Don't know what to do

[Greenspace81]

Any ideas would be appreciated. Feeling very lost, vulnerable and scared as I near the end of a fixed-term post. Studied to PhD as a single parent and after a long-term RA role don't know what to do next (fellowship proposal not funded).

Am a qual researcher from a social science background. Enjoy and am good at research, writing and analysis but would also like to be more creative. Have struggled with MH working remotely and would like more contact and structure.

Need to take action but am paralysed by the fear that I am about to crash out.

Are there any jobs you can apply for in academia or elsewhere?

Can you find a not work creative outlet?

if you are a Qual researcher, do you have skills in data analysis and stats? there are LOTS of jobs in that area - look up 'data science' etc. If you can use R or Matlab or Python or SPSS, there are options that pay pretty well and would not be hard for someone who is able to wrangle a big messy dataset into a t-test or regression.

if the data analytics side isn't your favourite, then you could also look at things like charity sector (policy / etc) or government etc.

does your university have a careers service? look them up.

and you can also look on jobs.ac.uk for advertised postdocs if that appeals.

or you could go for a lectureship if you want to stay within a university environment. there can be opportunities to do interesting research alongside various bits of teaching / admin etc.

Hi OP

Let's take your post step-by-step.

Feeling very lost, vulnerable and scared as I near the end of a fixed-term post. Studied to PhD as a single parent and after a long-term RA role don't know what to do next (fellowship proposal not funded)
>First, massive well done on getting your PhD as a single-parent. Great work, you're clearly driven and ambitious! I'm very sorry to read that you're not in a good place.
>I'm not sure how realistic a 'long-term RA role' is TBH. Most RA/RF roles tend to be four or five years at maximum in social sciences. Do you want to do research only for the rest of your career? Or are you looking to transition into a research and teaching (i.e. traditional academic) role? I have a friend who has carved a research-only career and its been bloody hard work, a constant treadmill of grant writing to chase the next contract - she's done with it and looking to make the leap to a traditional academic post. So just be cautious. If you did want to transition to an academic post, you need to think about your wider development in teaching, impact and citizenship work. Where are you with these things?
>That's bad news about the fellowship but they are so incredibly competitive, so don't beat yourself up about that. Are you able to rejig the proposal and submit it elsewhere? Or perhaps turn it into a publication?

Am a qual researcher from a social science background. Enjoy and am good at research, writing and analysis but would also like to be more creative. Have struggled with MH working remotely and would like more contact and structure
>May I ask what area of social sciences you're in, please?
>There are lots of qualitative researcher jobs around.
>When you say you're good at writing, research and analysis - can you prove that? Sorry if that sounds aloof but that's the game. Do you have any publications? If so, have they been graded as part of any kind of dry-run REF exercise?
>In terms of creativity, you might not get that from your work directly but there are ways to do creative things in academia. You could, for example, keep a reflective journal of life as an ECR, especially as a single parent. You can also get your creativity fix through your persona life too - a new creative hobby perhaps.

Need to take action but am paralysed by the fear that I am about to crash out
>You won't 'crash out'. I hate that phrase.
>I'd say you need to think about 'action' at two levels.
> Firstly, the bigger picture: Where do you want to be in five years? What do you need to do to get there? What do you have on the go now (bits of data, your fellowship application) that you can work on over the coming years to turn into publications or impact or other grant applications?
> Secondly, the immediate picture: What can you do tomorrow?

1. You can start by making a list to answer the Q above about what you've got that you can work on over the coming years.
2. You can get signed up to Jobs.a.c.uk and also the relevant JISCMAIL groups for your research area/specialism. I get a couple of job opportunities drop into my inbox each week from JISCMAIL. Got this one yesterday: https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/jobadvert/C9389-23-1174?keyword=research%20fellow&location=Bradford&language=en
3. You can do a thorough update of your CV ready for any job adverts you see that take your fancy.
4. You should also draft a skeleton cover letter for jobs that can be tailored for jobs as/when they come up (but that'll take a good day or two so no need to do this tomorrow!).