Overview of Mackem_Beefy
Recent Posts
Ph.D. - Footwear by year :-)
Saw this and thought of this forum.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FRszcxsXEAIsZ6j?format=jpg&name=900x900
Ian
I think for a few younger people, you need to look up "The secret diaries of a call girl" to understand year 5 with the high heels.
I'm a long time since passed (it's been wayover a year since I dropped by this forum), however, I came across the above and thought it would raise a few smiles. 😀
Ian
Ph.D. - Footwear by year :-)
Saw this and thought of this forum.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FRszcxsXEAIsZ6j?format=jpg&name=900x900
Ian
Ridiculously Overqualified?
I've not posted here in ages having long since moved on.
However, I popped back to share the following with you.
Would you consider this gentleman massively overqualified?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEtnBSCWYAIfhdZ?format=jpg&name=small
His students apparently don't even consider him a decent lecturer, but he takes every opportunity to keep mentioning his qualifications during lectures.
Ian
Brexit and PhD studentships
Is there one for the post-doc game?
Wouldn't that be drink every time your supervisor changes the project or you get rejected for a grant?
There is one for the Ph.D. itself.
http://www.geocities.ws/high_temp_wear/phdgame.jpg
Ian
Brexit and PhD studentships
I think this mock game sums up how the UK got here quite eloquently.
http://www.geocities.ws/high_temp_wear/Brexit_Game.png
Ian
The PhD Game (revised)
The website has changed to:
http://www.geocities.ws/high_temp_wear/phdgame.pdf
The original website was taken down by my ISP.
Ian
What is a Ph.D. / The Ph.D. Game :-)
Hi Mackem,
I have just read bits of your blog and I think it is quite informative. I think it would have helped me if I read something like that before my PhD.
I actually played that PhD board game! In one of the bigger labs someone brought in and I think 6 or 7 PhD students started playing it. It was quite causual but we are all progressing at roughly the same speed. I think there was 4 of us on 39+ and we were getting quite competitive, joking who would finish their PhD first. Until one guy overthrew the dice and it ended up stuck under a fume hood. Of course we tried to recover the dice but it was to no avail. So in the end we didn't finish the game or our PhDs. I just thought I should share that random story.
That aptly describes how we all feel with about a year to go. I think the Ph.D. Game was originally designed, just like a Ph.D., to be extremely difficult to finish. There was an earlier version and the extra squares added, especially later, seem to be to cover the full set of frustrations towards a Ph.D.'s end. Everything seems to push to towards square 33 and a proper job and you being virtually unemployable in the real world should you gain a Ph.D.
I think square 39 might have been comedy based on an urban legend as a few years later, I did hear an unsubstantiated story along the same lines.
This location should be safe from deletion if ISPs change.
https://ia601507.us.archive.org/35/items/phdgame/phdgame.pdf
Ian
Inferiority complex from friends and family
Yeah I get this. I was the first in my family to get GCSE's, and education isn't really valued in my family. I stood out and not in a good way, if I said anything relating to my BSc I was told to stop showing off. Even when I posted my graduation photo's an aunt chastised me and told me I should do my Uni work for me, not for anyone else so why did I have to rub everyone's face in it like I was better. I stopped talking about anything to do with my studies, then another family member did a degree and I was constantly told it was more of an achievement than me getting a funded PhD because I'm a 'smart a*se' so it's easy, and that as a single parent who's gay I obviously get everything handed to me because I tick a box.
I had a lot of counselling to deal with my toxic family, and I learnt that it was all down to their own insecurity; me doing well wasn't something to celebrate or be proud of for them, but a personal insult. I now do not see many of my family except for large events, and sometimes they ask how my work is going ('so you're not even a Doctor yet? Was it really worth it?') and I just reply 'It's going really well, but we both know you're not interested in it and that's fine'.
On the flip side, dealing with people who dismiss everything I say came in really useful during the PhD process!
May I ask if the other family member did their degree as a mature student or part-time while working? Did you?
I will concede that doing a degree part-time is much harder work when the student has other commitments. But holding it against you or saying you get it handed to you on a plate because you "tick a box" is a horrible thing to say.
Likewise, I was first in the family to go to University with concerns only being raised (as I explained) when I left a job to take up a PhD.
Ian
Inferiority complex from friends and family
My parents were as proud as anything over me getting my PhD. One problem I did have was my mother was unhappy about me giving up my job and career (she saw me as settled into a job she thought was a safe bet for the future) to take up a PhD. I explained to her that the idea was always in the back on my mind since finishing masters after a gap of five years and basically having a rest. As my job was under threat anyway and the company I was working for folded some months later anyway, it made the move easier to understand for her.
It may be that parents especially see you as doing your degree then finding a job so you can settle down. Having someone in the family that has decided to remain a "student" beyond degree and masters might be seen as not reaching the point you are settling down. Also, you comment that PhDs are not common in your country, so they may be unsure what a PhD is. You might try to ask them what their concerns are about what you are doing.
It sometimes needs to be made clear a PhD is not a normal degree but a highly intensive research programme leading potentially to new findings and knowledge not already in the public domain. It's one of the reasons many moons ago I did my blog and that might help you explain what you are doing to them (http://www.geocities.ws/high_temp_wear).
Ian
What is a Ph.D. / The Ph.D. Game :-)
Quickly, I notice some old links I threw up years ago don't work anymore to my Ph.D. blog and also the Ph.D. game. Basically, my ISP scrapped the web-space on which it was stored. I know one or two found the blog especially useful at the time I posted it up, explaining what a Ph.D. is either to potential candidates or to relatives. The questions listed are pitched at a basic level I have encountered over the years.
