Please take a break, maybe even a couple of months and then try looking for a job. After you got a job, you can try to look for a PhD again so you can choose a good one without desperation. You are tired, stressed and confused at the moment. No one can make a good rational decision in your state. Stop. Take a break. Then try again.

Hi, Fifthyear,

Ah the joy of the final year.... not... I do remember without fondness how I felt then. The stress of toiling away while no one truly understands you does get to you sometimes. And you envy what others have in their life that you don't.

Don't worry. As TreeofLife says, you will find it changes for you once you finish your PhD.

Hi, YorkFuller,

1.5 months is too early to judge if you should or shouldn't continue your PhD. Give yourself another 2 months to try it out. Aside from sports club, you can join postgrad clubs. Try to sort out your personal life too. If after a total of 3 months you still have not settled or if you feel strongly that PhD is not for you, then you may go at that stage knowing that you have tried.

Hi, doradorawis,

I agree with the advices given here. You do need to get counselling and talk to your advisor about your issues. The counselling should help sort out your emotional and mental state while the open discussion with your supervisor may buy you some time and even additional help to sort out your PhD and get you back on track.You have been through a lot of hardship. Please seek help to get through these difficult times.

Hi, Zena85,

I agree with Tudor_Queen. Change supervisors asap. This one does not appear to be the right one for you.

Hi, monkia,

Let's see. You said:

- "my feedback about him is not relatively good"
- "he always replies late or forgets unless I sent a reminder"
- "he does not read my emails properly, do mistakes in my name"
- "concerned that he might be a not good supervisor"
- "although I have asked for Skype to clarify certain points, he did not reply"

My advice - Forget him. Your gut feeling is that he is not a good supervisor. Trust your gut and don't make a decision out of desperation.

On the recommendation letter, is it possible to get a general letter from the Prof that is not addressed to any one supervisor/uni? That way you can just send that letter to whomever you want to apply PhD with.

It sounds to me like you prefer well-defined tasks with shorter focus time. That is why you excelled in your BSc and MSc and enjoy your tutoring, research assistant jobs.

To self fund and continue down a PhD which you have no interest in is torture. Would you consider applying for a full time position before leaving PhD? You have only invested a short time (1 year plus) so this is an option.

monkia,

I agree with kmcmahon. Go get help immediately. Your life is more important than a PhD or research study. Everything else can wait until you sort out your health.

If it is the industry you are after, does the internal job help you progress towards that goal? If yes, perhaps take the job over the PhD.

Considering that you are not wanting to get into academia, having a PhD is not necessary for your career. Some companies sponsor PhD for their employees too as part of prof dev, but only after a few years of work so you don't have to completely rule it out.

Hi, JohnGalt,

You have outlined two terrible supervisors. The primary one is an inexperienced supervisor who clearly doesn't give guidance and is powerless in front of the secondary supervisor. The secondary one has toxic personality and again doesn't give you any guidance.

How are you funded? Are you on scholarship? If you are, would you consider changing to a different supervisor? If you are self-funded, you have an even stronger reason to change since you are not getting any guidance despite paying. Characters don't really change, so if things are already so bad in the first few weeks, imagine how bad it would be like in a few years. Don't wait for situation to change. Take action if you can.

Hi, Tudor_Queen,

Are you referring to faded07's post https://www.postgraduateforum.com/thread-48150/ ?

Hi, Cookyy2k

All your worries here are just speculation of what could be. Don't downplay your work or contributions.

Lack of publication - It is understood that where there is patent application or industrial collaboration/NDA, there could potentially be delay in publications. Explain this when asked.

Lack of results - Explain that there was time spent assisting with the industry's research group. And that there was experimental issues while testing a particular deadline project.

Niche area of novelty - All PhD are on a specific narrow topic. Elaborate how your use of the equipment generated data that have never been analysed in the manner you did and the impact.

Prepare the best you can and all the best. Don't give up before your viva.