Overview of Timmy on PostgraduateForum.com

Overview of Timmy

Signup date: 30 Apr 2014 at 1:53pm

Last login: 24 Jul 2015 at 12:13am

Post count: 63

Recent Posts

Unemployed :(

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

Kathryn, why not write a book on computing? That would get you a job.

What if you had three or four articles in high ranking journals, had written a book or two, and given many conferences, have a teaching qualification and lots of teaching experience?

How important would the social aspect you speak of be?

I just really hate cocktail parties and sucking up to people (although I have noticed that people less professionally competent but more social often get jobs).

Unemployed :(

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

Quote From Dunham:

Quote From Timmy:

Why consign her to the dustbin when she can still get what she wants?

A permanent challenging position in academia after 4 years out of science in that certain part of the UK where she lives? I doubt it. But I am pretty sure that she can find a decent job at a company but as others already said, this probably won't be the position she wanted to have.

Quote From MrDoctor:
I respectfully disagree.

Yes we can regret spending the money, spend the 3 years (or longer), and the stress. That's fine to regret that.

I still maintain, however, that personal and professional skills will never be taken away from you post-PhD. It's not a case of polishing a turd, if you'll excuse the expression. I just can't envisage ever seeing my PhD skills/experience as a negative thing.

There is a difference between "negative" and "useless". Experiences and skills are always great, but if I'm not using them then I could easily live without them. Living on the street would maybe also teach me a lot and would change my perspective. Almost everything you do results in experiences that are valuable in one way or another.

I am pretty sure she will see it more positive when she finally finds a well paid job but so far the PhD was rather a disadvantage, which is of course frustrating and a justified reason to regret the decision to start a PhD. It would be completely lunatic to not consider that as a wrong life choice. It's just human to think like that.

What if she decides to move?

Why was her choosing the PhD "a wrong life choice" when she wanted a job in Academia?

Surely her doing a PhD was the right thing to do if she wanted a job in Academia?

How important is money to you?

Unemployed :(

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

Quote From Dunham:

Quote From MrDoctor:

Quote From kathryn15:
[quote] my PhD was a total waste of time, effort and money. .

This is never, ever, EVER the case.

A PhD provides you with an absolute plethora of life skills which any employer would be gagging for, in my opinion.

Stop seeing a PhD as an academic qualification, and more as a set of amazing skills which you can take into any interview.

No shame in admitting you did a PhD because you had a passion for the subject, but now you've decided to utilise these skills elsewhere in forging a new career.

A PhD will NEVER be useless. Ever.

Come on.... I get that you want to encourage and support but this statement is just silly.

She didn't decide to use the skills elsewhere, she is forced to. Why do people always have to roll everything in glitter and sell every failure as an success? I have the feeling that some people have to tell themselves that it is never useless because it is simply hard to accept that you didn't need the PhD for the job you have. A way to justify all the hard work even though it did not lead to a job you wanted. Most people don't pursue a PhD for the PhD's sake but because they want to work as scientists. I fully understand that one is bitter if that doesn't work out after all the sacrifice and hard work. I would feel the exact same way. She took the risk and it didn't work. That's bitter, but that's how it is. Nothing to be ashamed of. Now you can only try to do some damage limitation. Life skills don't pay the mortgage or piano lessons.

Why consign her to the dustbin when she can still get what she wants?

Anyone ever had problems with ineffective feedback from a marker/supervisor... ?

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

Anyone ever had problems with ineffective feedback from a marker/supervisor... ?

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

Quote From awsoci:

Quote From Timmy:

Not an opinion.

Sure?

Anyone ever had problems with ineffective feedback from a marker/supervisor... ?

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

Quote From Eds:
If you start a thread on here you do so in the knowledge that you will receive replies that you do not agree with. But NEVER imply that someone does not have more of a 'right' to reply than you have to post.

Don't tell me what to do.

Anyone ever had problems with ineffective feedback from a marker/supervisor... ?

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

I disagree.

... and what gives you the right to have an opinion? Do you have a teaching qualification?

Anyone ever had problems with ineffective feedback from a marker/supervisor... ?

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

One tip would be to frame everything in positive language. If you can't find anything positive to say then your probably shouldn't be marking their work.

Anyone ever had problems with ineffective feedback from a marker/supervisor... ?

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

(I'm assuming you are an undergraduate?).

No I am a PhD candidate with 8 publications, an MLitt, a PGDE (with 8 years teaching experience), and an MA (Hons).

I find it interesting that so many people in education don't seem to have ever learned how to give effective feedback.

Thanks for your advice on the hard-shell.

Are you a GTA?

Anyone ever had problems with ineffective feedback from a marker/supervisor... ?

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

Quote From Eds:
Then he (the 'marker'- like a marker you have at school?) is at least assuming you understand English. Is that the query?

Sorry you've lost me.

Anyone ever had problems with ineffective feedback from a marker/supervisor... ?

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

This is a direct quote: "Sounds like bullshit".

Anyone ever had problems with ineffective feedback from a marker/supervisor... ?

Timmy 63 posts
9 years ago

I don't just mean at PhD level I mean in your life in academia.

Just got a piece of writing back where I got 17 out of 22 which I thought was quite good, however one of the markers just listed a whole load of negative comments on my writing.

It is some of the most useless feedback I have ever had. None of it is constructive and none of it really offers helpful advice. I feel I more or less know how to improve my own writing but it would be nice for feedback to be useful.

Has anyone ever had this problem before? It doesn't really worry me how useless the feedback is but it would be great to hear other peoples' opinions. As it happen lots of people in my department are unhappy with their feedback even when they are happy with their marks.

It feels like this marker has some sort of a problem with being a positive and helpful person as if that would somehow be the wrong thing to do! I can say this because I know him in person and have spoken to him a lot face-to-face.

All the best.

My supervisor did not turn up for our meeting

Timmy 63 posts
10 years ago

So I emailed and he said sorry he had been in a meeting and forgot he had a meeting with me.

Should I take this personally?

He gave me 21 out of 22 for an assignment 1 month ago.

Don't understand. Seems quite unprofessional.

Academia and personality type

Timmy 63 posts
10 years ago

You are an idiot.