To think that its quite rude and pointless to keep telling someone about a lack of jobs in their chosen career if you don't have any advice?

[LRDTheFeministDragon]

This one is just getting on my nerves at the moment. I am studying and training for a job I hope to get sometime next year when I finish. I know there aren't a lot of jobs out there, obviously, the economic situation being what it is. But it's beginning to get really annoying that friends feel the need to keep telling me 'oh, there aren't any jobs you know', and 'proving' their point by telling me about other people they know who've been job-hunting unsuccessfully for ages.

I would understand if they had helpful advice, or if I thought they were genuinely worried about me and wanted to encourage me to pack in my training. But they're not: they know that basically I will have wasted a shedload of money if I pack it in now, so I'm probably not going to stop.

AIBU to be irritated? And how do I get them to shut up about their unemployed friends ... I know I may well end up in the same boat but I find it really annoying that they talk as if the fact other people are unemployed proves I won't get a job ... and couldn't possibly be for other reasons.

It's not discouraging - a bit depressing but much better than not knowing and being worried about it. My supervisor doesn't like to discuss it, I think. She just tells me I need to publish.

mitfords - that makes sense, thanks.

LRD, I don't know how long it takes to get a postdoc. I know that different closing dates appear throughout the year with different rules about having handed in, having done the viva etc.

I know that a few years ago it seemed that people were walking into postdocs. But out of the PhD students in my department last year, none of them have yet got a postdoc. Research funding has just gone.

I am confused as to what the likelihood is of getting one. I have read that in pure science 90% of postdocs never get a permanent job in academia, but the situation is set up that way because they can supposedly move across into industry. It seems different in social sciences and arts subjects. The only thing to do seems to be to apply for everything and make sure you have a decent publication record.

Thanks Milly ... it is quite confusing, isn't it? I suppose if the situation has shifted so much recently, it would be confusing.

Ah well, at least I feel a bit better informed and a bit less discouraged now.