Sooner or later in life we all arrive at that point at which we need to make a decision that will influence a big chunk of our life. We have to make a choice on what we would like to do with ourselves. As a PhD student, I did quite well in postponing this point. But, it is proven to be inevitable and I can tell you: it does not necessarily become any easier.
Although I have still some time left as a PhD student, I realise that some options require some planning in advance and are rather time-consuming. The thought of finishing my PhD frightens me for several reasons. Firstly, I really enjoy what I am doing and I feel comfortable where I am. To imagine that all this might come to an end scares me in a way. Secondly, the closer I get to submitting, the more nervous I become about the thesis, the viva, etc. And thirdly, if this opportunity comes to an end, where do I start with making, what seems to be, a big decision on my future?
Thanks to some conversations with fellow PhD students, I began to understand that I am definitely not the only one struggling with this! Actually, during one of the PhD PALS sessions, this issue of ‘what comes next’ was raised, revised and looked at in more detail. This post is a combination of insights gained during that session, practical things that look worth trying out and advice given to me by people who are further down the line in life. Nothing of the below would have been written if it wasn’t for talks with friends, colleagues and PALS!
- What are the options you have been thinking about?
As I move closer to this stage of ‘decision making’, things begin to pop into my head. Options, institutions, ideas,… start to accumulate. None of them is concrete or well considered. However, writing these down on a big piece of paper helps me to ‘visualise’ and gives my worrying head a little break.
In writing down these options, I did not limit myself to the ‘obvious’ choices. Thinking out of the box and using colours for jobs, institutions or organisations that are within the same ‘sphere’ might be worth considering.
Having them all written down, or at least the ones I could still remember, makes me feel a little hopeless. How on earth am I going to choose from these? Since most of them require proper preparation and are not just ‘send in your CV’ kind of types, some sort of selection or prioritising has to happen.
- What is it that you want/like in a job?
To help settle this overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to start, I asked myself the question what I like in a job and why. It is exactly the reason behind these things, that helps me gain some insight into what it is precisely that makes me happy in my job.
Ask yourself what it is that you want or like and write it down somewhere on the same piece of paper. Do you want flexibility or security, do you value structure or do you want freedom, are you looking for creativity or is there something else that you need? Why do you like these things so much?
- What do you certainly don’t want/dislike in a job?
If you are anything like me, you might not have a very clear idea of what you like. I tend to be interested in everything or find something I like in everything. But, I do have a clearer image of what I wouldn’t like or want to avoid.
Some of us prefer not to have certain responsibilities or rather work behind the scenes; others would hate to have routine or short term contracts with insecurity. For me, the first things on this list consisted of the opposites from my previous list. However, as I continued, some things came up that I did not even consider the opposite from on my ‘like’ list. So, not only did my dislike list increase, but also my like list got a few extra things.
- Select or delete
Having made the two lists of things I want and things I would like to avoid, I realised that some of the options that were initially on the table are less suitable at the moment.
The nice thing of having this all written down, is the overview it gives you and the feeling that you make “progress” when you scrap those options that are currently less appealing.
But, again if you are anything like me, there are still quite some options left or chances are that you still don’t know where to start. So, I continue my reflection…
- Which aspects do you like in your current job?
If you are doing a PhD, what is it that keeps you going for years? Or if you had a job before, another job alongside your PhD, etc. which elements make it worthwhile or get you out of bed on those rainy grey days?
These can be inherent to the content of the job, relating to the tasks you carry out or even the environment in which it all takes place. Aside from the content and tasks relating to my job, in both my current position and my previous job experiences, I attached quite some importance to the environment I work in. I am not talking about fancy buildings or nice offices, but the people you work with. This might be due to the fact that I have the tendency to spend quite some time at work, but for me colleagues and the overall attitude at the workplace are very important.
- Which aspects do you dislike in your current job?
Which things do you tend to postpone or dislike? Although doing my PhD comes very close to it, most jobs we do are not perfect. Often there are some (little) things that we like less or tend to postpone or given out of hand, etc.
These things say as much, if not more, about you as the things that you like.
- Prioritise with numbers
With these two additional lists, I decide to number the options that I did not scrap earlier. Having counted the options left (7 in my case), I started with putting a 7 under the option with the least links to what I wrote down to like and the most links to what I wrote down to dislike. My ideal option got a number 1. After numbering these two extremes, it became a little more difficult. Some options got a single number, others were at the ‘same’ level and so got the same number.
- Are their things you need to/want to bear in mind?
Depending on your situation, this step might be something you already took into account, or something that needs to come earlier in these steps.
Some of us are not bound or settled to a certain place or to people. On one hand this might provide loads of options, but on the other hand make it harder to choose between those options. For them, this step was probably less on their mind in previous steps. Others prefer to stay close to home, have a partner or even kids to bear in mind,… and they might have (sub)consciously only wrote down the “possible” options given their situation.
Conscious consideration of what you want to or need to bear in mind might eliminate certain options or even bring new ones on the table.
- Make changes to your plan
Based on step 8 it is likely that you feel some things have changed in your plan. You can add these changes in another colour or modify previous steps. Maybe it made you think about other routes that you initially thought of, or it changed geographical limits, etc.
10. Research, explore, and find out
This ‘final’ step is what we all did it for. The selected options now need further exploration. Looking into detail, starting with the option that got the highest priority (or number 1), I am working my way through the rest and make notes as I go along. Although I cannot predict the future, I at least feel as I am exploring options!
