PhD ≈ a-OK
Today’s been two days in one.
It’s not that I’m particularly busy, since I couldn’t honestly claim that this is the case. It’s just that my day in the office started at 06:30 and is scheduled to finish at 22:15.
This was totally the norm three years ago, when I was covering three positions. My timesheet once showed 92.25 hours once.
Somebody once asked me how it’s possible to work 92.25 hours in a single week, so here’s a quick explanation:
- Saturday, Sunday, Monday = 15 hours
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday = 13 hours
- Friday = 8.25 hours
I’m not slipping into bad habits though: I’ve had a few hours off around lunchtime.
So how does this pertain to now?
Well, I went home around 13:00. Just before nipping to the gym, I had a look at the post, and saw one from the University of Leicester.
I’ve been waiting for them to get in touch for a couple of weeks, since my PhD proposal has been with them.
The good news is that I’ve received an unconditional offer to start my PhD on September 29th 
I’m really looking forward to getting underway with it, but there’s a potential spanner to be thrown in the works: I’ll only do it if I’m successful at interview for a job in the department to run concurrently, since I’ll have to give up my current job.
I learned this lesson when doing my MSc a few years back, since I somehow combined five or six shifts at work, eight to twelve hours’ teaching, attendance at lectures and tutorials, and the studying itself together every week. The pace meant that I wasn’t able to give my studies as much attention as I ought, and that’s a mistake that I won’t be repeating.
In short, I *need* the job with the department, because I’m not prepared to live without earnings.
I *should* be fine. I’ve done the job before and have a very strong application. It’s the waiting for confirmation of interview that’s frustrating me. I just want it out the way, so that I can formally quit my current job and think about settling down with Radio
Tags: PhD
September 18th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Whoooh, that’s amazing news!
Unfortunately your taste in smilies is so poor I can’t adequately express my pleasure 
But that really is fantastic, I’m very relieved!
Hmmm. Well, maybe this is your excuse to get in touch with the uni and find out when you’re likely to be notified. I mean, presumably they want you to respond to them to say whether you’re taking up the place, and you can’t do that until you know about the job….
September 19th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Best wishes. Gratulojn. When do you find out if you’ve got the job?
September 19th, 2008 at 12:37 am
I’m going to mail the head of department tomorrow, just to double check that my application didn’t get lost in the mail.
I know that it didn’t, of course, but it’s normal to be uncertain whilst waiting. The fact that they only confirmed my PhD today (when the heads of department at Leicester and Sheffield were my referees, and the head at Leicester had already agreed verbally in May) and the course starts on September 29th gives you an idea of how late things are left.
Bearing in mind that I won’t be needed to teach until mid-October, I’m obviously being a bit impatient.
Last time I worked for them, it was interview, shake hands, sign contract, teach, all in short order, and they’ll likely operate along a similar timeframe here.
I need to know though, because my fees are deducted straight from the salary, and I won’t go ahead without the job.
Thanks for the gratuloj. Who’s to say our paths won’t cross professionally? My research revolves heavily around the linguistic aspects (and their effect on concept formation) of languages from all over the world, most from family groups about which I know very little, so there’s a tonne of cross-over there
Edit: Hey, you finally posted a comment that didn’t need me to approve it! I assume it’s because you didn’t include a link, although the settings on the spam guard are supposed to only be triggered by two or more links anyway, so it’s rather daft.