Usually people work hard because they expect it to benefit them - they put a lot in because they expect to get a lot out - and usually it pays off. It seems reasonable that if you've invested time and money in your education you should reap some benefit and not end up right back where you started, otherwise what was the point? Nobody in their right mind would make huge personal and financial investments in something which they expect to be completely worthless, and if it turns out to be worthless then surely you're within your rights to feel ripped off?

If someone trains as an accountant, or a doctor, or a lawyer, and invests shedloads of money and half a decade of their working life in achieving the necessary professional qualifications while working, do they not have a right to expect employment in their specialist field? If so, then why does the same not apply to academics? My friend worked as a trainee accountant for five years, did his professional qualifications while he worked, and now (quite rightly) has a job as a qualified accountant. I worked as a lecturer and researcher for the same period, did a PhD and a teaching qualification... but I don't have the right to expect a job?! I'm tired of people saying that you don't have the right to expect a job just because you have years of on-the-job experience and qualifications - of course you do.

Indeed, I realise that there is an ever increasing need for assistive technology, and there are a number of jobs in this field - unfortunately they are mostly not in my location. Nokia is currently advertising a job that would be ideal for me, but again, not in my location. I applied for one research role working with assistive technology and was turned down without a reason; I can only presume that a stronger candidate with more research experience must also have applied, perhaps from elsewhere in the country.

I probably would prefer to work with a small research team, but in reality I will take absolutely any job I can get - ideally a research or lecturing job, but even a bar job would do. One employer had me complete a five page application form for a bar job and then told me I was too old and didn't look right for the job! :(

I am aware that I am depressed; I have struggled with depression throughout the PhD and also earlier in my life. I have seen numerous doctors but the problem is never resolved. I was hoping that gaining employment might go some way towards addressing the issue.

I work in computer science, but I'm not a programmer. My expertise is more in the field of software design and psychology; I'm not at all technical.

I see computer programming vacancies advertised all the time, but wouldn't have a clue where to start with doing such a thing. Neither would I have a clue how to fix a computer. All the jobs advertised by IT companies seem to want someone with either programming, IT support, or hardware repair skills. My skills are in analysing the needs of computer users and designing (but not programming!) software and hardware products for disability, accessibility, non-traditional user groups, etc. There are numerous jobs in this field with IT companies across Europe and in London, but none where I live, apart from the 2-3 jobs which have already rejected me. I figured if there were no research jobs I could always be a lecturer, but at present there are no jobs in academia either :(

I'm still cut up about ruining my one chance with the biggest player in my field; they interviewed me and didn't like me because I apparently came across like a quiet mousy academic, not an assertive business person :(

I just feel bad because I totally screwed up. When I applied for the PhD I was thinking in terms of training for a career, not getting a job; I assumed that with a PhD I'd be employable in a variety of professional roles, and hopefully could become a lecturer or a researcher. I wanted to be a professional person on a decent salary so I could provide for my daughter. I laugh at my optimism now; I really thought I was doing something positive for my future, what a joke that turned out to be.

Why was I so stupid?! Why didn't I look at the job market and choose to study for a job that was in demand, instead of choosing something I enjoyed?! I should have trained to be a lawyer or an accountant or something, because I see such jobs regularly advertised for people who have relevant qualifications. Instead I became a scientific researcher and lecturer, thereby restricting myself to half a dozen potential employers who rarely have jobs available, half of whom have turned me down already. I really screwed up in terms of getting into a good career, both for my daughter and myself :(

No, my boyfriend doesn't have a PhD. He has a Masters, and in the current job market he's lucky to have a well paid job which is related to his qualifications, rather than having to take a call centre job or something. He doesn't understand why my situation is so soul destroying because he got lucky with his job.

It seems wrong that I should have to hide my PhD to get a job; something I've worked so hard for should be an asset to be proud of, something that benefits me, not something to hide. If it's such a disadvantage that I have to hide it, what was the point of doing it at all?

I'm not saying that I'm entitled to my dream job just because I have qualifications, but surely it's reasonable to expect some sort of professional job which makes use of my abilities and justifies my huge student debt, rather than spending my life stacking tins of beans? Everyone I went to university with for my masters has managed to get a professional job with a salary well above minimum wage, so why should I be the exception just because I did a PhD? Does a PhD somehow make me less worthy of the sort of professional job that bachelors or masters graduates are able to get? Is it unreasonable to expect to be on a par with my peers (who actually have less qualifications, and who received a salary while I made huge financial sacrifices to do the PhD)?

I don't see why it's unreasonable to expect something more than a minimum wage job when I've worked hard and made sacrifices to achieve a PhD. My friend is making sacrifices so she can train as a nurse and provide a decent life for her child - is she wrong to feel upset if she graduates and ends up being a waitress, thus wasting all her sacrifices and hard work?

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I got no feedback from the first two, but the third said I lacked industry experience and they thought I'd be "happier in academia", whatever that means. Presumably they thought I'd prefer to be an academic, given my history in academia - in reality I just want a job, any job.


I was a member of teaching staff for four years, teaching four courses per year and dealing with the related admin, as well as achieving a professional qualification for teaching in higher education. In addition to this I did two real-world research projects with external companies, projects which had commercial value and weren't just pure research. I still can't get a job.


Moving location is absolutely impossible due to my family ties, my accommodation situation, my partner's job, etc. I won't take my daughter away from her grandparents, and realistically I can't afford to given the cost of childcare.

======= Date Modified 19 May 2011 17:17:37 =======

Thanks for your supportive reply :)

I am in the UK.

6 years... :(

What got me about one particular job (my dream job) was that they wanted several employees because they needed to expand the research team, so it wasn't that there was someone better than me, they just didn't want me. They're still advertising for more team members :(

I will try to take your advice about not taking things personally; I know the job market is rubbish at present.

