this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2024
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I know someone who had this problem about 15 years ago when she tried to get an entry level job. Her PhD made her a less attractive candidate because she was over qualified and employers didn't trust she'd stick it out. But, she couldn't apply for senior positions because she didn't have enough experience.
It was the worst Catch-22. A very difficult period for her.
this is a difficulty for people who go straight from undergrad to PhD. It can also be a slight warning sign (but absolutely not always) if a phd grad has no experience at all, because usually phd students need to supplement their scholarship/RTP, and supportive supervisors will give good students a boost with some casual work to give them experience/time on the books.
But yes - I often encourage students to get some experience, one way or another, while studying. Often, the type who go straight from one degree to the next are precisely the type who worry that taking a few hours out to do paid work each week will negatively impact their academic performance, etc, and they need to be gently reminded that a well rounded application is stronger than a straight H1 student who has never seen or done anything!
I feel like some of this is definitely cultural - where I grew up and went to school, I would've DEARLY loved to hear this advice:
It was always grades above all else because the system there rewarded that. Was a hard lesson in my own undergrad days and I'm lucky some place gave me a chance in my second year despite hardly any work experience prior. For all the (perhaps partially justified) accusations of mediocrity or lack of rigour in Australian academia, or anti-intellectualism in Australia more generally, I'm very very grateful for the relative sense of groundedness that's encouraged over here.