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i am on the final stages of revising my thesis prior to submission.

i have been editing it since 5 months ago. in this same time period, i found a job outside the acadame, as an analyst in a medium-size company. so instead of working full time on revisions, i have switched to working on them part-time, during the weekends.

i find the revision process painful, but i try to stick with it because it is a commitment to the phd (as i posted on marasp's thread).

at this stage, i am quite relieved by the thought of the phd ending soon. i am quite fine with my life as it is, and i enjoy being "normal." i mean i enjoy not working in academia and i have no intention of looking back. been traumatized by my experience. i also enjoy my industry job now so far.

just this week, a major stroke of luck happened :$

i got promoted to a new position in my company. i am very thankful for this. it also means that i have more responsibilities now.

as i think of this change, i realize that it's simply unrealistic to have greater responsibilities at work, and then give hundred percent to the phd, not to mention balace it with my family life.

at this point, i would just like to hand in my thesis without doing the "conscientious" revisions, just to get it over and done with.

i also realize that the less i work on the phd, my research writing skills have become less poignant. so i fear that even if i do my revisions, they end up worse than they are.

the only thing that's keeping me from throwing the towel is the fear of humiliation when my oral exams happen (we don't do viva, but we have a corresponding oral exam, which is just as scary).

so, if you were me, would you stick to the revisions, or would you try to get it over soon and move on with your "new" life.

thank you all.

ps: i found that i have one star now:-) i don't know who gave it to me, and how i helped but THANK YOU! glad to be useful somehow:-)

Hmm tricky! Does your current job rely on you having a PhD? I would say give it a time period, say 3 months. Try and get your PhD completed within 3 months, then review the situation. It would be a shame to have done all that work and then give up and make a rush job at the end and risk failing or a revise and resubmit which would take you back to where you are now! I can sympathise with you, my nightmare situation will be not completing within the next year, then having to juggle full time work, part time PhD and family life!

I fully agree with Lindalou83. Don't risk major corrections by rushing the revisions and possibly having nothing to show for all the work. If you do get major corrections, it may be more than you can cope with as your new life takes off.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Thanks for your responses, Mackem and Lindalou.

The PhD has nothing to do with the job, in the sense that the business skills count more than the theory you know or the diploma you have.

Of course, it's always nice to have the PhD associated with you. But in the bigger picture, the output and work quality are more important.

I will try to get the corrections done as best as I could. If it gets difficult to balance all of them, then I'm gonna have to make the choice about which counts more.

Can I ask a blunt question (and I'm not meaning to be rude)?

Do you care whether or not you complete the thesis and gain the PhD?


I'm going to take a different tack. Your new life is clearly alot more important to you than finishing the PhD. You've clearly a good few months to go before you're ready to submit and it may drag onto corrections after that depending on the examination outcome. If major, you may be talking another year.

If your extra responsibilities in your new job are what matter to you the PhD doesn't figure as such in this, why don't you obtain a suspension of studies from your former University (cite personal or family reasons). You can give it a few months and if you feel you still don't care and don't even look at the thesis, then call it a day.

It would probably be nice to finish the PhD but if it's getting in the way of your new life that you consider more important to you, then in the medium term it may even be holding you back. It's clear from what you say it's not going to really benefit your new non-academic career.

You sound like the kind of person that the real world suits you more. As such, why continue to put yourself through any more and an oral exam with outcome that may no longer be relevant to you?


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Thanks for articulating your issues/concerns Mackem.

As I told in my earlier post, I am not located in the UK. I already had my suspension (rather the equivalent of it). I have 4 more months up to my submission. My "last 4 months" so to speak.

"Do I care whether or not I complete the thesis and gain the PhD?"
- Obviously I am in the forum asking for feedback.
-If I didn't I wouldn't even waste 30 seconds typing my query.

"You sound like the kind of person that the real world suits you more."
-THANK YOU. I own that.
-What's wrong with the 'real world' anyway?

"As such, why continue to put yourself through any more and an oral exam that may no longer be relevant to you?"
-Escalating commitment. Exactly why I asked for opinions here.
-And again if it's still not obvious enough to you, I still care about my PhD, hence post.

Do I care about the PhD?
-Absolutely.

Do I care about the PhD that I would sacrifice everything outside the PhD that I have worked so hard for (industry job, family)?
-Totally not. That's madness.

Is there a way where I can bridge this conflict I have now?
-I was hoping for feedback in this forum. Simply that.

======= Date Modified 21 Mar 2012 13:20:45 =======

The purpose of the above was to play devil's advocate with you. In doing so, I hope I've help you answer your own questions. :-)

I did have my doubts, hence my reasosn for doing what I did.


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Oh yes, Mackem, what a devil you are!;-)