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Westwardho_2

lynzpower wrote: »

I agree with others. I would at the least carry on with the PHD for a while, along with trying to find some part time office work, such as weekend work. If you truly want to leave your PHD to work in a call centre part time or in administration, youlll be gaining skills at the same time. If you are applying for PT work ( esp the under 16 hours stuff) then the money will be an additional earner, and as it wont be your "main" job then you can simply say, like most students that you need a bit of extra cash.

Truly at the end of it you might end up loving admin or whatever and truly follow that path in confidence.

Would that be possible?

I really don't have time for a part-time job. :-(

I work on my PhD from 8am until about 6.30-7pm on weekdays and most weekends for at least 2-3 hours. As well as not having the time to give to a part-time job, the work that I do doesn't allow me to commit regular hours to a job and sometimes I don't know whether I will be free the weekend until Friday afternoon. I don't think any employer is going to stand for that.

Also, as an aside, would having a part-time job affect my council tax exemption status?

lynzpower

Im not sure about the council tax.

But I know plenty of people who work full time and also have a part time job in the evenings and weekends. I worked really hard when I did my undergrad degree and also worked 25 hours a week as well.Im not suggesting you do this, but there are many ( i dont know where you are tho) "bitty" jobs- 6 hours a week? that might be possible, such as a saturday morning.

The DWP I would guess would see you as giving up a job if your Studentship is paid? Im not sure just a hunch.

Oldernotwiser

Sorry, but I have to ask this - if you're putting all these hours on your PhD, why is it going so badly and your data is "too sketchy" for an MPhil?

Westwardho_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Sorry, but I have to ask this - if you're putting all these hours on your PhD, why is it going so badly and your data is "too sketchy" for an MPhil?

All of the work that I am putting in is to get loads and loads of controls. But a lot of the time they don't work for various reasons (sh*t material, human error etc.) which is why there's not enough data for a thesis.

All of the controls are for a handful of experiments and my upgrade panel are going to ask why I have only been concentrating on these few and why I haven't been doing more diverse work. But the lab that I am in has no money so the work that I'm doing is really limited because I can't do anything that costs too much money because the lab has no money for materials!

Westwardho_2

lynzpower wrote: »

Im not sure about the council tax.

But I know plenty of people who work full time and also have a part time job in the evenings and weekends. I worked really hard when I did my undergrad degree and also worked 25 hours a week as well.Im not suggesting you do this, but there are many ( i dont know where you are tho) "bitty" jobs- 6 hours a week? that might be possible, such as a saturday morning.

The DWP I would guess would see you as giving up a job if your Studentship is paid? Im not sure just a hunch.

My problem is that I can't commit to any regular hours. So I couldn't say to a company 'I can work for three or four hours on Saturday morning' because most of the time I won't know whether I will be free on Saturday mornings until the Friday afternoon or evening.

lynzpower

Well Ok then if you really cant make time to work part time, then youll have to concentrate on the option that you do have.

Which is carry on with your PHD/ MPhil and mke it work
Or leave and try and get work in a call centre/ office work etc.

I would suggest, although I dont know that you might not be able to get some benefits ( although CTB you should get and maybe some LHA if you are not earning. Im really not sure whether you will get JSA.

Are you applying for admin jobs? Have you been to the agencies to see what they have. One agency my freind rang last week said they are not taking new names for the forseeable future. I dont know where you are but you might want to be aware of this?

Westwardho_2

lynzpower wrote: »

Well Ok then if you really cant make time to work part time, then youll have to concentrate on the option that you do have.

Which is carry on with your PHD/ MPhil and mke it work
Or leave and try and get work in a call centre/ office work etc.

I would suggest, although I dont know that you might not be able to get some benefits ( although CTB you should get and maybe some LHA if you are not earning. Im really not sure whether you will get JSA.

Are you applying for admin jobs? Have you been to the agencies to see what they have. One agency my freind rang last week said they are not taking new names for the forseeable future. I dont know where you are but you might want to be aware of this?

I don't know anything about benefits at all! What is CTB? And LHA? Does having a bit of savings preclude you from claiming benefits?

I went to a couple of agencies this morning. One said that they wouldn't take me on because of my lack of experience and the other said that I should just e-mail a CV although she didn't give any real indication of how likely it was that I'd find a job through them!

The first one said that the job centre would be the best bet from finding a job to gain some experience but I have been to the job centre a couple of times and they always say that I am over qualified for the positions that they have available! :mad:

lynzpower

LHA is local housing allowance.

CTB- council tax benefit.

Oh I didnt realise you had savings, many people who come here dont. It canpreclude, absolutely, as youll be expected to use your savings first, but it depends how much you have. Im not the best person to ask either!others are much more skilled in this sort of thing.

Yes undoubtably you will find it hard to get a job, after all youll be going up against others with experience, that really is the problem. Thats why I was suggesting trying to find some alternative work experience of some sort to get on your CV.

Oldernotwiser

Savings below £6,000 don't affect means tested benefits, savings above £16,000 stop them altogether. Between the two, they're affected on a sliding scale.

If you do decide to terminate your degree and go on benefits, for heavens sake start doing some substantial voluntary work to get some relevant experience and a reference. I can't believe how someone of your age can be so clueless about the real world!

Westwardho_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Savings below £6,000 don't affect means tested benefits, savings above £16,000 stop them altogether. Between the two, they're affected on a sliding scale.

If you do decide to terminate your degree and go on benefits, for heavens sake start doing some substantial voluntary work to get some relevant experience and a reference. I can't believe how someone of your age can be so clueless about the real world!

Looks like I won't be eligable for any benefits then

I'm just curious as to how you are able to come to the conclusion that I am clueless about the real world?

I came on here asking for some advice about my lack of experience and references. I have been completely open and honest about my situation and I have received some really helpful comments. But I don't see how saying something like I am 'clueless' and the 'real world' is at all helpful for my original query. Moreover, I have no idea how you have been able to come to that conclusion based on a few postings on a moneysaving forum- you know absolutely nothing about me so please don't judge me based on very limited evidence.