Dr Who???

gemnjam

I'm just finishing up a doctorate in environmental engineering and am currently searching for a job (been on the lookout for ~2 months now) - I have applied to approx 100 vacancies so far from which I have secured only 5 interviews.

Of these 1 is tomorrow, 1 was for a self employed consultant role which is an avenue I don't really wish to pursue (ad made it sound like a normal company employee role), 2 others I haven't heard anything back from despite them being about 4 weeks ago (I am currently chasing them up for a response) and 1 I got rejected from (have requested some interview feedback from this 1).

I seem to either get the response from people that I'm overqualified for the job or that I don't have sufficient work experience and am really starting to wonder whether this doctorate is actually worth anything?

I'm really starting to feel desperate now as I literally have funding til the end of this month and then nothing but still have the mortgage and childcare to pay etc.

To top it off DH just heard this week that they plan to get rid of 1/4 of the people at his place doing the same job he is although they will try hard not to make anyone redundant but want to relocate jobs (and pay you extra for any extra travel this causes - which is v reasonable of them) and will make any final decisions in April. Hubby says there is a job going at another site which isn't too far from us and I want him to go for it but he wants to sit tight & see how things pan out and this is causing me extra stress as I can see us both being unemployed next year at this rate.

Sorry this has turned into a bit of a rant when what I really wanted to do was ask if anyone had some more imaginative ideas of how I could look for work as online boards, company websites, speculative CVs and agencies don't seem to be getting me far

TIA

Emmzi

what does the university careers office say?

and do they have any teaching work?

tried OU lecturing? p/t

MrsManda

Do you have any experience alongside your doctorate?

What was your first degree in?

Have you spoken to your university to see if they have any opportunities or contacts?

How far are you willing to travel? If your husband is likely to be being made redundant have you considered applying further afield and relocating?

Are you looking at vacancies on websites such as NHS, Environment Agency, Health Protection Agency, Department of Health, New Scientist, Institute of Environmental Science, councils and universities?

What roles are you looking at, have you widened your search beyond environmental engineering?

Are you tailoring your CV/applications to the job?

Try not to despair, at least you are getting some interviews

gemnjam

Thanks both for your replies - the uni careers office has been helpful in sorting out my CV etc but not in suggesting vacancies to pursue. I hadn't considered OU and looking this evening they have 2 courses in "Practical environmental scicence" (their spelling mistake not mine) and "Practical science: earth and environment" which look worth giving a shot but I understand its v competitive to get these positions and it still wouldn't really be enough money but better than nothing.

MrsManda wrote: »

Do you have any experience alongside your doctorate? Not really - only a 6 month admin job between school & uni and weekend work and being on the committee of my sports club. My doctorate has been industry sponsored though so I have had to work with them and have been emphasising this as work experience on my CV & at interviews

What was your first degree in?geology

Have you spoken to your university to see if they have any opportunities or contacts?as above

How far are you willing to travel? I will travel anywhere in England but we have a house with 2 year fixed mortgage and kids so don't want to move away but I will travel up on Mondays and back on Fridays if necessaryIf your husband is likely to be being made redundant have you considered applying further afield and relocating?Hopefully that was just me being melodramatic and he won't actually get made redundant as they don't want the cost of paying of redundancy and do need bods in other offices which are still quite local (London & SE)

Are you looking at vacancies on websites such as NHS, Environment Agency, Health Protection Agency, Department of Health, New Scientist, Institute of Environmental Science, councils and universities?Yes I have checked these all and regularly pop back in case anything new comes up

What roles are you looking at, have you widened your search beyond environmental engineering?No I've only considered env eng as this is what my qualifications are in although it is q a broad field and I have applied to areas within it which are not necessarily directly related to what I am already doing

Are you tailoring your CV/applications to the job?Not really as far as the CV goes - a couple of times I've altered it a bit but for most of them i leave it as is as its mostly just factual and just change the cover letter to relate to the position. Where there is an application form then these have to be done on case-by-case basis anyway and are tailored to the job

Try not to despair, at least you are getting some interviewsI suppose so - got my feedback today from the 1 I didn't get and apparently they really liked me and thought I cam across and expressed myself well and confidently etc but just had already interviewed more candidates with more relevant experience which makes me feel a bit better although really it doesn't change a thing!

bristol_pilot

Oil and gas industry is the obvious one.

Sambucus_Nigra

The recession will end - whereas you will have your doctorate forever.

gemnjam

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Oil and gas industry is the obvious one.

Unfortunately there isn't really anything I can do in that field - they're primarily after sedimentologists which I'm not.

I called up today to chase my interviews where I hadn't heard anything and found out I wasn't successful for 1 and the other one they hadn't made any decisions but HR said they'd chase it up, however the position is still advertised on the company's website so I'm guessing they've not been too impressed with any of the candidates yet so am not holding out much hope there either.

I went to my other interview yesterday and it went appallingly - I got tongue-tied a couple of times and flustered and think I ended up looking a right fool so I'm not expecting any joy there either and am ow feeling totally wretched as I've nothing else on the horizon right now and the end of the month is rapidly approaching and I just want to cry

Sambucus_Nigra

Which questions did you flounder on?

gemnjam

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Which questions did you flounder on?

It wasn't really a case of specific questions causing me problems -more just an overall effect whereby I wasn't relaxed and able to think things through clearly and explain them in the manner I normally would. I think part of it may have been ghe fact that I really wanted this job & had managed to work myself up a bit over it.

Also, it was a kind of assessment day rather than just an interview & I was sent to do the role play 1st which was something which couldn't be prepared for as no details were given (the letter just said there would be a role play & nothing more) and it really threw me and impacted on my confidence

penrhyn

Any interest here?

http://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/vacancies.html

Mistral001

You could try some of the big firms of multi-disciplinary firms of consulting civil engineers such as Building Design Partnership, Arup, White Young Green, Atkins etc.