Onwards
Getting started is a big hurdle as too will be staying the course. Insights, guidance, tips and tricks from seasoned PhDers will help make your PhD pathway easier, pain free and potentially more enjoyable.
Your PhD, your way. You’ve weighed up the considerations and decided on a PhD. Now it’s time to take ownership of that decision so you get through the next few years in good mental, financial and academic shape.
Get to where you want to be with the insider tips to help you to PhD completion.
Listen to Thesis Whisperer Professor Inger Mewburn in conversation with Page X Page founder Alexander O’Hara in this podcast for relevant, useful and insightful guidance to completing your PhD.
“Loved the structure of the content, broken into manageable chunks with lots of practical tips and a summary of key learning and action steps. The engaging interview with Inger Mewburn is inspiring.”
Post-Doctoral Researcher
National University of Ireland, Galway
“Individual conversations with Dr. O’Hara were instrumental in shaping the initial stages of my PhD journey. He is not only knowledgeable and experienced, but also very approachable and supportive. I find his mentoring inspirational and encouraging.”
PhD candidate in Theology,
Oral Roberts University, Oklahoma
Should I do a PhD?
Short answer is No. 80% of people should not do a PhD especially in the current environment in Higher Education and the academic job market. Do the PhD if you really, really want to have an academic career in which case it is a pre-requisite (but learn about the academic job market first in advance), if it’s a must for your future career path, or if you want to achieve the PhD as a personal challenge in and of itself. For most people a research Masters is sufficient. Don’t do a PhD if you have to go into debt. I recently advised a talented computer developer not to pursue a PhD because a research Masters was sufficient for his future career path in the private sector.
Should I Quit?
It depends at what stage you are at and how much it is costing you financially, emotionally, and in terms of opportunity cost. I recently advised a PhD student who was in his third year and who was thinking about quitting, not to, but recommended he transfer university and change supervisor which he was not aware he could do. There were systemic issues with the institution he was based at, but rather than dropping out there were other avenues open to him which he had not been aware of. If someone is relatively advanced on their PhD I recommend persevering and completing it. A cardinal rule I advise students is not to go into financial debt to do a PhD – anything in excess of $20,000.
Why did no one tell me what the PhD process would be like?
One of the complaints you often hear from students is: “Why wasn’t I told this before? or “Why didn’t anyone tell me this at the beginning?” The reason you weren’t told is because universities want your money. Many enthusiastic and talented students are lured into PhD programs on the false premise that there will be jobs at the end. Sadly, this is not the case and many newly minted PhDs have a hard knock when their expectations come into contact with reality. When you set out, nobody tells you about the academic culture and what it is like. Many students rush in to do a PhD with a blind romanticism and commitment to their field but without a clear understanding of what an academic career entails or what the demands of The System are like. Most Professors won’t tell you about this because it is not in their interests to do so.
How do I get a job after the PhD?
Short answer: building and cultivating your network. If you are contemplating a non-academic career path the PhD will look impressive on your CV and might appeal to some employers, but it will not be the determining factor in your success in the job market. While getting a PhD places you in an elite – about 1% of the population have PhDs – you will need to further distinguish yourself. A PhD is not enough. You do this through the hard and soft skills that you have developed, again through connections and your network, and through the experience that you have built up. This, together with your PhD, will be what gets you a job. By achieving your PhD you will have shown to others and most importantly to yourself that you have the discipline, the project management skills, the focus, and the intelligence to successfully stay the course. You will learn valuable analytical skills, how to work independently, how to break down a big project into manageable chunks, how to monitor and track progress, how to communicate effectively, and how to build networks.
How can I learn to write better?
The PhD is designed to make you into a professional researcher and writer. It’s an academic apprenticeship so it’s meant to be a learning process. Professional writers and scholars have routines that enable them to maximize their effectiveness and to make the process of writing easier. You will need to find and create your own routine. This is easier said than done and requires trial and error to find a routine that works for you – and discipline to stick to it. But it is critical that you establish a writing schedule early on that matches your working style and energy levels. If you are a morning person, plan your writing period in the morning – if an evening person, have it in the evening. Find out the routines of leading scholars and you have a clue to their success. Start small first – the whole purpose of creating a schedule is to inculcate the habit of writing so that it becomes automatic. Getting started is always the hardest and that’s way you need to make writing a habit. Writing needs to be done daily – even if you only write 200 words.
Page X Page has been devised and developed by a seasoned educator and author (Alexander O’Hara) who has both completed a PhD and supervised PhD students. Seeing the academic and personal challenges that students face throughout the duration of their PhD project and the high rate of burn out and drop out associated with PhDs propelled Alexander to create an accessible and modular online management tool and process to support students to efficiently complete their PhDs.
Students who access Page X Page’s resources get access to online management tools and processes to chart their PhD project. They also become part of the wider Page X Page PhD community which supports each other with academic queries, experience, reassurance and proactive direction, helping each other to stay on track.
Get the inside track from the Thesis Whisperer on what steps to take now and during your PhD to ensure success.
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