Category: Your Career

I have a large, ever growing, pile of books sent to me by publishers in the hope that I will review them. Smart publishers know that I have an interest in helping you make best use of your (probably limited) book buying budget. I’m even thought to have quite a lot of influence in the …continue reading.

I have a friend doing his PhD, let’s call him Ronald. Ronald is clever, bright and diligent. He’s spent many, many hours in the lab building prototypes and producing copious amounts of data. He’s clearly on the verge of a breakthrough that would change his field (but has yet to publish anything for fear of …continue reading.

This poignant post is by Dr Cathy Ayres, who completed her PhD in the School of Sociology at the ANU in 2016. She’s worked as a research training nerd at the ANU Research Skills and Training unit, and she is now happily working as the Senior HDR Coordinator in the College of Engineering and Computer …continue reading.

This post is by Dr Matthew Evans who is currently a Teaching Fellow in Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK and Visiting Researcher in Political Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was previously a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Prior to this he completed his PhD …continue reading.

We hear a lot about under employment at the early career research stage, but not much about employment issues at the other end of your career. What happens if you are made redundant later in life? This post is by Associate Professor Martin Davies, an honorary Principal Fellow in the Graduate School of Education, University …continue reading.

This post is by Dr Catherine Ayres, who completed her PhD in the School of Sociology at the ANU in 2016. She’s worked as a research training nerd at the ANU Research Skills and Training unit. This post was written at a bit of a low point. Cathy wants you to know that she is …continue reading.

I’m constantly surprised (although I don’t know why) at the ability of a PhD program to trigger a full blown existential crisis. While most of the time the feelings will pass, sometimes the crisis is a good thing – it’s your subconcious speaking and you’d be advised to listen. Last week an ANU student, let’s …continue reading.

This post is by Dr Samantha Hall After completing my PhD last year I was set on putting all the recommendations I had made into place. I wanted this research to make a real difference. And out into the world I went. I co-founded a business during my PhD that I started to grow, and …continue reading.

This post is by Belinda Lawton who is doing a PhD in the Crawford School at the Australian National University Struggling with balance isn’t new for me; I’ve always been a full-throttle, grab-life-by-the-shoulders-and-shake kind of person. So when it came to starting my PhD, saying yes to opportunities to learn and stretch myself alongside the …continue reading.

One of the joys of Whispering is the letters I receive from PhD candidates from all over the world, thanking me and asking for advice. The Whisperer runs on love – and I am grateful everytime someone takes the time to write me and tell me that it was useful. Some of these letters make …continue reading.