years under my belt in financial services. My goal is to work in a top creative agency or as a marketing director in a gallery or museum. I have decided against a MSc in Marketing /Management due to the high cost and belief that my heart should be in it if I choose to spend that much money, time and energy studying.
A bit of background on me –
I went to college on a government grant (help from family not an option) and graduated in 2013 with a BA Honours degree in Public Relations from a small college, which was a close as I could get at the time to my ideal education– an English / History / Arts based BA Hons from a university. I found it very difficult to find a job after graduation (like most people) and can only now afford to support myself and postgrad study.
Question: Is there any point in doing an MA in Literature or Art History at this stage? Or is it just a waste of time?
I’m usually a practical person but I can’t really see the woods for the trees on this one. I’m not sure if I’m chasing something here that I wish I could have had or if a MA will genuinely help me become a better writer, give me an advantage over another applicant who just has a BA or give me an edge in creative industries (as so many of them have this background).
Appreciate any advice you can give.

The only advice is to read job adverts for the type of career you want.
If they stipulate a Masters then go ahead and do it.

12 days until final submission and feel like I am walking through treacle

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From Codycody:
Well I am sorry to hear that others are/have been in the same boat but at the same time, it is very comforting. I just need to get a grip of myself and do it. I think pretty much all of the above reasons apply to me.

timefortea - yes printing times are factored in - as I am in Malaysia and my university is in England, I just send the PDF to the copy shop a couple of days before submission and they will deliver it. A bit worried that the PDF might be too big for email but that's a worry for later.....

Good luck to those of you in a similar situation and well done to those who have done it!

If the PDF is too big for email (as is mine) then get a free Dropbox account and put it up there. You can then send a link to the document by email and your supervisor can read it either directly online or can download it.
I had to do this and now I use Dropbox to store regular backups of my thesis.

As for slowing down? I have had quite a few periods of that but fortunately I am now finishing the last 17 comments from my supervisor and am flying. Hoping to keep it together and be ready to submit next week. Oddly I have feeling pretty gutted that it's almost all over. I certainly didn't feel like that for substantial periods of time though. 2nd year was very tough.

advice needed: scholarship and other PhD

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From mako:
Thank you TreeofLife and newlease36!! But if I apply to another PhD and I get the position more interesting/paid/whatever, what should I say to this professor? I'm worried about his reaction on losing his time and waste of energy... I don't know if he knows that a student search for a lot of opportunities in order to get a PhD.. I need a book of good manners for PhD applicants!!

Personally I wouldn't tell him at all as I can see no advantage to you in doing so.
If you tell him, you risk him pulling the plug on your favoured application and handing it to someone else.
In theory he should not have a problem with you looking elsewhere but unfortunately the real world is full of people who simply will not be reasonable. You need to ask yourself whether you wish to risk this PhD position by telling him before you know you definitely have funding elsewhere. It is none of his business where you look in the meantime.
Consider what you would do if this was a permanent job. Would you consider voluntarily telling each company who interviewed you that you were considering other jobs before they asked?

Post-Phd... No post! Advice appreciated

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

I would agree with this. It is also true of industry. The key is not just networking although that is important. In my experience the most important thing you can do is to be known as someone who strives to achieve excellence in everything they do and someone who is seen to be wiling to step in and successfully do all the vital but crappy jobs nobody else wants to do. A "go to" person. You want to be the person who "wows" others. The important thing to remember is that most people simply dont aim for this and so dont stand out amongst their peers. If excellence is something you have a reputation for then you may well find your phone ringing without you having to do anything.

How to get into academia without a PhD?

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From newlease36:

Nothing the original poster said bothered me in the slightest and nor should it. Nothing she did or said will have any impact on me or anyone else on here.

Some of the responses to her were pretty crass and immature.[/quote]

1) I don't think its your place to tell someone how they 'should' react. Your not a moral authority on people's reaction or opinions.

2) it didn't anger me... I thought the thread was amusing.

2) while I found it funny, it did, I will admit, irk me somewhat, not for the reasons you cite, but for professional reasons. Sort of like if someone wanted to be a doctor without the hassle of going to medical school. or how irked I am by people with fake internet PhDs or who simply lie about having having a Phd...

that being said, I do regret my former post, mainly because it was a bit mean. I was hoping since it was started 2 years ago, the poster would not be on the forum. i suppose, in hindsight, ridiculing someone on the net isn't entirely fair...you never know what there going through when they read the post. if I could delete my original post I would

also all that being said, I know of people, with Msc's who managed to get in through part time teaching or admin work and then progressed to a do PhD while still doing admin work/ teaching. So they were in paid employment while doing their PhD's so it was less of financial burden, but also a lot more work.

and it was a lot to do with knowing the right people and being in the right place at the right time.[/quote]

That is the second time on this thread that you have deliberately misrepresented what somebody has posted. Firstly the original poster and now me. Nice work.

