Hell yes! You're not alone!

Oh, i'm sorry Reenie. I take your point. Will be careful next time
:$

======= Date Modified 23 Mar 2012 11:04:36 =======
i edited this post, misunderstood mackem.

man, feel sorry for you trying to hide it, must have been tough, like being in the closet but job-wise, hehehehehe.

sure, not lying does not mean volunteer unnecessary info.

Very good advice!

There's no point lying because you're gonna have to remember it all the time at work, and it just makes you feel like you have to be guarded all the time. So uncool.

Thank you Delta:-)

Hello guys,

I'm not sure whether this post is relevant. Maybe most of the people here are looking for academic jobs?

I just want to share a couple of lines about looking for a job outside academia, i think that's what academics call "office jobs."

If it helps, here is what I observed (just my own thoughts, ok? Not claiming them as a fact).

I have had about 9 interviews for 4 different companies. So I managed to get second interviews out of the first ones. But when it came to the thrid round, I wasn't selected. Then I realized somewhere in the process, I must have done something wrong.

The position I applied for is a business analysis/consulting/project management type.

I have had panel interviews and group interviews. I was even sized up with other PhD applicants.

When I asked for feedback, the companies who rejected me said "we are very impressed by your intellectual abilities but we are looking for somebody with experience."

By the fourth company to call me, I remember what the other PhDs did in the past interviews (and thought that maybe I was doing the same without even realizing it ). Here goes:

The PhDs I have seen in the interviews were very smart. The thing is, they are so wound up by their PhD, that they defined themselves with respect to the PhD (which is completely understandable, given that we've slaved day and night to write our theses). I did exactly the same mistake.

It's ok to toot your PhD horn, but remember, always speak from the point of view of the employer. Instead of sayinh "I won an award for this writing. It shows I am good." Spell it out for them: "I won an award for this writing. I am sure that I will be able to apply the same techniques as I write your reports."

I know it's a super banal advice, but it's really surprising what I saw, top PhDs with top research topics getting caught up in their own worlds.

Try not to ask questions like "what are your revenues, how many employees are there." Ask about the specific department you are applying for, how many people you will work with, who you will report to, what will they use your reports for, etc...

Anyway, i'm blabbing. Hope it helps.....

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

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.

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.

======= Date Modified 18 Mar 2012 16:40:58 =======
======= Date Modified 18 Mar 2012 16:39:13 =======
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:-)

great news! i'm so happy for you!!!! congratulations!!!!

hello marasp and all the others who responded to this thread

i appreciate your post. im experiencing exactly the same thing.

when i do something else that is not related to the phd, i'm a happy, confident, and positive person. but the minute that i am scheduled to work on my corrections, i feel knots in stomach, even start crying because i can't bare to look at the comments and the fact that i don't know how to deal with them.

i'm trying to do the tricks in this post, like taking the comments little by little. i still have the sick feeling in my guts, but that's the only way to go, right?

this phd thing is absurd.

i went for a career in research for two reasons....the flexibility of a research job and the chance to research my own topic.

further down the road i figured they were untrue. they say research is "flexible" because you can work any time you want. in my case, i'm not working any time i want, but i work all the time to churn papers and do lectures.

they said you can choose your own topic NOT. the supervisors disapprove the topic when they don't like yours, so basically you can choose your own topic as long as your sup agrees. that's not freedom.

i went out of academia and went for a corporate job. in both places you get to do things you don't always want to do, but i like the idea that if corporate bosses abuse you, you can report them to higher ups. in academia, professors don't get fired, so they have less incentive to play nice.

It goes both ways. Attractive people can be quickly judged to never have to work hard, have everything easy, get the accomplishments because of the looks, nasty, snob.

They can't win. If others see an attractive and friendly person, they'll hate this person to be too nice and goodlooking at the same time anyway.

Good looking people who work hard to be achievers are simply downplayed to be people who got far because of their looks alone.

It's true that being attractive has its advantages. But employers don't hire people only because they are good looking, but because they are goodlooking and capable at the same time.

Take it easy, the point is less about your spelling than bashing other people with their incorrect usage og English.

If you criticize other people with their "appauling English," you might as well get the word right. The point is not showing how witty you are. Sure, we all make spelling mistakes (which are very different from typographical errors, I must say).