Why a PhD application is not a one-way-street!

I’ve been contemplating a lot whether I should post this or not, but I suppose an email I got this morning (and the third one like that just this week!) was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back…” And while I kept writing I realized that this is way too long for a post. Hence, I decided to turn it into an article instead, also because it may have some value beyond the academic community as well. I need to admit that I probably, subconsciously, started this post as a sort of virtual rant to get it off my chest but then I figured that instead of annoying my dear network with my angry thoughts, I should use this occasion to turn it into a sort of mini case study with (hopefully) some learnings at the end. Finally, please keep in mind that this is written from the perspective of a Business School PhD. Things may be completely different in, say, theoretical physics, and it is not my intention to speak about other disciplines here where I clearly lack the knowledge.?Although I would love to learn about them, so if you are a theoretical phycisists (or in any other discipline), please engage in the discussion here! But now, let's get started...

The challenge to find a PhD supervisor

If you want to get your PhD and don’t know any academics apart from those you met during your UG/PG studies, it can be quite a challenge to get in touch with potential PhD supervisors. Luckily, the internet is a sheer endless resource, and, at the cost of a Google or LinkedIn search and a few clicks, you will have access to the contact information of thousands and thousands of academics, all presented on a silver platter. Brilliant! All you need to do now is get in touch with them and ask, if they want to supervise you. They're waiting for you. Piece of cake, right? Well, not quite.

As probably most of my academic friends and colleagues will experience too, we get a lot (and I mean a looooot) of emails or messages here on LinkedIn of prospective PhD students who want us to become their supervisors. And in general I think that’s a great thing. I mean, we live in a War for Talent world and who doesn’t want the brightest talents reach out to you rather than the other way around?! The thing is, about 95% of these messages I receive (and I did do the maths on that one…) disqualify the potential candidate within seconds. In fact, some of them make me hit the “delete button” without even responding with a polite “thank you, but no thank you.” Why? Because they are untargeted mass mails without even the slightest effort to actually

• have a look at my website and see what my research areas are - assuming that my web profile is where they got my contact info from it wouldn’t even mean much extra search effort, it's all laid out there.
• refer to any of my publications and show me that they have engaged with my work. Not to flatter me (it won’t add to my h-index anyway…) but to demonstrate that they know what I am doing and actually have an idea of what to expect in my research team.
• sometimes not even address me by my name or mention my University - apparently a “Dear Professor, I want to get my PhD at your University” is easier to copy & paste.

Not good! And even many of those who actually find out that my name is Benjamin and I am with Newcastle University and I apparently do “something in the field of HR” completely fail to put themselves in my shoes by explaining to me why I should accept to supervise them (versus someone else) and, generally speaking, don't tell me what’s in for me and Newcastle Uni.?

A brief collection of the motivators behind this article

Typically, those mails that actually made me write this article read somewhat like the below. Please note that, for apparent reasons, I am taking out any potentially identifying information, but believe me, these are the kind of mails I am receiving. Almost every week, for years now...

?“Dear Professor, I am NAME. I am one of the sponsored students from COUNTRY. I have completed my DEGREE with an accumulative grade point of GPA from UNIVERSITY. My interest is to achieve deeply in this field. I want to do my PhD in this field under your supervision. I have also attached my Master certificate, Transcript and Research Proposal in this mail. Can you please help me with your supervision?”

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Aha. In “this field”! Really? Well, apparently, I don’t even know if I work “in this field” because this field is not specified. The attached research proposal (if you want to call it that way) was a bit more specific, turned out the “field” was business…?Or read that one:

“I am to critically review literature on TOPIC. In so doing, I will address a gap in existing research towards such an emergent area of human resource management practice and one that is only likely to increase. (…) I believe my research complements your interest. Consequently, I would find it particularly beneficial to collaborate with you on this PhD project as you will expose me to important methodological and theoretical frameworks which can help my research answer broader organisational and management questions. For more detail, I have attached my full research proposal above. Thank you for reading this email and I look forward to hearing from you.”

?Admittedly, not as bad as the first one, but still lacking a key thing: a convincing reason why I should even bother to open the attachment. The topic was, in fact, not very close to my research, a simple look in my publication list would have revealed that in an instant. Assuming a result of forgetting it during the copy & paste process when this went out to me and other colleagues, the mail did not come with an attachment. I probably would not have opened it anyway, even if the lovely people from our IT department had greenlighted it as not being a virus.

So what now?

