Employment prospects for a PhD
Hi all,
I am very much in the same boat, and as I cannot move my options are pretty much restricted. My supervisor never showed any interest in my future employment before, and there is little sign of it now, and the problem is not even the luck of support, but the fact that often I come across things I could apply for just a day or two before the deadline.
I think that you might find interesting the following link : http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/1235/Raising-your-profile.html
I believe that especially when you don't have the help of your supervisor, it is vital to establish a network with other researchers, but I am fully aware that even though, it is very difficult to find a job anywhere.
Hello,
PhD unemployment has become a sort of universal condition. Finding a lectureship post, even for young PhDs in developing countries or wherever certain disciplines in social sciences and humanities are under-represented, is highly unlikely at an early stage of academic career. I hold a doctorate from Cambridge, nevertheless I wasn't able to find anything else but a temporary teaching post, which has expired long ago. The situation in subjects as medicine and science is somewhat different, yet there have always been funds available for these disciplines. I haven't heard of any people who managed to use their doctorates in the social sciences for jobs in the private sector - other than tuition (if this can be called a proper job). In fact, PhDs have to cope with a curious problem - being rejected as overqualified! I know of several cases where candidates had to erase their PhD from their cvs for this reason. I find this situation intolerable and outrageous, and perhaps it is the Universities' responsibility to do something about that. If I were the vice-chancellor or Head of School, I would be terribly concerned to see my students unemployed - and perhaps destitute. Many of us have paid university fees with our own or our parents' bank savings, and would definitely expect to hear a message of hope instead of public confessions of university failure.
I am a science PhD and even with a couple of post-docs under my belt, I had to conceal my PhD to ensure I found employment after the post-docs had ran their course (other circumstances others will be tired of hearing did come into play). I appreciate the humanities and social sciences will have their problems, however, even with some funding on the science side these problems crop up there.
In the long run, I have not been able to make my PhD work for me and it represents an interesting period of my past and no more. I don't regret doing it as I've said elsewhere as I felt it's something I needed to do, that said. Another lad I knew at first degree level made contact with me after years. He also did a PhD and finally drifted out of academia himself. He's now retrained as a commercial airline pilot.
Even with science graduates, there are problems establishing a long term career path in your chosen field. The short term funding and contracts don't help within academia and heading back into industry is difficult as you're seen as over qualified.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Hi all,
I think this situation is worse for science PhDs than humainites people - and not vice versa as has been suggested in an earlier post. There are very few - or no - funded PhD places in the humanities, so those of us that do take up PhDs expect the path to be difficult - like anything in the arts. Typically, we self fund to varying degress, so are doing this for reasons beyond just wanting a secure career - so not everything is hanging on that. I think there are probably far fewer of us around precisley because there is less PhD funding, even though the arts are well represented in undergrad and masters programmes. This allows for proprtionally more lecturing opportunities per PhD student.
I have noticed that scientists seem to fall the hardest on completing their PhDs. They are always the ones to start the 'PhD programmes are all a con' threads that turn up here intermitently.
I plan to be an English teacher in a private school if the Higher Ed stuff doesn't pan out. Probably a better life in many ways - although leaving my research would break my heart.
I have been told off recently for this plan B mentality - one of my friends thinks it shouldn't and won't be an option, just keep going and it will happen.
