I'd have thought these were questions to ask BEFORE pursuing a PhD. I did, and the answers turned out to be discouraging, but largely true. For many reasons, luck is far more important than ability. Academic jobs are effectively distributed by lot. A lot of excellent people publish AND perish. Idiots rise to high positions. People in high positions do not want competitors.

Universities are largely unpleasant places to be anything other than a non-competitive yea sayer.

Christopher NOCK

She has PhD in Geochemistry and Environment

Try to publish as much from your PhD as possible on your own before data gets stolen or superceded

I'd have thought these were questions to ask BEFORE pursuing a PhD. I did, and the answers turned out to be discouraging, but largely true. For many reasons, luck is far more important than ability. Academic jobs are effectively distributed by lot. A lot of excellent people publish AND perish. Idiots rise to high positions. People in high positions do not want competitors.

Universities are largely unpleasant places to be anything other than a non-competitive yea sayer.

Christopher NOCK

I'd love to disagree with Christopher Nock on this one, alas: I can not! I have to agree, because that is how it is. Of course it seems humble and honorable for us to be taught that performance, quality and knowledge is what it is all about. "Be good at what you do and people will notice. Be great and great opportunities and jobs will come to you!" - That sounds right, but is far from the truth.

Truth is: People often don't get into positions due to their professional quality or qualification. Contacts and networking is everything! Especially in the academic field. It is a lot about writing and publishing and research and presentations for free, hoping to get in touch, get to know people, expand your network and hopefully get involved. This might all sound quite discouraging to you, but it is nevertheless the truth. It is best to prepare for this before even starting your PhD, if you have already started, you should definitely start now to expand your network and even mor so if you have already finished it. There is no "Golden Gate" to success, but be aware that having undertaken a brilliant research and having written and published a marvellous book alone won't be the key to success and yes: academia is no pony farm as the old saying goes ("Life ain't easy!").

Yes, the above answers are right, very right,.... but there is always hope, good people exist and goodness, excellence, will never disappear, may be... goodness, kindness, will bring light to someone's heart and mind,,,, somewhere. Stay hopeful!

Well Nazia, you can always hope for the best, but make sure you plan for the worst!

Anyone pursuing a PhD should try to ensure they also have a non-academic source of income which they can develop if things don't work out.

Nock

Agreed100%, respected sir Christopher Nock.

We live in a globalized era where human communities are connected to each other more than ever before. For young PhD graduates, there are many opportunities available on the international market. However, the expectations are getting very high and the PhD graduates should have a rich C.V. Therefore, PhD graduates should do their best and hope for imminent success. May Lady Luck smile at all PhD graduates.

A key problem in this is the enormous number of PhD places available in many parts of the world. University departments want to fill them all, because they can make money out of them. So there's now too many people with PhDs around much of the world. Too much supply? You can treat applicants as supplicants. Show them little respect. Make them dance....

Nock

It is also time to recognise that, sadly, many of the Ph.D's are unemployable not only because the research is of poor quality but also because they lack the skill sets essential for teaching.

Truth is: People often don't get into positions due to their professional quality or qualification------I add 'political backing is also of great importance' for getting some prestigious posts.

The problem is that sometimes, the quality of work and sceintific production isn't enough to get a position in university ..is a little bit different also from country to country due to differents issues related to university budget, laboratory quality ....

I agree with Dr. Stephan Glienke that is very important to developp and to expand our network (as a student, phD student and researchers) and get involved in differents associations/work and projects related to our field and to others commun field for instance "leadership", "sustainable development" and others field that link all disciplines ...

I find that the secret is not limited on the quality of papers and books but in expanding the network to poeple get know you and know your work ..

Dr. Christopher Nock I agree with what you said in the first comment, in some cases they do not care to the quality but the quantity ... and then as you said (Idiots rise to high positions )

Yes, you've asked a good question, thank you!

Nock

I agree..

If the Ph.D is not taken as an entry ticket to a lucrative job, but as gateway to further research, there may not be dearth in openings.

Hi Nezha,

You might try talking with an executive recruiting firm. Some handle higher education positions.

Have a great day!

--Adrian

A scholar is unfortunately not in a position to do anything about the political bias and the boot-licking that goes on in the academia. What he or she can do is to look for avenues to strengthen her own case, so that when she makes a claim to the job, the claim becomes pretty much unignorable.

Well Nazir, one thing that I did learn many years ago was that a department can always find reasons to hire who they want. Indeed, I was told by senior colleague that no department should advertise before they know who they want.

Add this the fact that much academic hiring is horse trading (we'll take yours if you take ours) and there's very little lee-way for applicants to control anything, I'm afraid.

Nock

When I got my PhD, I will seek the same answer for this question. Hope you will enjoy your PhD title .

After the doctorate:

Start a beautiful professional life, although the title allows you to do activities that you could not do before, the most attractive thing is to be able to help others.

