To answer you, Zoya:
1) Age 36 is young. My other friend graduated with a Science PhD aged 50.
2) PhD funding - My friend was sponsored by her employer. Ever thought about that before thinking of self-funding?
3) No time for time out - Fine. But you need to straigten yourself before you approach employers. Again, do NOT blame yourself. There is no such things as "not good enough for this kind of job". Perhaps you did not find the role suitable, but it was never a question of being good enough or not. Please, somehow, get your self-esteem back. And DON'T put it on your cover letter that you withdrew. Just put "Graduate research scholar" or "Graduate reearcher" in CV/resume. If they ask in the interview, then answer. Start sending resumes out ASAP. It will be a while before there is any hit anyway.
4) No help from Uni or Google - You are no longer a student, so it is expected that they no longer help. I think you have been searching Google wrong if you say there is no help. You don't mind going back to industry? Ok, so redirect your strategy to going to industry. Search for transitioning from academia to industry. There are HEAPS of websites on that, and possible more mourning on why not to do a PhD if you want to go into industry. Read THOSE. Actually that might be good for your self-esteem too. Maybe even write to those who author those websites and see if you can get advice from them.
5) And plan, strategize for your future. While nothing can be done to undo the past, you can do something about the future. Invest your energy into that. Don't give up!

Hi, Zoya. I am sorry for what you are going through. I have a friend who had to leave after 5 years in a PhD. He had family issues and his supervisor decided to leave the country. He was real upset, took some time off, but he got a job as an academic technician for the past 5 years after that. He wrote PhD candidate in his CV and when they asked him, he explained it. He is doing ok now, and when we last spoke, he said that he feels that he would try doing a PhD again in a couple years time. I think that you could perhaps put "Graduate research scholar" if you do not want to state PhD candidate. If you do not want to work in academia, you could try working in the industry first as all the experiences/training that you got while a PhD will be valued there and it is potentially easier to get into industry without a PhD than with one (overqualified unexperienced bias). You can always do a PhD again a few years time, if you want, just like my friend. Take care and please, don't blame yourself. Take some time off for now, and stay strong. Hugs....

Hi, A. Do think carefully about whether you want to pursue an industry of academic career as the requirements are very different. For the industry, work experience is the key. Qualifications and publications (essential for academic route) are advantageous, but secondary to someone who has the experience to make up for it. If you want lecturing, then yes, PhD is important. And if you can get some decent publications, great, you should be ok to find lecturing jobs. Bear in mind, there is always the possibility that you have to move to a different city, state, or country for academic jobs. May be a good point to read all the blogs out there on why you should do or not do a PhD as well, just to hear both sides of the story. For eg. there are plenty of unemployed PhD out there. Do you know that? But there are also the few that make it big, becoming Profs and so on.

What you don't want is to complete a PhD, decide that you don't want an academic career, then find that you are overqualified but underexperienced for the industry role that you are after. It is not impossible to cross over to the industry at that stage, especially if you have years of non-academic industry experience to use as leverage, but, if you don't, well, it will be difficult.

For career progression, you can talk to career advisor at the uni or enroll in staff development programs. Have a look at job ads (besides technician) for your area with your degree, perhaps those that need more experiences, so you know what you can possibly achieve in future if you stick to your current route. Take your time to think about your career path, industry vs academic, Phd vs your current degree, etc.

Good luck.

Sounds like me. My first year was rather unproductive due to refining of directions and in my second year, my proposed direction and works went completely out the window (ie lost A LOT OF TIME). How this happened and how my supervisors behave are another long story, but the point is I had not much data at the start of my third year. And yes, I was very depressed, and I wanted to quit because it seemed hopeless but as it meant losing my scholarship, I held on. Quickly I did some searching to see how I could rescue my project. I am now in my last few months, still no paper, but dragging myself to the finishing line. My goal now is to finish as best I can with hopefully a PhD. It is quite a significant change to my initial goal of having X papers and finding X scientific outcomes, but finish is better than not.

