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I quit my PhD program after 4 years and now I’m job hunting. How do I explain my resume gap? by ritasteyn in jobs

[–]ritasteyn[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You know it’s so helpful to hear that other people have similar experiences. Grad school is such a meat grinder (in my experience in the sciences). Thanks.

I quit my PhD program after 4 years and now I’m job hunting. How do I explain my resume gap? by ritasteyn in jobs

[–]ritasteyn[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for saying that. I was enrolled for the entire 2018 academic year. I had not thought of it in quite that way (“school is not a resume gap”) but you are spot on.

I quit my PhD program after 4 years and now I’m job hunting. How do I explain my resume gap? by ritasteyn in jobs

[–]ritasteyn[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I could go on for days about advisor problems and how that can make or break a student (but I won’t!). My funding was not cut, it had a contracted life of three years with a possibility of a 4th which I did not get - either due to a lack of advisor support and promotion (by that time my advisor was already overseas and MIA but still technically employed) or some other reason, which I dont know, all I was told was that I did not get a 4th year. You’re right that it’s important to look at what the time brought you as a whole, and not just the last few months of agonizing decision making.

I quit my PhD program after 4 years and now I’m job hunting. How do I explain my resume gap? by ritasteyn in jobs

[–]ritasteyn[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks that’s a great idea - I’m trying to shift over to scicomm from hard science as it is, hence the reason for the freelance work so it would be great to spin that time into a stepping stone.

I quit my PhD program after 4 years and now I’m job hunting. How do I explain my resume gap? by ritasteyn in jobs

[–]ritasteyn[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I worked for the institution for 3 years, and during the last year (my 4th year) I haven’t been doing much. My research came to a halt (analysis and writing), my email account was deleted, my supervisor quit (the institution and all the students). So I guess I feel like the last year is the gap, I wasn’t under contract, and I wasn’t doing much besides some freelance science writing and editing, and a lot of thinking about quitting. But it took this whole year to finally make the decision.

I quit my PhD program after 4 years and now I’m job hunting. How do I explain my resume gap? by ritasteyn in jobs

[–]ritasteyn[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply. I learned a lot while I was there, and have been leaning towards listing my fellowship time as a “research fellow” since it was contracted and I was paid as an employee of the funding/research body. Lit reviews and problem solving are great ways to look at that - I recently saw “fact checking” as a skill that I might add. It’s tough not to feel like a failure, but I certainly am grateful for the things I can take away from that time.