Hi guys, just wanted to 'pop by' after having my viva on Wednesday to say that I passed with minor corrections! So it can be done! ;) Good luck to you all for the final stages, you will get there!!

Thank you! I have to say I actually kind of enjoyed the viva as well haha. I submitted at the end of July.

Hi guys, just wanted to 'pop by' after having my viva on Wednesday to say that I passed with minor corrections! So it can be done! ;) Good luck to you all for the final stages, you will get there!!

Zutterfly - My abstract was one page long but the length was specified in my university's guidance on thesis formatting and submission so it might be worth checking if there's a standard required length at your university!

I'm hesitant to give advice as I don't know if things are different in different fields. I'm in social sciences and have asked several people if they think having the thesis online has/would affect their chances to get published in the future. The answers I've got have ranged from 'I never even considered not having it online' to 'You should absolutely not do it as you won't get published.' I do know though that some journals in my field put any articles sent to them through plagiarism software and if the percentage of 'plagiarised material' is over a certain number the article would be rejected outright. So I figured better safe than sorry and put a 3-year embargo on mine.

I'd probably ask other people in your field for their advice. On one hand it's a shame not to be able to put something you've worked on for so long out there but of course, it's the journal articles people are going to be reading realistically.

Also, congratulations, must feel amazing to be submitting the final copy!

Hugh - Yes, we have that 30-month rule too. If I hear nothing by the end of the week I'll send the chair an email. I just want it to be over!! I'm actually working, got a research associate position at the same uni where I did (do) my PhD. Been here a few months, had to finish the thesis while working which wasn't the easiest. Really just want to move on now and focus on the new research I'm doing! Starting to prepare for the viva now as well after a wee break.

Chickpea - Yes! I definitely struggled! If I'm perfectly honest for me it was a sort of a 'meh, I don't even care anymore' feeling haha. Got a bit of a second wind once I'd complied it all into one document though. It finally felt 'real' and then I just wanted to get it off my hands asap so that motivated me. Good luck with the chapter!

Proof reading is the worst! Good luck with it all, at least you can take that outside with you and enjoy the sunshine! Well, if you're terrible like me and print it out haha. I just don't spot typos on the screen so sort of had to. Double sided and four pages on each sheet though to minimise the damage!

I'm just waiting for my viva date now. It'll be a month on Monday since I submitted and nothing, I wonder if this is normal...

You've already been given some great advice, I just wanted to add a tiny little thing to SallyK's suggestion of using the STAR method. I've personally found it really helpful in the past but I usually also add a short bit at the end where I explain what I learnt from the situation I've described.

Congratulations on getting the interview, that's a great achievement! I'll keep my fingers crossed!!

Sorry to hear that and good luck for future interviews! I agree with Tudor_Queen and personally I always, always ask for feedback. I think it's a great way to find out what you could improve on next time. I know it's gutting and it's a cliche but really, learning from it is the best thing you can get out of it! :)

Haha I suppose not. I was more emphasising that as you weren't too keen on the look of the campus. The Strathclyde halls I've visited are pretty much a continuation of the look of that...

This might give you an idea: http://www.holiday-weather.com/glasgow/averages/ It's all relative I guess, I'm from a colder country but people who aren't do say it's cold haha. I've been to some of the on-campus accommodation for parties etc. I mean it's certainly not glamourous, just standard halls of residence stuff. But it is a good place to meet people of course! I'm happy to provide more advice on nice areas etc. if you do decide to make the move, just PM me. :) Good luck with the decision making!

icarus93 - Oh you definitely don't sound like a snob, rankings are important! But I would seriously consider the rankings of the department and its reputation/the reputation of the people you'd be working with over general rankings. I know I keep going on about Glasgow but honestly, it's such a lovely place. I don't know if you've been to the west end but it's beautiful, with nice parks and coffee shops etc. You wouldn't have to live near the campus, the west end for example is only a couple of stops away on the subway. The south side also has some great areas and it's cheaper. And the people of Glasgow are so nice, I'm sure you'd feel right at home. :)

Ooh, I'll keep my fingeres crossed for you! My CV is only 2 pages long, I've been told to not go over that. Although I'm not sure if there's more leeway for academic CVs... I also don't think I ever sent off an actual CV so basically, don't listen to me haha. The cover letter sounds about right from my experience, does the job advert not specify a length? From what I remember they usually did and this was generally 1-2 pages.

In terms of reputation, I was under the impression that Strathclyde is very highly regarded for engineering? It's not my field but I have a friend who did his engineering degree at Glasgow uni but specifically wanted to do a PhD at Strathclyde rather than Glasgow uni just because it has such a good reputation for that subject. I understand that it generally doesn't rank very highly in the type of general 'best universities in the UK' lists but I don't think you should let that deter you if they're known to be good for subject you're doing. That's the only piece of advice I can give really.

And oh, Glasgow is such a great city, don't let the campus deter you! I'm at Glasgow uni which I guess is seen as pretty but really, that's just the old buildings. My office building is absolutely awful and an eye sore haha. But there's so much fun and loveliness here it doesn't matter.

Yep, in fact I'm submitting my thesis only today haha. Just ran out of money basically. And as others have said, filling in applications does get easier with time, it becomes more of a copy paste exercise as most essential and desirable qualities are fundamentally the same. The main thing I found frustrating was how every job has a different system where you have to fill in everything on your CV into boxes and it takes aaaaages to do. What happened to sending off your super professional CV that you worked on for ages? haha

I can relate to this, I've felt that one of mine in particular just had no awareness of the fact that once your funding runs out you need to make some actual money haha. Then I found out through someone else that his PhD took him 8(!) years, full time! So that explains it...

In terms of job hunting, I know how disheartening it can be. I started applying in February this year (while doing my PhD full time) and applied for maybe 20-30 jobs. But I got a research associate job in May, was initially meant to be for 8 months but I managed to have it extended by 4 by writing a research proposal for the project that essentially listed all the great things I could do if I just had more time haha. You can do it! Eventually the rejections didn't even feel as bad, I guess as my expectations lowered haha. I'm also unsure of wether or not I want to stay in academia but I'm gonna try to keep my options open by trying to publish articles during this post doc. Then see what happens...