In your case, can you first talk to your supervisors about your thoughts on this? Remember, he may be upset, angry, etc, if you tell him, but YOU will be upset, angry, etc if you do not cross the finishing line. It is YOUR future. Your supervisors have already forged their future and you are one small student in a long line of students they will have in their career. If they do not want or cannot help you, talk to your thesis reviewer/committee, head of school, etc to rope someone in who knows the field. Your silence will NOT help you. Also, maybe you can talk to your uni counsellor if you need to sort out your depression/feelings. So, my advice to you - find the courage and talk to someone. You still have time to salvage the situation. Sending you positive vibes ~~~

Congrats, lemonjuice! Now you can move on to greater things in life... =)

Thank you, buru, windowsill and Ephiny for your kind and encouraging words...

Hello, Darida1. I know this reply is 2 years late, but how did your viva go in the end?

Hi, windowsill,

Thanks for your encouragement.. I can't change supervisor, it's far too late. The bit you mentioned on "the stupid phd student wants that we hold their hands all the time", yup, that has already happened... I have been told that I am not independent enough, etc... Anyway, I don't want to go on about how bad they are. I just want to know how to motivate myself. I know there are courageous PhD students out there who persevered even with everything was against them and still emerged with a degree in hand. I was hoping to hear how they did it.

Sounds like you and buru had it tough as well. I guess we all need good luck.

Hi, buru. I meet my supervisors probably monthly, but because my research is not their area of expertise, they have little interest. Due to this, they cannot give me the feedback I need. Therefore, I went down several rabbit holes before I fine tuned my aims, resulting in lost time. The other students who are working in their direct area of expertise are well looked after with frequent feedback via emails at least. So, mine is an isolated case.

I do have structure and defined chapters now, but I do not have enough time left to carry out my experiments. I hope to be able to secure more time but it will all depend on the outcome of my meeting with my coordinator in a few weeks. And yes, I am in my final year. Most people as close to the end as me have completely stopped doing experiments. I still have a mountain to do. I feel that all seem hopeless. The loneliness and the shame of a possible failure are in my face.

Thanks for your reply, windowsill. I have been through all that guideline thing before. Spoken to my then PhD admin/coordinator who asked me to speak to my independent assessors, who asked me to speak to my supervisors again and if the problem is not resolved, then BOTH my supervisor and me can ask for their help (never happen). I did speak to my graduate school a year ago as well. Their advice for me was to quit and start over. As that meant losing my scholarship which I fought so hard for, I could not follow that advice.

I am still hanging on, albeit with the depression. I just don't know how to make me complete this.

Definitely the job! Good luck!

An inexperienced supervisor is not necessarily bad. My friend under a first time supervisor completed his PhD with 2 publications and the most superb supervision one can expect. He also got a job as a post doc 6 months before graduation. On the other hand, it could be really bad if your first time supervisor is really busy trying to prove himself to his colleagues and doing a lot of his own thing, completely ignoring you/treating you as a first in line of his collection of students aka guinea pig, and you having to slough it through solo. In this case, it is better to leave then to be destroyed soul wise.

I agree with buru. Ask for those who had contact with your supervisor on a professional level and see what they think of him. Good luck!

Congrats, Dr Tulip!

The amount of support you receive depends on the type of supervisor you have. If you have a hands off/absent supervisor, you could perhaps expect extremely little. If you have a more involved supervisor, you can perhaps expect someone who could go over your main thesis aims/concept, experimental design and suggest areas of improvement, bearing in mind that you have to suggest the ideas first. If you have a hands off supervisor, I do suggest you look for a mentor who can give you close guidance ASAP as going solo is an extremely painful and time-consuming process. Good luck!

Hi, elnino. I am just wondering, sometimes we are worried because we push ourselves too hard, and other times it is because your gut feeling is telling you that something is wrong. Have you spoken to someone outside your group, another experienced professor/mentor so that he/she can give you an impartial thoughts about your progress? I stress on "outside", someone with no links to your group. If there is reason for concern, then you can always suggest extra help/co-advisor be brought into the team. If there is no reason, then you can put your mind at peace.