31-01-2002 05:12									#1
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Well a lot has transpired over the past couple of weeks since my absence. Yeah, I decided to come back, so I could get advice from this massive pool of wisdom that is Apolyton

As you are all aware, I went across to visit Stew in Aberystwyth last weekend, but not without reason. I needed the break to get away from it all as things have reached a point of no return with regards to my PhD and I have decided to quit after a considerable amount of thought. I am finding the support and backup unsatisfactory and the working conditions for research appalling. There just aren't adequate facilities to carry out my research effectively and I feel stifled and held back, and I honestly doubt I will get the thing finished to any standard. So when I get it in the neck about delays that are out of my control in the form of a letter, which has said I am being dropped from a Ph.D to an M.Phil, I was completely disgusted. Yes, very little work has been done since the beginning of December and very little of it has been in my control. NHS/University bureaucracy, delays, uncertainty about course of research has delayed me considerably. And I feel that the point of no return has been crossed at the end of last week and I have made my decision and am sticking to it.

Anyway, what advice am I after you may ask? Job advice of course! You are a varied lot, what kind of stuff do you reckon would suit my aptitude and my personality. It is difficult to tell you everything that needs to be said about myself to fire away, prod and poke until you get the information you need. Or if you have any more interesting ideas than a pure 'job' I want to hear. I don't consider this so much the end of my academic life, but more the beginning of a new chapter. I just hope it is a more successful one than the previous.

	31-01-2002 05:17									#2
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Welcome back Mr. Penguinator


So you wanna go out and be a productive member of thy society huh?

Brace yourself it's tough but it's worth it

Good luck


(this is an initial general encouragement)

	31-01-2002 05:18									#3
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I love your avantar.

	31-01-2002 05:19									#4
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They all come back.

	31-01-2002 05:21									#5
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Well, I don't have a buggeration of a clue about what you should do, but I sympathise and wish you well.

And in the Beatles' words: "Oh that magic feeling, nowhere to go".

Do you have money to travel with?

	31-01-2002 05:21									#6
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I love you all. I couldn't leave my babies like that

So, any ideas? I dunno if I want to go back into research, not just yet anyway...

	31-01-2002 05:23									#7
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quote: Originally posted by Seneca Do you have money to travel with?

Now that would be really cool, getting out somewhere else, seeing the world, but it is just getting the finances. I only have that £3700 laying around in the bank...

...erm wait a minute

	31-01-2002 05:25									#8
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Get a job in a pub or something until summer, and then take a long-ish break...

	31-01-2002 05:26									#9
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Christ on a bike, mate, that'll last you months in Europe - if you don't mind youth hostels of course...

If I had that much cash and free time, you wouldn't see me for dust...

	31-01-2002 05:27									#10
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That's the same thing I told him Stew....get a job as a bartender.

	31-01-2002 05:28									#11
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Yeah, I definitely wouldn't mind a bit of extra money from a simple job like bartending. But in the long term I would like a decent job, christ knows what mind you...

	31-01-2002 05:32									#12
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Oh - he's back

Here in Australia most PhD's eventually find gainful employment as gardeners and cleaners. You could get a headstart by skipping the degree and going straight into manual labour.

	31-01-2002 05:38									#13
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Yeah, I'm back

Well this was the feeling I was getting about my PhD, that I was doing something so specific it wouldn't be of any use anyway, that I was bored to tears with it, it was tedious in the end, and really making me miserable (and affecting my health, I've had a cold constantly for the past 5 months), and a time came to just get away from it all.

	31-01-2002 05:58									#14
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Advice I didn't follow: do whatever you want to do while you can. Sooner or later some young girlie will take a fancy to you and you'll have a mortgage and kids and you won't be able to leave your job even if you wanted to.

	31-01-2002 06:08									#15
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Too true AH, and this is the way I looked at it. I just live with my mother so I have no rent/mortgage obligations. The only constraint I have is a car that could be sold if things got bad enough. I also have a reasonable amount of money to keep me going for a while. So I am certain I can manage, and get out whilst I can and look for something better.

	31-01-2002 06:10									#16
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quote: Originally posted by David Floyd That's the same thing I told him Stew....get a job as a bartender.

wouldn't that be like putting a career criminal in charge of security at a jewelry store?

	31-01-2002 06:13									#17
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quote: Originally posted by H Tower wouldn't that be like putting a career criminal in charge of security at a jewelry store?

	31-01-2002 06:16									#18
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Move to Prague - there's an entire mini-economy there, where all the Anglo/Irish earn money working in the expat bars and then spend all their money in the expat bars.

