Done with PhD, now what?

B

Hi friends,
I wanted to give a quick update of my PhD. After years of peaks and troughs, I have defended before the board of postgrad school and I'm officially a doc. Though I'm awaiting the viva voce but it's usually more ceremonial than the actual defense.

Anyway I wanted to use this medium to say special thanks to everyone who has been there for me especially when I was struggling with supervisor issues. I finally had the confidence to tell him off and felt much better. I realized I needed to take charge of my health and not let anyone manipulate me. I didn't have to tolerate the things I did but I'm happy I finally became emotionally mature. I still have struggles with letting go of past hurt but I am more excited about the future and hopefully getting a postdoc position abroad. I am at crossroads about whether I should take the lecturing job here but I don't particularly like the system here so I'll focus on the postdoc outside and hopefully get a job there too.

For those that have completed their PhD's, what path did you follow afterward?

Thanks and love to all.

A

Congrads a big time! I am still in my first year, so....... i have work to do !

B

Thanks Amuttaa. Best of luck with yours!

T

Congrats babygirl!

I did a short postdoc after my PhD and now I'm on a permanent teaching contract in a university. It's a pretty sweet deal, aside from the fact it's non-progressable at the moment and lack of prestige among academic research colleagues...

P

I finished my PhD last June and quit academia to run my own company. It is unglamourous but it pays enough to live on (just) and most importantly I have freedom from the tyranny of other people telling me what to do.
Alongside this, I have continued to study, broadening my skills in related subjects.
I doubt I will ever take a permanent job or re-enter academia (turned down two postdocs which were offered to me) but I do harbour ambitions to kick start a tech company hence my continued studying. The thought of taking either permanent employment or postdoc work makes me feel physically sick.

A

I am sure after all, @ pm133 you are enjoying what you do, and this is what everyone should aim too!

If happened that i got through this PhD journey ( may be 3-5yrs to come), my focus is to do my own things and enjoy the rest of my life !

Avatar for Pjlu

Hi, I've completed bar awaiting approval of corrections and/or notification from the admin that all the processes are complete. I submitted these about 3 weeks ago, and they were submitted to committee chair about 2 weeks ago, after being accepted at the first checking process, so things look okay so far (touch wood).

Am employed as Assistant Principal (Assistant Head in UK) of a secondary College and about to be the Acting Principal (or Head) for a bit. My usual role involves a lot of welfare/wellbeing with students, families and staff, so to keep my professional skills up, I have applied for a Master of Counselling with a top tier university here in Australia and they've indicated that I will be given a fair bit of credit for my professional experience, so will be able to obtain this degree part time in around 2 years given my current qualifications and prior experience. So I will do all of this while still working in my current role working in Education with a specific focus on Wellbeing and Academic Care.

I'll publish from my thesis in professional journals, once I am content that the corrections have been approved. I'm really happy with how things are going and am just lurking around the forum haphazardly for now, until I can post that final post that corrections are done and so is the PhD.

Congratulations to you BG, best wishes for your future options and all others in this current stage :)

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