I could go on and on, my inbox gets filled with these inquiries that have one thing in common: not the slightest chance that I even think about supervising that candidate. So, what’s the problem here and what do I want to achieve with this article? In all honesty, I hope that at least some of the potential PhD candidates finding this here on LinkedIn will take a step back and think whether their approach is promising or if their message could end up as an example like those above. If they really want the professor they are writing to convince becoming their supervisor read their message and have an actual chance to get a yes, there is a few things to keep in mind. Most importantly, I think it is essential to take the time and effort to genuinely show them why they should say yes! And yes, that is time-consuming and a lot of effort, I am aware of that. But so (a lot more actually) is the PhD, so why even think it is successful to start with a shortcut? Although I can only speak for myself, I think it’s safe to say that pretty much none of my colleagues wants to be the supervisor for the sole purpose of doing the candidate a favor. We want our supervisees to be motivated, enthusiastic, interested, diligent, professional, curious, and, most importantly, respectful. Not just someone "in need of a supervisor", willing to take the next best person.

This post is, by all means, not meant to be arrogant. However, I think many of those approaches I outlined here are – albeit surely not intended that way – disrespectful. And I personally, for that matter, am not interested in supervising someone who shows no respect for me and my work.?

Just to be clear, I am more than happy to mentor, guide, support, and have PhD students pick my brains. I was fortunate enough to have had many great people who did exactly that when I first started my academic career and surely I feel obligated to “give back”. However, like pretty much anything in (professional) life, receiving mentoring and guidance does not come free, it typically is part of a reciprocal exchange. So while I love to supervise and jointly work on topics with somebody who has a desire to work in academia and shares common research interests, I expect them to be open, interested, motivated, and dedicated. Maybe that's just me, but at least I feel that way and cannot help it.?

The takeaway

To sum up, what are the learning points here? If you find yourself in need for a PhD supervisor and reach out to them with cold mailing, I highly recommend to make sure you do the following.?

• Do your research (sorry, that pun was a must :D)! Before you reach out to someone, please make yourself familiar with what they actually (emphasis added!) do. Yes, they are all working “in a field”, but trust me, the more specific you are, the better you relate to their work, the more likely you will get their attention. After all, they work in their field for very good reasons, often have a passion for it and love what they do. If you speak to that, chances are that your mail will at least not be deleted right away.
• Manners matter! Apart from a correct and personal greeting formula (people have a name and, if in doubt, go for the more formal approach and include titles as well) make sure your message is free from typos and other language errors. Even if you are not a native speaker, a message full of typos indicates a lack of care and your message will be considered your first sample of work. Of course, also make sure to be polite, modest, humble and avoid to be demanding or aggressive. After all, you want something from them, not necessarily the other way around.
• What’s in for them? Tell your potential supervisor what exactly you intend to do in your PhD, why you want to do that, and how and why they can help you. Generally referring to "their expertise" may be flattering, but the truth is: most researchers’ expertise (I certainly speak for myself here) isn’t all that broad so that they could or would supervise any topic. In fact, management research these days is extremely specialized with many different sub-disciplines and niches where the colleagues in question have made themselves a name, so use this opportunity and demonstrate that you want to work with them in their very own area. So, unless you want them to work with you on the handful of topics they really are an expert in, I am pretty sure there are many other colleagues out there who are much better qualified as your supervisor. In other words, it needs to be a match and it is your responsibility to show them, why you think it is a match.
• It's not just about you! Tell them why they should want to work with you. Yes, I appreciate that it is a PhD supervisor’s job to guide, help, mentor, and support their students and that’s all great. So it’s not generally "wrong" to mention that. However, everyone’s time is limited and people are very selective on whom they share time with and whom not. It’s as simple as that. Personally, I am struggling to find compelling reasons why I would spend all that time and effort, over many years, investing in a person if all I get out from it is increasing the “completed PhD supervision section” in my CV by one. So, make sure to demonstrate to your potential supervisor that, should they accept you, they are getting a hard-working, interested, motivated, and engaged individual. Someone they can exchange thoughts with, learn from each other, possibly publish together, etc. In other words: move away from you to them!
• ?Finally, don’t get disappointed if you still get turned down! First of all, PhD supervision is always a question of capacity and most of my colleagues (just like myself) have a maximum number of supervisions at a time. Why? Because if you supervise too many, you simply can’t do it properly anymore at some point – which gets us back to the question of being selective with their time. Hence, even if you have the perfect application you still may get a “no”, simply for capacity reasons. Thus, it may be worthwhile to politely reach out first, asking if the colleague is currently accepting PhD students and, if so, tell them you would love to reach out with an application some time in the near future – however, you do need time to put together a proper proposal first.

I hope that these points are helpful. As a note of caution: I do not claim this list to be exhaustive, nor would I claim that all my colleagues share all of this. It is based on my experience and perception. Please feel free to start a discussion and possibly add to that list, it can only make it better, I would love to hear from you!

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