How to get into academia without a PhD?

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From newlease36:
well this thread amused me. Here's me coming to the end of my PhD, feeling like my c.v doesn't look good enough to get me a teaching assistant post and feeling quite glum about it.

I hope the poster doesn't read my response because I'm not trying to belittle her. But in fairness, coming on a postgraduate forum and saying I think I'm better than you mugs slaving away at PhD, I'm actually probably a superstar really, even though I have nothing that would prove this by the way of work experience or actual qualifications, but i do have a MSc a pair of rose tinted glasses and no concept of how obnoxious , irritating and dumb I'm being. Oh and I also have answer for everything. So i would like to science please.

That being said I know some people with professional qualifications (nurses/doctors) who started out teaching clinical skills and then progressed by teaching and doing a phd at the same time to tenured posts. They all did do PhDs though.

anyway this thread amused me. I am interested in keeping it going. Kind of makes me feel like maybe I have a chance in academia (if I ever finish the write up!!!). needed that today, as I was mulling over my not so stellar cv.

The poster didn't give that impression to me at all. I don't recall the word superstar being used, directly, indirectly or implied in reference to herself. Nor did I see any claim to be "better" than PhD students.

In my opinion this poster touched a nerve because so many of us are scared witless about our own careers and it would be nice if people were honest about this fact that the angry responses were nothing to do with the original poster and everything to do with the responders state of mind.

Nothing the original poster said bothered me in the slightest and nor should it. Nothing she did or said will have any impact on me or anyone else on here.

Some of the responses to her were pretty crass and immature.

How to get into academia without a PhD?

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From Eds:
A year on, and I wonder how the glittering academic career *sans PhD* is going :D

That poster came on here in good faith and IMO handled themselves reasonably and has been left in no doubt about how difficult it will be to pursue an academic career without a PhD.
I'm not exactly sure there is much to be gained by being smug and I'm not exactly sure why this has angered you so much.

Getting to grips with conferences/papers/call for papers!

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From jennypenny:

Quote From pm133:
To be honest I am a bit confused about what you are talking about here. I may be misreading but you appear to be confusing "paper" with "journal" sometimes and I don't know what you mean by "venue" either.

Can you clarify? Do you have a paper which you want to submit somewhere?

pm133 - okay, so I probably am confused. I get a lot of calls for papers from both journals and conferences. Journals are a little easier to think about as I know a lot of the ones that are relevant to my field. But for conferences, I'm less clear.

I don't have a paper to submit at the moment. But we are encouraged to apply to conferences and journals throughout our PhD and I'm trying to work out how to figure out how to find the correct places... Does that make more sense?

Yeah that makes sense now thanks.
I would personally ignore all of these requests and focus on my research.
Only once I have something complete would I be interested in presenting it.
I know others disagree with that approach but I like to keep my focus during my PhD.
Perhaps if I postdoc I will soften my attitude on that.

Looking for advice on changing field: another masters, or begin job search?

pm133 1246 posts
7 years ago

Quote From Helena99911:
Hey everyone! I am currently at the end on my masters, and have been recently faced with the revelation that I do not like my field. This occured during a research internship at a company whete I suffered a close burnout due to stress. Since my bachelors, I have followed a heavily quantitative path, in something equivalent to mathematical economics and statistics, and have continued in my masters of quantitative finance. I am a fairly good student (have a 2:1 degree in UK equivalent), but I do not enjoy what I do. I have been looking into going into a completely different field, where I can motivate and help people (I have been looking to HR management and public administration and well as psychology). It is a bit hard as I am trying to narrow down the fields that will suit me and I would enjoy and get some sense of fulfillment. However,I have also been questioning If taking another masters is a good route, as it would also be possible for me to apply for employment in the fields i am interested in. The main concern for me is that with such a technical background it would be a bit odd if I apply for such jobs and would not be considered suitable. Any thoughts or advice?

You would need to target your CV at the specific jobs taking into account the requirements they list in the advert. You would need to show how you have experience or skills in these areas. If you do that it doesn't matter what your degree is in.
Most people, I think, end up doing jobs totally unrelated to their degree and most jobs seem to want a general graduate rather than having people from specific disciplines.