My blog is now at:
http://www.geocities.ws/high_temp_wear/
The Ph.D. Game, meant at the time as a mickey take of the Ph.D. experience, can now be found as a PDF at:
http://www.geocities.ws/high_temp_wear/phdgame.pdf
or as a jpg file at:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgxCcMUXgAA19P2?format=jpg&name=small
The latter is an upgrade of one originally found on the University of Cambridge website. Beware square 39, which shouldn't be taken too seriously. :-)
If the Geocities link is blocked, I'm possibly looking at converting the website to a PDF for uploading to an accessible cloud space at some point in the future.
The second link to the Ph.D. Game (jpg) should be accessible.
Ian
PhD haunted by Third class degree
I agree with Tudor_Queen and pm133, two masters and a PhD will supersede any degree. If you don't want to talk about the third you don't have to put it on your CV. Just leave the grade of your CV and let them assume. It is similar to how no-one asks about secondary school grades after a stage, your undergrad degree doesn't matter as much after a PhD. So I would just avoid telling employers about the third.
Also, I don't think you can change your degree result without resitting the entire degree. You could possibly get a reference from your supervisor saying that they thought the results was unfair and attach it to your CV as a supporting document.
I would say check with the University registrars as it might be possible to resit the last year's exams as an external candidate depending upon University rules, although you may be limited to a top result of 50%. It might be enough to make the degree a 2(ii).
That said, there's probably a time limit in which this can be done and given the opening poster has done double masters and PhD since, that time limit has probably expired. I think the limit might be two years, with it not really being feasible beyond that especially with rapidly changing technology subjects.
I would agree with this but funnily enough I had an interview for a small company many years ago. My CV had my degree and my Highers results from school. I also had quite a few years of experience. [b]The owner of the company interviewed me and said "Erm I noticed your GCSE results are not on your CV".[/b] I laughed out loud and then realised he was serious about wanting to know what they were. No other company ever asked about anything to do with my degree or my schooling. It was all about what experience I had.
Employers can be weird sometimes during interviews. One of them tossed a Yellow Pages at me, turned sideways and opened up and starting reading a magazine in the middle of asking me a question once.
So glad I don't have to tolerate this sort of thing anymore. I should write a book....... :-D
This can be explained simply due to many employers looking for basic evidence of Level 2 literacy and numeracy, translated, you have the equivalent of a GCSE English and Maths pass during the initial screening. Although fairly rare, it's something I'm seeing increasingly in job adverts.
That said, if you've a degree, masters or PhD it should be self-evident you have the required level of literacy or numeracy. I don't personally list school-level qualifications on my CV now though I can produce evidence of these if asked, which to date I haven't.
Ian
PhD haunted by Third class degree
I note replies by others that third class should be history given you've since gone on to two masters and a PhD. I wish I could say that is an end to the third class story. I'm sorry to hear about you mental health issues and had you reported that at the time, that could have been taken into consideration. But as you say, there are different attitudes to mental health issues in different countries.
I ended up with a 2(ii) followed by two masters then PhD. During the first of those masters, I also suffered health issues (exhaustion plus a damaged ankle) that I reported late in the day. I was surprised I got that first masters as I'd written it off and started the second when it came through. It's wrong that your penalised in any way, shape or form because you have had health issues of any description.
What I have identified is perhaps during screening, my 2(ii) was enough to stop my application going further as generically that was enough for an HR administrator to bin an application before it reached a hiring manager. It wasn't 2(i) and above, so end of story. This issue is a hard one to get past.
Where, however, you do get past this very basic screening and you are queried on your third class degree, you might allude to health issues rather than talk about depression per se. You might have had a period of ill health at around the time of your finals and not really elaborate. If you are pressed further, just say the level of work you put in for your degree had left you heavily fatigued and needing to seek medical help. You could say once past this, your dedication to hard work once you recovered was born out by your later achievements, your masters and PhD.
Translated, it's possible to turn this round into a selling point and it's just finding the right words to do that.
Ian
PostgraduateForum - new site feedback
With me finished long ago, I only pop by once in a blue moon.
My feedback includes:
1) No options to insert emojis / emoticons as you have on other forums. That said, you only need basic emojis / emoticons (happy, sad, etc.) and not the huge sets that other forums have.
2) A image insert / display option would be nice for basic examples of problems or information sharing. Again, keep this basic and full on media sharing is probably not necessary given the nature of the forum.
3) Font, bold, italic and underline options would be nice to have too.
Cheers,
Ian
PhD viva passed - some advice to return.
I remember you posting ages back and welcome to the post-PhD world (the main reason I rarely look by here now - so long ago).
Congratulations!!!
Ian
After the complaint, what should I do if the university doesn’t take an action?
I am minded that your supervisors are likely to be your main employment references for whatever emplyment you apply for post-graduation. Complaining has to be a last resort and I speak as someone who had a Prof who was a poor supervisor / line manager when I opted to do a post-doc at a University away from my PhD University.
So unless the actions of your supervisors have prevented you from graduating or are hindering your life as it stands, then I would leave be and move on to be honest. You have your award so why pursue this any further?
The only reason I can think of continuing to pursue your complaint is if your supervisors' behaviour is having an ongoing impact on other students. If whatever happened is a one-off, leave be and just live your life.
Universities tend to close ranks against complainants, who end up getting no-where. People who say things disappear or become uncertain of what they witnessed. I saw this happen to other people, which is why I decided it wise just to walk away when my post-doc contract ended.
Ian
