Passport is the final exam

Job offered informally confirmed.

H O W E V E R

The UK austerity turns out to be a kind of protectionism. More restrictions on immigration of non-EU citizens means it becomes much more difficult to get a work visa.

The HR department is not going to give me a formal offer until completion of my PhD degree. It seems the CEO does not want to approve my appointment. And even they approve, there is no guarantee since all ultimately depend on the UK border agency. They may doubt that the salary offered is too low, the job ad was posted last August and should be re-advertised to make no British or EU citizen can get it, or I may fail the exam.

I try to speed up the writing up. But at the same time, I am looking for other jobs - especially non-UK jobs.

I am good enough to get a permanent contract equivalent to lecturership right after PhD. Good reference letters, good network, eight first/sole-authored ISI journal publications (comparing to the average 2-3), highly relevant expertise. So what?

After all, passport is the final exam - Do you have a British/EU passport?