Who can help Onebat with advice about PhDs or MAs? (Wanker's Corner 101 AND long)

[onebatmother]

Can any mother help me?

I am at a career crossroads, and floundering somewhat .

I'm fantasizing about completely re-training, but I'm uncertain which way to go. I resemble, more than anything, a 41yr old large-arsed Easter Bunny, paralyzed in the glare of The Headlights Of The Future.

But a vague memory has resurfaced from university days and I'd like you to tell me what you think. My degree was in English Lit from a University of London college, and I got a first. I seem to remember that one of my tutors told me that because of the first, I could bypass an MA and go straight to a PhD.

Does this sound right? And if so, might that still be the case? And if so, would it have to be an English literature erm... thesis thingy, or could it be in some other discipline which required critical thinking? My career so far has been in making (directing/producing) documentaries about "Society".

And if it could be in anything.. what can you think of? Anything, anything at all! It's quite likely that it will not be poss to go back to university bcs of finances, but if it is, I would really like to think that I had considered every option.

As a starter, I am interested in how and why people think. I've considered training as a psychotherapist, but I think it's a v v long process. Also not sure that I'm patient enough.

And that;s poss too literal an interpretation of 'how and why people think' iyswim. For example, I am also interested in the process of things, in culture, and how it is constructed; and why groups believe what they do. How the things that people produce reflect and disseminate the political necessities of their world - the power structures which underpin societies, etc, etc.

So people, politics with small p, power, pornography - all the p's really. Oh and cultures and what they express, erm, you know the kind of thing.

Obv v unlikely to be all of these - but I'd be really interested if anyone thought that they had, or knew of, a career where one gets to consider this kind of stuff (which -CRUCIALLY - pays a small mortgage)

I'm not sure that I want to continue being freelance: I'm a bit shit at it and there's an inbuilt anxiety which does me know favours. But it's not a deal-breaker.

Thank you, my dearies, for your attention to this matter.

Perfectly reasonable to write polite letter asking specific questions BUT do as much research as you can on the TT in question before you write, so you know that you're asking stuff you couldn't just get from website/policy docs.

And scout about for contacts you already have - see if someone knows someone, so that you can write to someone specific, or get an intro arranged.

sophable - I saw that UEL have a psychosocial undergrad degree. They've got an international post-grad course (I imagine post-disaster-related?)
UEL also do psychoanalytic psychotherapy, I think. Which seems astonishing. kate at minimum dot co etc if you fancy a chat.

Bloody hell - that AV internship could be right up your street, onebat - then sideways move once in.

onebat = v. interesting thread - I am contemplating my career options as do not see how I could go back to my prev. career (series prod in specialist factual/factual ent TV programmes) with baby to look after, as hours make job so family unfriendly. I did PhD prior to TV and suspect that you might find that getting your head stuck into something that deeply for three years might not be as satisfying as you think as the research can become extremely deep but narrow in a Phd (although mine was science, not arts, so different kind of research). - have you looked at jobs.ac.uk? And as a thought - media courses are always desperate to get people with proper broadcast experience as lecturers, so you could always teach your craft of documentary making as a way into academia and then develop your research that way? (scuse typos - am tired and one finger typing)

"you could always teach your craft of documentary making as a way into academia" That's a good point too - forgot that there are journos, etc in our media dept - it's one of the depts where experience trumps PhD

KINELL SCUMMY ! That's abs. brilliant.

I'm applying.

Great!

Oh - how exciting!

Isn't MN fab?

sausage, lovely and interesting to hear from you - do please, when you get a spare hand, drop me a line at kate at minimum dot etc.

Yes. MN is fab.

hello LG!

Any more ideas bloody welcome. It's just as I thought - I've no freakin' idea about what's out there.

I do find it slightly anxiety-inducing, this realization that there are a kazillion jobs that they don't mention in your Careers Advice interview.

Strangely LG, I feel completely diff about engaging with client as a psych than with other more generalized stuff.
But you're right

Habbibu - I will think again about this idea of teaching what I've been doing. So far I've been reluctant - the kind of programmes I've made so far have been a v specific kind of cultural criticism film, rather than observational docs.

But perhaps I should try and work that angle. Who knows?

'tis a very inspiring thread. I have felt much more motivated today after just following this thread, honest.

Really interesting thread onebat, you are right that there are so many interesting jobs out there and you never get told how to get into them.

