During the last few months, much of my spare time has been taken up by applying for jobs. Much of this blog has also been filled with posts on this topic. Well, I have an update on the job search front- I just accepted a position in market research as a research executive (fancy title for research assistant)!
It feels surreal that I am going into the industry that I have had my eye on for a while now. It took some adjusting to realise that despite having a PhD, I still need experience in the industry to land the types of jobs I am aspiring to. I guess I was naive in thinking that a PhD would really set me aside in the employment landscape. But, a graduate position in a company that I have been interested in working with for a long time is the exact start I need.
When you tell people you have landed a job the first question is “HAVE YOU FINISHED THE PHD??!?!” They are confused when I say no. I know that it is odd to take on full time work when a PhD is more than a full time load on its own but there are a few reasons why I decided to start applying for jobs:
1) I needed money- My scholarship is running out and unfortunately being an adult requires money.
2) I am ovvvvvvvvver my PhD- A PhD is so exhausting and overwhelming. Although I am so close to the end, sometimes I still think about giving it up. I am not giving it up- don’t worry (although I wouldn’t blame anyone who does!). But not spending 10 hours in my windowless office each day is the exact change in my life I need to reignite my motivation for finishing my PhD.
3) I am almost #PhDone- I just sent off 5 (out of 7) chapters to my primary supervisor for drafting! (a PhD update post is about to be published so stay tuned for that for more details). Much of what is left for me to do is editing and writing my discussion chapter, so I feel comfortable that I can do this a few hours each night and on the weekends.
So… the next few weeks are going to be incredibly busy as I am going to be in the middle of a marking sh&t storm while starting a new job. Then after that I am going to be juggling work & PhD and I will be sharing the journey as always on the blog.
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