My advice
Don't bother with the real world, where it's Crunchy and scary and people want you to be in the office by 9am. Do a PhD instead. I have a job secured for the next three years, I can cheerfully refuse to face my student loan and I'm getting a 16% pay increase next year, because that's what the new students will be getting and "there would only be complaints otherwise." All this whilst blowing stuff up with lasers for a living.

It'll probably all come tumbling down in a few years time, when I can't get a job and the cartoon anvils of income tax, loan repayments and Council tax fall on my head one after the other, but for now the Credit Crunch's only effect has been to make me recognise Robert Peston.

We might not be able to afford to buy houses or get married or other such grown up things, but hey. At least now noone else can afford to either.
(Concrete Cow, Thu 22 Jan 2009, 14:00, 5 replies)

When I read the first paragraph
I was really disappointed to see you weren't the person called "Pew! Pew! Pew! Lasers!"

But I agree: being in academia suddenly looks a lot better these days. Two years ago I felt gutted when I looked at all my friends in banking and finance. I might earn half what they do, but the security of a lectureship isn't to be sneezed at.
( Olembe Refuses to write in this space, Thu 22 Jan 2009, 14:04, closed)

Bear in mind...
That if you're in the humanities, noone will pay you to do a PhD. You have to pay them.

It's not really much of an alternative to work...
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 22 Jan 2009, 15:45, closed)

Hear hear
click
(The Oscillating Gibbon is eating curried squid, Thu 22 Jan 2009, 21:22, closed)

I concur
I suppose I shouldn't complain so much about my PhD being so fucking boring. At least it's keeping me away from the real world.
(LongJohnBaldry, Sat 24 Jan 2009, 11:40, closed)

Yes, until your job depends on grant money
Unfortunately, when the money comes from foundations investing and using the returns to fund research bad things happen when those investments stop giving returns... Good thing Bill Gates (indirectly) pays my salary. Though it does make me wonder how much money he would need to lose before he stops.
(xanthine, Mon 26 Jan 2009, 1:28, closed)