It sounds like you are veering away from the PhD idea. I think unless you want to remain in academia it's perhaps not worth doing a PhD, as had been said, the field is very narrow so unless you want to continue the research into a post doc and beyond really all you are doing is proving your transferable skills which you obviously have anyway. Plus the funding and places are very competitive, and it's often who you know (IME). I think that if you went into academia you might find yourself a little jaded. I'm not sure about Arts subjects, but I did a degree and an MSc in Psychology and Neuroscience (my MSc was a research degree and isn't worth the paper it's written on IMO), and the researchers are under such constant pressure to churn out papers so they put out crap or stuff their MSc students have done just to make the numbers. I was also very disillusioned at in a fanatstic research institution how little effort is expended on the undergrad and post grad students. I was an MSc student and was teaching classes I had just barely taken myself. Anyway, that's enough of The Reasons Why Bumper Would Never Return To Academia...

I completely get how you are feeling, I feel the same a lot of the time, understimulated in my job, like everyone else has a more exciting job, or at least one they love. Mine is a good on paper job (though not well paid) but in reality I am not enjoying it, I kind of enjoy the idea of it though. But your job Onebat sounds fab! I wish I had a more creative job, I feel there is so much more out there for me, and I envy people do creative jobs that they really enjoy.

I don't really have more advice except I really feel that a PhD is not the way for you to go. But I am interested to see how this thread progresses (and get some ideas!) Like you, I feel there is more out there, I would like to be doing something more worthy though I come from a completely different background to you.

I realise that you are now moving away from the PhD idea, but just in case, I would recommend looking at jobs.ac.uk not just for the PhD studentships that are occasionally advertised there but also for the lecturerships, particularly in the newer universities.

I started as a lecturer without a PhD because I had industry experience (in publishing) and my university needed someone to lecture on publishing.

The university then funded my part-time PhD (it was part-time but I lectured full-time). It thus cost me nothing (apart from my own time and sanity), but of course I had to undertake it in a subject relevant to my discipline. Undertaking the PhD also gave me a useful amount of material to publish, which is an important part of any academic's role these days.

If you have useful industrial experience, this could be a possibility?

I'm sure you could pick up some work from film schools being a documentary maker onebat. National Film School in Beaconsfield, London Film School, etc.

That could definitely be a possibility, Libra. Thank you. I like the idea of lecturing, I really do - but am now a bit wary of doing the pHd and then discovering that there is huge competition. But if it were possible to do it backwards, as it were... I'll go and look.

On the other hand, Bumper, that's also huge food for thought. Oh gawd. You say "in reality I am not enjoying it, I kind of enjoy the idea of it thoug." about yours, and in fact that's precisely what I felt about mine. It was prestigious, yes, and people would look interested when you told them what you did - but in fact it is a huuugely dysfunctional and stressful industry and really plays to one's neurosis.

A lot is expected, in terms of hours and commitment - and it's really not possible with children, so since the ds's I've been fannying about the edges, trying to get a secure-ish desk job but not really succeeding. I needed to have planned for that ten years ago, but I was a derbrain and didn't.

Also, if the truth be told, I feel I've kind of done it - the stress would be the same, I think, but I wouldn't feel the ameliorating passion.

We are pretty insecure financially - I should really just go and get any job - but I have another 25 years of working, perhaps longer: it's got to be worth a little risk-taking and exploration, hasn't it, to see if there's something out there that is stimulating but doesn't demand your body and soul?

I don't feel fully qualified Ruty - it was quite a limited area that I worked in, and I didn't do nearly enough 'expanding my knowledge base' while I was working. Also I lack professional confidence, having winged it all my career without any actual training or knowledge.

In fact, that's another reason that I'd like to do some more academic work - I feel as though I've got a way with a huge amount because I'm bright-ish and pick things up quickly and can talk the talk, but have always had a horrid fraudulent feeling... Yer ackshual academic research/qualification might assuage that, I think. I'd like to go into the second stage of my career on a firmer footing.

'horrid fraudulent feeling'
I suspect you're more experienced/qualified than a lot of people teaching at film schools, but they may not be quite so hard on themselves...
I don't know really although certainly at drama school the teachers seemed to have varied backgrounds in terms of experience.

I suppose you do have to be careful that you don't swap one set of frustrations for more of others. For example doing the work I do can sometimes feel like looking in a mirror constantly and well, a break is nice. But then I did some 'strategy' work and it felt like a holiday for a while but then you realise your using brains and creativity for someone else's goals. But admit these goals weren't socially minded at all and probably fairly dubious.

I do think that teaching, lecturing due to good industry experience is a good way to go, with a PhD at the same time.

I like this thread as can relate to the constant energy required to keep a career like this going.

I see that you've veered away from the whole phd thing now onebat, so my email prob not helpful, since it basically said don't do that. But the idea of lecturing not as an academic but as an industry expert in some kind of media/film studies course seems more hopeful. Lots of interesting ideas on this thread. Good luck.

onebat one thing i know is that most of us feel like we're winging it and at some point we will be rumbled for being charlatans! and the ones that don't are the ones that you really want to be careful of!