I think they limit your volunteering to about 10-15 hours per week though. A lot of companies don't want voluntary workers if they have to pay their transport costs, and I can't afford to pay my own transport. Also they sometimes can't take voluntary workers for insurance reasons, because it would cost them money to insure you to use equipment or work in the lab etc.

I tried asking about voluntary work, and as well as being told they couldn't accommodate me for insurance reasons etc, some companies also said "We don't need you - if we needed someone we'd advertise", "Having you there would slow down the work of our full time staff and inconvenience them", etc. They don't want me even if I had the money to pay my train fares :(

Did you ever get a job which utilised your qualifications, Mackem Beefy? Or are you still under-employed four years later?

I never said a qualification entitles me to a good job, but I thought that investing years in doing a PhD and struggling on a grant while working extremely hard would entitle me to something more than a job pulling pints (in fact I can't even get a job doing that anyway). You expect that if you put a lot of effort in you'll get at least something out of it; I made sacrifices to do my PhD because I thought it would pay off in the long run, but it's got me absolutely nowhere. In fact I'm probably worse off, because instead of doing the PhD I could have found an entry level job and worked my way up for five years, and I'd probably be in a good job now.

I know other single mothers who are studying in the hope of providing a better future for their kids; one of my friends is studying to be a nurse and the other is training to be a teacher, because they want to get into professional careers with decent salaries and provide a good life for their children. That's what I thought I was doing too - I've let everyone down, especially my daughter :(

Yeah, my boyfriend is also lucky to have a job after having been rejected numerous times - I wouldn't fancy his chances of finding another job if we relocated together. Plus if we moved away from my parents the childcare costs would be horrendous.

If you claim JSA you're allowed to work for a few hours per week, but they take all of the money away from you and you only get to keep £5. Obviously you wouldn't earn anything from voluntary work. Since it costs £7 train fare to get into town from where I live, I'd be out of pocket if I worked a couple of afternoons per week, paid or voluntary - and when you're on the poverty line a tenner can make the difference between being fed or going hungry. You can claim expenses for interviews if you can prove you have one, but not for transport costs to a paid or voluntary job.

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I regard a decent job as anything which is remotely related to my field of research. A non-decent job is waitressing, call centre, shop, or anything else on minimum wage. I've applied for them all without success; I've even applied for jobs that I'm not qualified for on the off-chance that I might be lucky.

I haven't just been rejected from three jobs - the three jobs were jobs in my field which I really wanted. I've also been rejected from dozens of other jobs ranging from barmaid and receptionist to sixth form lecturer and staff trainer. Not only am I not good enough to be offered a academic or research job, I'm not even good enough to pull pints for minimum wage.

My ex-supervisor has applied for some funding, and he said he'd employ me as a research assistant if the funding was granted, but it could take ages and the chances of it being granted are slim anyway. I can't do voluntary work because I can hardly afford food and bills in my present situation, never mind afford the train fare to go to a voluntary job.

I know my boyfriend and parents don't mind helping me financially, but it's humiliating and soul-destroying. I want to have nice things and a nice home for myself and my daughter, not scrape by on handouts from other people. I feel like everyone's laughing "Haha, you thought you were so intelligent, and now you'll be lucky to even get a call centre job like the rest of us" :(

My advice - don't do it. You could spend four years building a proper career and earning a salary, instead of working yourself to death to get a qualification which will ultimately make you over-qualified for pretty much everything you apply for.

No apology is necessary, I don't expect everyone to know all the details of my life!

I've already cast my net as wide as I possibly can by applying for waitress jobs, shop jobs, etc - I keep getting turned down because I'm over-qualified and they don't expect me to stay (which is perfectly correct, I'd leave if I was offered a proper job). Most jobs require qualifications that I don't have - I'm only qualified to be a lecturer or a researcher, not a lawyer/nurse/designer/dentist or any other skilled job. If there are no jobs in my field, all I can do is apply for unskilled jobs, and they keep turning me down for being over-qualified.

What really gets me is that for unknown reasons I was turned down for the few jobs I was qualified for, and in one case at least I was rejected for an industry job because research experience gained while employed by a university supposedly doesn't count!?! Each rejection stings really hard because there are so few decent jobs to apply for in the first place. I'm smart, I'm hard-working, I'm well qualified... and I'm apparently completely worthless because nobody sees any value in employing me :(

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======= Date Modified 19 May 2011 15:02:51 =======
You can't do an internship or unpaid work while claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and child benefits. You're allowed to do a few hours of voluntary work per week, but you can't claim travel expenses or anything, and JSA is hardly enough to live on never mind pay train fares to get to a voluntary job. I can barely afford to eat never mind anything else.

I've tried talking to my parents and boyfriend about how I feel, but they just say something will come along eventually. They don't realise how difficult it is to live like this every single day when I worked so hard and had such high expectations for my future. My boyfriend has a job, but he doesn't live with me and obviously his money belongs to him, I can't impose upon him financially. I feel guilty because he takes me out and spends money and I can't reciprocate. At Easter he bought me a gift and I couldn't afford one for him, and he also bought chocolates for me to give to his mother because I couldn't afford them - I felt so worthless.

The type of job I'm qualified for would offer a good salary - I could buy new toys for my daughter and nice clothes for myself, I could take my parents on holiday to thank them for all their help, I could buy nice food and take my boyfriend out to dinner, I could get a car... my boyfriend and I could consider buying a place and moving in together in a home of our own, a nice clean place with nice new furniture. The only thing standing in the way of having a great life is my inability to get a job - because of that I'm living on the poverty line in a broken down old house without enough food to eat. I want to cry when I have to feed my daughter on cheap junk food and give her old toys from the jumble sale - I worked hard because I thought I'd be able to provide a better life than this :(