"You see, the stakes are high – I’m desperate for even a minimum wage job. This is in spite of the fact I have several university degrees. With my final PhD dr

"You see, the stakes are high – I’m desperate for even a minimum wage job. This is in spite of the fact I have several university degrees. With my final PhD draft due in a week, I have degrees in economics, sociology and politics, research skills in qualitative and quantitative methods, teaching experience at universities, a decent publication record, and a significant conference list of presentations. But now I need lipgloss and cafe connections to get a job. It might be my own fault for having bought into the lie – study hard, get a good job. While I was always warned that full-time academic roles are difficult to attain, I was told that a PhD is an asset. We can get casual research work until we are qualified or, more accurately, connected enough to step into a full-time position. Employers outside the university will value the transferrable skills and critical-thinking capabilities. This, I have now discovered, is far from the truth. Employers external to the university don’t want a PhD, they want five years of industry experience. "