	31-01-2002 06:21									#19
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quote: Originally posted by Provost Harrison Too true AH, and this is the way I looked at it. I just live with my mother so I have no rent/mortgage obligations. The only constraint I have is a car that could be sold if things got bad enough. I also have a reasonable amount of money to keep me going for a while. So I am certain I can manage, and get out whilst I can and look for something better.

One thing I would do whilst staying with mummy is buy a house and pay off as much of it as you can before you marry.

	31-01-2002 07:26									#20
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We really should've done a betting pool on when he'd be back... but I think he's outlived our expectations for staying away anyhew

What is it with disillusioned graduates of similar subjects to what I'm studying? The first told me how crap his degree is, and PH has dumped his PhD! (And not to mention the PhD student demonstrator who was guiding my group in lab switched to get away from us... bah )

	31-01-2002 07:30									#21
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I've yet to meet anyone who enjoyed their PhD.

Three-plus years studying one itty-bitty thing would drive me mad, too.

	31-01-2002 07:31									#22
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Provost: Perhaps you should study proctology. I think they always need people.

	31-01-2002 07:39									#23
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Proctology. Hmm. That reminds me.

******************

A guy got pulled over past a bridge for speeding. The policeman pulls him over, and asks why he was in such a worry. The guy says, "Well, I'm a doctor on my way to an appointment." The doctor asks, "What kind of doctor are you?" The guy replies, "A proctologist - that means I insert a big pair of pliers into people's *******s and widen them until they're about six feet wide." The cop's eyes get real big, and he says "Whoa. What would you do with a 6 foot *******??" The doctor says, "Give him a radar gun and put him on a bridge!"

	31-01-2002 08:24									#24
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quote: Originally posted by Provost Harrison . Yes, very little work has been done since the beginning of December and very little of it has been in my control. NHS/University bureaucracy, delays, .

Univeristy admins and faculty snots can realyy carry themselves away into little egomanic fantasy kingdoms, can't they? From what I hear it is pretty much the same at all public funded universities, and a significant fraction of the private ones.

	31-01-2002 10:01									#25
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1: come to the United States
2: work at a phamaceutical company
3: all of the above.

	31-01-2002 10:11									#26
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You should get a job as a hobo.

	31-01-2002 11:54									#27
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science/drug company research

	31-01-2002 12:29									#28
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First, you'll never find out what you want to do by living at home. Move out. Far out.

In my case, I left my Ph.D. program at UCLA early (with an MA in English Lit.) and said: "Screw it. I'm moving to Korea. I've never been there. I really don't know anybody there. I don't have a job there just yet ... but I'm going because I want overseas experience in Asia."

The pieces fell into place from there. It's amazing how many things come together once you point yourself in a direction that interests you and then start walking. And as AH rightly points out, without a wife or kids, you can put a few years into ANYTHING without anything to lose.

So do it!!! Surely there is something that really interests you but you've always told yourself "I don't even know where to start." Just start. Period.

	31-01-2002 12:34									#29
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Thought provoking answers here Provost. Lucky you have this pool of intellect to tap into. Perhaps I can add something of value.

First you have to decide what you want more out of working. Money or satisfaction. Prioritise whether you want to spend 10 hours a day raking in the green or else you want a better/more stimulating/interesting lifestyle. Not to say of course you cannot combine the two, but you have to be lucky for that. I'm assuming you are not lucky. Balancing money vs lifestyle can often serve to eliminate (or open up) a whole stack of options. I find looking at career choices in this way quite useful. [Example: in my current job I get paid well but work rather long hours. I enjoy the work but that does not necessarily alleviate its crushing effect on my personal life. In the long term I would like to trade off salary for other benefits, such as perhaps working in hospitality as managing a resort or hotel, where the lifestyle is the main reward I seek. Through this analysis I know what kind of work I should seek now, and also in say 20 years time.]

Then you should take a long hard look at yourself and figure out what you want. Easier said than done I know, but no one on this board, or indeed anywhere, can get inside your head and decide things for you like what you enjoy.

Then you should talk to friends/family and various people who actually know you better than some guy on the internet. Get their ideas. Talking to people with lifestyles radically different to your can often be surprisingly thought provoking. They could bring an angle you haven't thought of.

Finally you have to combine all that and choose a career path that best matches your personality, priorities, and personal strengths. In other words, mixing the best of what you enjoy doing, what you want to get out of it, and what you are good at.

Thats the best I can help I'm afraid. If you are still stuck and don't know what to do then perhaps you may want to invest time in getting to know yourself better. Drive somewhere by yourself with a fistful of cash and spend time alone. Go to a small town, or an isolated beach, and just ponder life.

I wish you the best.

	31-01-2002 14:55									#30
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