The dreaded third year

When I started this on this journey approximately 2 years ago, I thought I had forever and a day to get it all done and dusted. At the end of the first year I do vaguely remember thinking to myself "oh, that went quickly". Now, at the end of the second year, I am filled with terror at the thought that I should have a first draft of the entire thesis by Easter.

Is it even possible, I ask myself? Only time will tell. What has made me very conscious of the merciless passage of time is the fact that NOW is the time to start thinking about post-phd options. Wwwhhhhaaaattttt???!!!! I want to cry out, surely I need to only focus on getting the doctoral thesis written, and not worry about what comes after, until, well, at least until I have something by way of a first draft handed in?

But that's not the way it goes. My supervisor has been dropping hints ever since Spring this year about post-doctoral opportunities, and if I want to take that option seriously an application to the research council should be cobbled together (I mean, carefully grafted) some time soon after Christmas.

So thinking about these options I have done, and no surprise it turns out to be a combination of a tangled web of interdependencies and whatever opportunities might be there at the time. In principle, there are two options to choose between:

(i) the academic route; or
(ii) the non-academic route.

Let's call the academic/non-academic continuum the X-axis.

On the Y-axis we have:

(i) UK-based; or
(ii) international career.

You can see where this is heading, a multitude of options ranging from civil service, post-doctoral fellowship to, yes, return to local government. Civil service, post-doctoral fellowship or other research-related positions for that matter could be materialised almost anywhere in Europe, the research option even beyond this continent.

Taking small decisions like, which shoes to wear, can be difficult for me at the best of times, so navigating my way through the choppy waters of career development is a challenge, to put it mildly. Commitment, that's what is required of me, to one route or another - particularly on the X-axis.

I let you know how I get on.

In the meantime, to keep this blog even mildly interesting i.e. offer something more relevant to read than my personal navel-gazing, I've decided to ask two people to do a guest post each, on the same topic: The Party Conference. Yep, two of my associates are indeed soaking up the atmosphere (err, and no doubt a good measure of the sponsored booze) whilst rubbing shoulders with the incumbent political elite.

I shall ask them both to divulge some details about inside party gossip and their respective experiences. I also expect a thorough appraisal of the wine offerings: was it all Italian Pinot Grigio and cheap New World Chardonnay and Merlot, or was there something more interesting to wet your throat with, like a Viognier or an Albarino... or a Shiraz from the Barossa Valley if you must leave Europe? It should be jolly interesting from an ethnographic point of view.

I let you know how I get on with that one, too.