The demands imposed on you by the exercise of the new status are immense, challenging, sometimes even questionable, but they make you grow.

It is important to know how to move in those blurred borders that exist between satisfaction, challenges and health.

It is time for doctoral processes to return more satisfied and healthy professionals to the academy and society, sometimes this is not fulfilled.

It is also time to make sure that in this enveloping knowledge society, in which we live today, the intelligence of the processes is not confused with the intelligence of the people.

The intelligence of the processes, their computerization in itself, imposes an extemporaneous and accelerated learning, therefore mentally unhealthy.

After the doctorate? After the doctorate, you have to think about all those things that disfigure the lives of scientists and, therefore, make young people doubt the convenience of following in our footsteps.

Christopher Nock 'I was told by senior colleague that no department should advertise before they know who they want' - - - - - ground reality in many cases.

'Frame the rules to fit the candidate' is I believe what you are saying which takes us to the other issue of topic selection for doctoral research. Rather than choosing obscure areas which guarantee a degree but nothing else, a smart and savvy student and supervisor opt for relevance - compatible of course with the available expertise. I believe the choice of the institution where the candidate chooses to do her research also matters.

I can agree with that Nazir. But, again, I also fear the benefits for any given individual are marginal.

Still, I'm impressed with your endless optimism! Keep it up.

Nock

Dear Christopher, our young colleague, Nezha must be stepping out with a lot of idealism and optimism, and she shouldn't become disillusioned too soon.

You're quite right to admonish a miserable old man for his pessimism! But, it's my understanding that Nezha already has her PhD (or she's very close)?

And she's been working as a researcher for many years in and around universities. It's my sense she knows of the drawback. If I'm wrong, I apologise to her and you.

Nock

yes, Dr. Nazir Ali I will never give up, I believe that I have an excellent scientific background and production (good papers, a lot of training in and outside Morocco, more than 20 communications......), I am optimism and without any doubt, I will achieve my goals

But this period is the worst one, I've never felt lost like that, I kept asking my self what after the Ph.D, what should I do ? how I can empower my experiences, coz doing research is different from working in laboratory or guiding a project ... is quite diffcult for a young researcher but still not impossible,

I am searching right now to be envolved in projects related to my field, I am a hardworking scientist and researcher.

Thank you for you answers that are very useful pertinent and will without doubt helps and answers all the question in the mind of Ph.D that are recently graduted.

Nezha MEJJAD

Dear Dr. Christopher Nock I have obtained my Ph.D last month (in 27 november 2018), Yes I have worked as a trainee for more than year in nuclear center in Morocco ... i performed differents analysis in this organism ..

Well, many congratulations on finishing your PhD! That is always worth congratulating and celebrating. And I hope things do work out for you!

GOOD LUCK

Nock

Thank you Dear Dr. Christopher Nock , I hope too

No apologies necessary Dr Nock, because, guessing from the reply of Dr Nezha, the youngsters today seem to possess a lot more pluck and grit than ever before.

On my machine, this page is currently bringing up an advert from a "PhD Consultancy" which offers to find you the best PhD project to pursue. Good lord! morganandfrista.co.uk

I wouldn't have thought it possible!

Try to publish as much from your PhD as possible on your own before data gets stolen or superceded

HI,

My advice would be to think very seriously about what is important to you in life. There are a lot of career paths outside academic research that offer greater job security, more time to spend with family and friends, and often, a better salary. There is also a pretty high attrition rate in academia. As a rule of thumb, only about half the people at any one level proceed to the next level of academic research. About half the people finishing a PhD will pursue a first post doc. Of the people pursuing a first post-doc, approximately half will get a second, of those, about half will get an assistant professorship.... I guess you get the idea.

As scientific research is ever more globalised, one of the most important attributes I can think of is willingness to live in other countries for extended periods. Its possible to have a successful career working in only one country, but in my experience, the people who succeed in academia are those who have worked overseas for significant (say 6+ months) periods of time. I'm not sure if this is a causal or correlative relationship, but it does seem to be a reasonable predictor of success in academic research. Others have mentioned the importance of networking, I couldn't agree more with this. The more people who know of and respect your work, the more opportunities are likely to come your way.

Sincerely,

Martyn

Thank you so much Professor Martyn N. Futter,

I appreciate your feedback,

Your Idea is well received

Best regards

Nezha

I fully agree with Dr. Christopher Nock and Dr. Martyn N. Futter , one should be more realistic but also positive and optimistic at the same time. After getting my PhD, I will continue my research work (good publications, training, etc.) to develop a good CV and also try as much as possible to expand relevant professional networks to increase the opportunities to get an academic job in my country or to conclude a teaching contract abroad.

Try working as a researcher for a company

Some people are reluctant to join industry, but those working as a researcher for a company may well have better opportunities than those working for a university – they have access to the latest , what’s most important is the quality of your research and the quality of your publications. You can publish papers while working in a university or for a company.