by Unhappy » Thu Jul 23, 2015 3:08 pm
I am with the Navy and am pursuing a PhD. I am reluctant to say exactly what facility, as I feel some anonymity is best to freely express my unhappiness. I have one more internship left after this and would largely prefer not to return, at least for the internship portion if possible (the ISP is break-even at best and insufficient at worst, it separates me from my wife for 2-3 months, and this current internship has been less than stellar). My current SF does allow for any internships past the first one to be waived in favor of completing classes or research that will help expedite or maintain the degree completion date. I like this policy and was planning to take advantage of it to absolutely ensure my degree finishes on time, given that administrative snafus are common at my university.
I feel that this place is not a good fit because the actual amount of PhD level work is sparse. They've not fully realized the support for PhDs and I'm wary they will by the time I graduate, if ever. My department is also misaligned with my current avenue of research. It's not an orthogonal misalignment, but it will require significant work on both my and the SF's part to close the gap. Additionally, my internship has been a miserable waste of time, with me sitting and waiting for access to the most basic of equipment (computer, phone, basic math software) for about 6 to 7 weeks. This is not a good first impression for my SF, as it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and it's a bad first impression for me, as I am literally unable to demonstrate my skills or work on anything of consequence. I've been fairly vocal at my facility about the need for these tools and the timeline of my internship being relatively short as far as government-time goes, but to little avail. I was able to procure some equipment that "fell off the truck" just so I can answer my emails, but it's woefully inadequate for any real research efforts.
I have interned at two other naval facilities and have had positive experiences with them and still maintain a POC at each of them. I will not blindly transfer to another facility, as the devil I know is better than the devil I don't. But the two naval facilities I've been at would be great fits for me, if the option is there to transfer to them. I refuse to passively sit around and do nothing while waiting out my phase 2 commitment, as this would preclude me from finding a decent job outside the government if I decided to leave federal employment.
I have a meeting with my SF liaison tomorrow. I will inquire about what my options are and update here at a later date.
I am with the Navy and am pursuing a PhD. I am reluctant to say exactly what facility, as I feel some anonymity is best to freely express my unhappiness. I have one more internship left after this and would largely prefer not to return, at least for the internship portion if possible (the ISP is break-even at best and insufficient at worst, it separates me from my wife for 2-3 months, and this current internship has been less than stellar). My current SF does allow for any internships past the first one to be waived in favor of completing classes or research that will help expedite or maintain the degree completion date. I like this policy and was planning to take advantage of it to absolutely ensure my degree finishes on time, given that administrative snafus are common at my university.
I feel that this place is not a good fit because the actual amount of PhD level work is sparse. They've not fully realized the support for PhDs and I'm wary they will by the time I graduate, if ever. My department is also misaligned with my current avenue of research. It's not an orthogonal misalignment, but it will require significant work on both my and the SF's part to close the gap. Additionally, my internship has been a miserable waste of time, with me sitting and waiting for access to the most basic of equipment (computer, phone, basic math software) for about 6 to 7 weeks. This is not a good first impression for my SF, as it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and it's a bad first impression for me, as I am literally unable to demonstrate my skills or work on anything of consequence. I've been fairly vocal at my facility about the need for these tools and the timeline of my internship being relatively short as far as government-time goes, but to little avail. I was able to procure some equipment that "fell off the truck" just so I can answer my emails, but it's woefully inadequate for any real research efforts.
I have interned at two other naval facilities and have had positive experiences with them and still maintain a POC at each of them. I will not blindly transfer to another facility, as the devil I know is better than the devil I don't. But the two naval facilities I've been at [b]would[/b] be great fits for me, if the option is there to transfer to them. I refuse to passively sit around and do nothing while waiting out my phase 2 commitment, as this would preclude me from finding a decent job outside the government if I decided to leave federal employment.
I have a meeting with my SF liaison tomorrow. I will inquire about what my options are and update here at a later date.