That's amazing teegs!! Well done :D

I agree with you Hugh in that, it probably won't sink in until after a successful viva as the submission process is just stretched out so much. When I handed my draft in, students who are in their first and second year were all asking if I felt nervous for viva...well, no because I have no idea when it will be and also, I feel like finding work is more pressing at the moment- it won't feel real until I have that viva date set!

I felt like that with the most recent one 'you were very close', 'the other person was slightly more authoritative' and also 'you did nothing wrong in the interview'- most confusing of all haha.

I am finding the application process much faster today as I am able to recycle pieces of older applications thankfully! I will be making sure I take time to myself though amongst all of this, I just need to learn to relax. It is difficult when trying to stretch my savings though as I cannot do anything that requires money. Went for a nice walk yesterday though with a friend :)

I am glad that you are enjoying quiet time Hugh. I thought I would too but I have been really restless actually. I have made a list of about 7 positions to apply for over the next two weeks and I need to learn to get faster with applications as the previous ones took days and days. I have a meeting with a uni I am on zero hours contract with this week to see if they have anything I can do for now.

Did you manage to get good feedback in the end (on the job front?)

How is everyone doing?

I handed my full draft to my supervisor last week. This week, I am making searching for jobs my new full time job. I got a rejection last week from a job I really wanted (and the interview went amazingly) so I took a few days to recover from that and come to terms with starting the job application process again!

In terms of employment?

I am coming to the end of my PhD journey and have been submitting the odd job application over the past few months. I am about to start making applying for jobs my new full time job. Had a couple of interviews recently, both unsuccessful (was close with the last one apparently).

I was just curious really as to where you guys wound up post-PhD?

This question was posted 5 years ago guys so I doubt the OP has this dilemma anymore(!)

I really hope you hear back soon Hugh, have you been a polite nuisance? If not, it may be time to become one to get your feedback ;)

I did have my examiners sorted then my internal dropped out (will be unavailable from December onwards) so going to have a meeting soon to try and sort out another. External is still in place though thankfully!

Tips...I started emailing my sup with a couple of names quite a few months ago. I was pushing for an external that I cite a lot in my thesis and is an expert in my area. Initially they wanted to go for someone else- a superstar in my field. I did agree but felt uneasy about it (nerves mainly). They then changed their mind to my original first choice and went about contacting them. So, there was a few email discussions about it then it fell in to place quickly after we had come to an agreement :)

Thank you guys :)

I have some social events planned for the rest of the week and it will be nice to go to those and not have to cram in thesis editing in between! I think I may go to the cinema at the weekend ;)

Have you had any news on yours yet Hugh?

I finished the edits :o I have decided to print it at the uni tomorrow morning and go to the binding service to get it very cheaply bound (as my sup wants a hard copy that is secured together).

I already don't know what to do with myself haha

My sup is hopeful for a November submission, but I doubt that now unless she reads it at lightening speed and then factoring in the time for the proof reader.

I sometimes say 'see p. X' or 'see *chapter name* chapter'. You have just reminded me now though that I need to go back and check all of those are consistent now as I have cut about 7 pages from the thesis just through making minor amendments to sentence length etc. So, thank you! :)

I am applying edits to my conclusion chapter now then it is going to my university's printing service. I am really fed up of the sight of it now that I don't even want to check the references (making sure they are all there)- I just want it gone. After my sup has looked at the hard copy, I plan to send it to a proof reader anyway before submission so I am confident that any last minute errors in that sense will be picked up.

I am feeling quite weird about having it printed and handing it over to my sup because I will have no idea what to do with myself until I have it returned!

How is everyone going on this week?

You are welcome Hugh, I am glad it helped! I actually spent some time on my PhD for the first time in a while today (been putting all of my energy into preparing for job interviews recently). It was quite relaxing oddly because it was a break from prepping for job interviews and quite straight forward as I am just applying 'on paper' edits to my electronic copy of the final thesis so it does not require a lot of thought (e.g. re phrasing the odd sentence, deleting parts, shortening sentence length etc.). I will be spending the majority of the weekend on it though- I just want the job interview out of the way.

I didn't get the job I went for the other week by the way- I knew I wouldn't as I was a nervous wreck in the interview. Fingers crossed for this one :)

What I found helped with the final read (if this is helpful) was to split the hard copy by chapter or 2 chapters so I can see how much I had to read on each day which was motivating :)

Thank you for your good luck wishes Hugh, I am currently prepping using mind maps!

Teegs and Hugh- I am having a proof reader check mine before final submission. I have proof read the entire thing once on paper and added notes on the hard copy and I am in the process of updating the electronic copy to hand over to my supervisor. When she returns with comments/feedback I will apply that and then hand over to a proof reader because I really can't face reading it again! A friend of mine skipped reading it themselves and just went to a proof reader right away as she felt sick of the sight of her thesis- she passed with no corrections.

Hugh- yes, I have spoken to some non-academic friends about my experience at this interview too and they all responded with similar comments- the interviewer seemed rude and that they made me so nervous immediately as some of the panel just seemed hostile. In addition to the watch glancing, one member of the panel interrupted me halfway through an answer and the manager jumped in to overrule them and allow me to finish! The same one who interrupted me sighed really loudly when I answered a question from another panel member too. Pleasantries were skipped - I went to shake their hands at the beginning and end and they seemed reluctant to do so. So, really, I am not surprised I felt so nervous. I was just happy to be out of there.

The next one I am interviewing for is a job I really want. I also do not have the pressure to find work immediately, so maybe I should focus on that to calm me. I am going to make notes in accordance with the person spec and formulate a few points to have in mind for the generic questions e.g. strengths and weaknesses. I will just revise points rather than full sentences as I think that approach just makes me feel more pressured and stressed.

Hi Hugh,

Thank you so much for the detailed advice and pointers. I had a job interview today but it was for a teaching post. I prepared so much, but I am not sure how it went. I was a bit incoherent with my answers (the chair kept looking at his watch when I was answering!!) So I doubt ill get that one. I have always been told that it is fine to say ' may I have a moment to think about that question?' but they seemed to rush me. Do you have any pointers for ensuring that you do not ramble e.g. a way of buying time to collect your thoughts? Nerves really got the better of me and I did rehearse so many possible answers and examples but I got so flustered and rambly :( I have a research interview next week and I really really want to land that one! I feel I may do better with that one and I will probably spend more time actually revising from the specification as you suggest. For the teaching one, I revised loads of online example questions and I think that confused my train of thought a bit (a lot)

My sup says that she will 'skim it' so I doubt that she will be reading it cover to cover but she has, like yours, seen each chapter once. Though, when she saw those chapters, they were in the first draft stage and some have changed completely. If they think it is fine, I am not sure what else you can do apart from submit now- or do you mean they aren't getting back to you about your final draft and you are thinking about submitting instead of waiting for their comments?