Affiliations
Every research associate post I see advertised now has in large or small print, the requirement for the applicant to have a publishing record, preferably in three or four star journals. Now when you submit to a journal or a conference, you need to state your affiliation with a university, but if you haven’t got a post at a university, then you don’t have an affiliation, and you look less credible.
I’ve just submitted a paper for peer review at a conference where the uploading page required the name of my affliated university so I’ve put the name of the university where I completed my PhD and did the research that the paper is based on. But technically, I have no affiliation until I have a research associate post.
How do I get an research post without a publication when I can’t get a publication without an affiliation and I can’t have an affiliation without a post?
As an end of year review I am pulling together the blogs I follow on http://www.mymindbursts.com. Come and join us! And keep blogging too. All the best, Jonathan.
Thanks Jonathan for the comment and the encouragement to keep blogging.
Hey Liz,
I think that you can submit your PhD work using your OU affiliation. I am sure the OU and your supervisors would prefer it as well. As for getting a job without publications; I don’t think that’s the necessarily true that you need a strong one, unless you’re applying to the top universities. People hiring postdocs (especially in the UK) should be aware of the constraints of a 3 year PhD.
Apart from that, I’m working with two researchers here who don’t even have PhDs, so you have a leg up on them already! I’m sure you’ll find something soon. If not then you can still be affiliated with a university simply by teaching for them as an associate lecturer.
Good luck with the job hunt! I’ll be starting mine again in 6 months, hehe.