Hi all,

I need your help with my upcoming job interview. Last week, I had an interview with the department search committee for a university lectureship. In the interview, I was asked about my doctoral research, my future research plans, my teaching experience, and my contributions to the department. The committee members said that there will be a second interview if I am shortlisted again.

Luckily I got an invitation to the second interview. But I have no idea about what the second interview is used for. There was only one interview for the previous positions that I applied for before. I don't know how to prepare for my upcoming second interview. What will the committee members look for in the second interview? How should I prepare well for the interview? Do you guys have any similar experience before? Could you share it with me? Thanks a lot for your time and help.

Hi Tru,
I am not an experienced researcher. I am just a recent graduate (last year). Not many companies hire researchers in my field of applied linguistics. I used to be an English teacher too. I don’t have many choices for me - either working as an English teacher or a researcher. Since I want to develop my career in academia, I would choose the latter job as my career. But I am so unlucky that I am now working in a very rude environment. This has made me unable to sleep well. I really want to quit now.

Hi Zeryan and Chinnu,

I have a very similar situation to yours. I am now a senior research assistant. The employer that I am working for is very rude showing no respect for me and other colleagues. I know I get paid for my job so one part of my job also includes putting up with his rude behaviors. But the fact is that I don’t really enjoy my job now. The intimidating and rude work environment has made me unable to sleep well.

In your case, I think the best thing for you to do is to complete your phd thesis as soon as possible if you are in your final year. However if you are in the first or second year, you could request a replacement for the rude supervisor.

In my own case, i am looking for other research jobs now. I would resign immediately if I could manage to get a new job.

Hi rewt,

Thanks so much for your reply. I haven't talked to other colleagues yet. But I will try to talk to them to find out if they had any experiences similar to mine. Since no notice or wage is required in the first month of probation, I can actually leave at any time. But before making my final decision, I will try to stay there for one or two more weeks (before the first month of my probation ends) and see if there will be any improvements. If nothing positive happens, I will resign. Of course, I need $$$ but working in an uncomfortable working environment will affect my work efficiency and health. I can only look for other RA or non-RA jobs, full-time or part-time, to support my life.

BTW, which field are you in? What do you do now? I am in the language education field.

i am now working as a RA in a university. I just started my job last Monday but the director i am working with is so rude to me and shows no respect. i feel very uncomfortable working with me. I have such symptoms as being unable to sleep and eat and fast heart beats. i am thinking about quitting now. any advice?

Hi everyone,

I am writing to seek your advice on job hunting. I defended my doctoral thesis a few months ago and have almost finished my thesis revision. I will also submit my final thesis this week. After my viva, I started my job search. So far, I have focused all my attention on teaching and research positions that require a Ph.D. or master's degree such as lectureships, assistant professorships, and research assistant/associate positions. I have sent around 10 application letters and got two interviews. But so far, I still haven't got any offer yet. There are not many vacancies in my field at this moment. I wonder if I should start to look for jobs that require a bachelor's degree such as editors and supply teachers at middle/high schools. I don't know if this is good for my future career development because I want to develop my career in academia. I think that these jobs are totally irrelevant to what I have been doing in my field for years, while at the same time I need some money to support my life (coz I am using my savings to support my life). Should I start looking for non-academic/research jobs now? Or Should I wait for a few months to see if there are more vacancies coming up?

Could anyone give me some advice on job hunting after PhD?

Thanks a lot for your time and help.

Hi guys, I would like to seek your advice. I will have 'a job interview' next week. I used the quotation marks because I don't know whether it should be called an interview. The job I applied for is a teaching job. The HR said to me that the department would like to have an informal conversation with me. Does anyone have this kind of job experience? What is it like to have such an informal conversation as 'a job interview'?

Hi all,

I need your advice. My university is hiring several teaching fellows and I am interested in submitting one job application. The job advertisement states that newly-hired teaching fellows are mainly responsible for teaching undergraduate courses. But I am not familiar with some of the courses because I never took any of them at all. I would plan to read through some of the courses that I am not so familiar with from the university website so that I have a general idea of what to cover in those courses. What else should I do to prepare well for my interview? Do you have any useful tip or experience to share with me? Thanks a lot.

Thanks for your reply, lawlin. The next semester starts next week. I hope that I will receive a reply from my former supervisor soon.

Thanks a lot for your replies, Anne1987 and rewt. I will wait until the next semester starts.

Hi all,

I need some advice from you. I am now doing a Ph.D. and will be graduating next year. I will also begin my job search very soon. As we know, most academic positions require applicants to have referrers. I have already emailed my current Ph.D. and former MPhil thesis supervisors, asking them if they could act as my referees. My current supervisor has replied to me with a 'yes'. But my former supervisor has not still replied to me yet, and it has been almost a week since I emailed my former supervisor. Should I send my former supervisor another email again? or should I assume that my former supervisor does not want to act as my referee?

Thanks a lot for your help. Happy new year, everyone!

We have similar problems. I feel guilty too if I spend a day without working. But I think we have to learn how to strike a work-life balance. Phd is just a small part of our life. In our life, there are many other things we can do like hanging out with friends, watching movies, swimming and going shopping. We still have two more years to go! Dont give yourself too much pressure!

Coarvi, so sorry to hear what you have gone through. Actually, I have similar problems to yours. Not sure if you have read my recent post. I am losing my motivation for doing my PhD. I have started to feel fed up with my project. I am still working on my proposal that i have to submit next week. I am really under great pressureand i have never had that feeling before in my life. Sometimes i force myself to think about the positive side of doing my phd.. But that doesn't work. What i do now is to work out for a while every day and talk to my friends and share my feelings with them. That helpes me ease a bit of my pressure. No matter how busy you are, you should spare some time to do something you like - something not related to your project. That will help you.