Stop telling me I’ll get a permanent job eventually. I know I probably won’t

Been there! Took 8.5 years to get a permanent post and had to change disciplines a couple of times to achieve that. It is very difficult and has implications for many different aspects in life. I used to say that I suffered from the three 'Ps' - persistence, patience, perseverance - similar to what Chris indicated he is being told. I cannot provide any advice to those in this situation, I was fortunate during the 8.5 years to be consistently employed on short-term contracts or casual. Everyone's circumstances are different and people need to make the best decision for them. I do feel for my PhD completed students who are seeking more meaningful work, but there is little I can do except highlight aspects that they can do to make themselves more employable and keep their CV up to date. Best wishes to all those who are seeking an academic position. I am so grateful that it worked out for me.

I am surprised and disappointed that established scholars in English are giving this advice and are looking down on non-academic careers. As a professor of Classics, I always tell new and potential graduate students that it is important to realise how low are the chances of a permanent job. To those who nonetheless go ahead with a PhD, I encourage them to value alternatives, including both school teaching and other careers where the content of their PhD may not be directly relevant, but the skills certainly will. As far as I am aware, this is the policy and practice throughout my discipline, and it is certainly widely shared in other humanities disciplines in my (Russell group) University.

Hi Chris, I very much empathise with the situation you are in. In my own case, following my PhD in medieval history I hung on in the system, increasingly precariously, for about eight years. During this time, I published a number of articles, a monograph of my thesis, had two children, had periods when I was only working a few hours a week and so couldn't plan any family holidays and for three years had to live about 100 miles from home during the week in another university city as it was the only place I'd been able to get work. On one occasion, out for a drink with a couple of colleagues in a similar predicament, two of us broke down in tears. Wind the clock forward 25 years and I'm at the end of a satisfying end of career decade in student support, having previously worked for a number of years as a freelance. Not once have I ever regretted doing my PhD because the transferable skills are always with you, giving you other possibilities, many of which come out of the blue. It took me longer to get over the 'failure' of my academic career but it's been ages since I've felt any regret and I look at my academic colleagues with little reason for envy. More recently, my son got his PhD and had a promising potential academic career in science dangled before him. But two years ago he took the brave step, in similar circumstances as you, of stepping back and saying "What's the point of all this uncertainty, all the moving about, all the strain on your mental health when you could actually be enjoying life?" H now has a very fulfilling quite senior job in the non-profit sector, has bought a house with his partner and, like me, will almost certainly never look back with regret. Chris, don't give in to those who would depict leaving academia as failure - your PhD will provide you with lots of other opportunities and one day - perhaps quite soon - you will hopefully look back with fondness on your academic years but forward with optimism to a precarity-free future. Good luck!

I always tell my students that can get a job outside of academia. Only yesterday we were looking at professional services and other jobs that a PhD holder could do, self employment, etc, with a student. They felt so relieved that I did not bang the drum about having to work in academia.

You know there's no such thing as a truly permanent contract in HE these days? Even if you have one on paper you'll be threatened with redundancy at regular intervals. At least fixed term contracts manage your expectations, and you still have all the same legal rights and protections as someone with a "permanent" contract. Permanence is a myth.