You described that your supervisor's manner has changed, which leads me to wonder if something is going on in his own life. After all, bosses and supervisors are human, and sometimes even the best of them allow stress from home to carry over into the workplace. For all you know, the stress could be coming from the workplace, because even tenured professors are under duress lately due to massive budget cuts at most universities. Maybe you need to cut him some slack, and just do what he asks.

Of course, there's a difference between swallowing your pride a bit, and allowing someone to treat you like a doormat...But choose your battles wisely. Maybe you could make a dartboard with his photo on it just to relieve some tension when you get home.

Regarding your concern about help with proofreading, it's always a good idea to have an unofficial supervisor with whom you can talk about your work, and who is willing to give feedback. (Don't depend on one person for help if you don't have to.)

I'm usually good at ranting, but this is so wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to begin!

Thanks for posting the article.

In the U.S., we're seeing a new trend in paid internships - that is, secondary and tertiary school graduates PAY to work as interns. They're so desperate for entry level experience that they PAY to work for free. Some of these positions at major companies and organizations are quite expensive, which renders internship opportunities out-of-reach for young people from lower economic backgrounds regardless of the person's transcripts or talents. Is the strategy to start them young so that by the time they're postdocs they'll be fully acclimated to exploitation?

(down)

Congratulations on your call back! (And congrats on your first thread! :-) )

Have they provided any details about the 2nd interview such as...Will it be one-to-one, or with a panel?...Will you make a presentation, or just talk about yourself? It would be helpful to find out the format ahead of time.

In my experience, with academic posts, you have to give a presentation about your academic work to faculty members and students, and do several private interviews with faculty members. For research posts, it's more like a traditional job interview where you answer questions about your experience.

Asking in advance about how they want you to prepare always makes a good impression.

I would venture to say that the best education for an entrepreneur is experience, and evidence of success at running a small business. I know several people, including family members, who are successfully running their own businesses without MBAs. Unlike academia, the bank doesn't care what degree you have when deciding on business loans. They're more impressed by a profit margin, and a good plan. It's better to focus on developing a quality product or service using an MFA, Education degree, culinary degree, etc., because at the end of the day, if the product or service isn't quality, great marketing tactics and an MBA diploma hanging on the wall isn't going to help you.

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Are the course requirements for the MS program and PhD program the same? If not, you will have to take (and pay for?) more courses. This may be why your uni discourages students from switching tracks: the course credits aren't transferable. As Lindalou suggested, check with the registrar.

That's a good question, Asofil. I'm inclined to agree that one of the reasons is they believe the candidate won't stay long in the position, resigning as soon as something better comes along. There's also a question of office dynamics if the candidate will be working under someone with a lower degree, or if the candidate will be supervising people much older than himself or herself. Perhaps they may even hold a stereotype of PhDs as generally snooty.

I've gotten the "Won't you be bored?" question many times in the past. It's important to muster up genuine enthusiasm, and to think of every job as a potential new experience even if it's not the job of your dreams. Fortunately, my current job is a good match for my degree and interests, but there's nothing wrong with taking a less-than-ideal job in order to get by in the interim.

Hi Marasp, I'm a 'minor revision' person, but at the moment, it feels like a mountainous R&R. I let a lot of things slide at work in order to finish the manuscript and prepare for the viva, so now I'm preoccupied with trying to catch up with job-related commitments. I want to commit to working on revisions at least 4 hours every evening for now, but I need to finish before October. I really need to pick up the pace!

How are you organizing your work? I created a chart, and ranked tasks in order of importance.

I hope you'll be able to keep working at a steady, productive pace, and keep the stress at bay. Yes, we will get there in the end!

======= Date Modified 16 Jun 2012 23:56:42 =======

But in four or five years you will still be 35 - 36 regardless of whether or not you pursue the doctorate. Age shouldn't be a consideration.:-)

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I have to confess that I've "dumbed down" my CV in the past, in order to get entry level and seasonal jobs while in undergraduate and graduate school, removing my Masters degree or even my BA. My rationale, at the time, was that I was tailoring the CV to reflect my skills and experiences relevant to the job, and nothing more. I just figured the employer wasn't interested in superfluous information. I didn't consider that lying, but I can understand why some people might see it that way.

Congratulations on starting your program. Nti!

You might notice that some of the posts pertain to managing personal challenges alongside completing the PhD, and not the PhD experience itself. It does require a lot of time and attention, so issues that come up (e.g. serious illness, death in the family, divorce, etc.) feel even more challenging. In retrospect, I enjoyed the academic rigor, and had a very supportive supervisor. The difficult situations that came up in my personal life during this period prevented me from finishing as quickly as I had initially planned, and that caused me to lose a lot of confidence. However, I wouldn't change anything. I feel I've grown tremendously from the struggle, and feel empowered by the fact that I overcame so much adversity. It was a great opportunity to grow both intellectually, and emotionally.

Just want to wish you congratulations and good luck, Donzy! You'll do just fine on the viva! It sounds like you've really earned it.

Your question is interesting, but don't you think attempting a PhD is a bit nutty to begin with? (( :

======= Date Modified 04 Jun 2012 03:28:01 =======
Welcome, BME! I think both you and your spouse will find a lot of helpful information, and support on this forum.

Where are you in your program, and how long were you out in the real world before returning to grad school (the surreal world)?

How much have you finished, and what do you have left to do?

As you may have noticed, there are also a lot of positive people on this forum, so I hope you'll come back whenever you need to escape from all the negative energy! ( :