advantages. Their advice on how to generate journal articles (or
even a book publication) from your research may be more valu-
able. If your PhD is a strong piece of work then senior examin-
ers can often be more helpful to you in getting it published, or
even in recommending that you be considered for jobs. Their
favourable opinions will carry more weight with publishers or
appointing committees than those of junior staff.
But senior people in academia have often also acquired
mildly neurotic traits along with their eminence. They may
have intellectual hang-ups or blind spots, things they cannot
tolerate, friendship or referencing circles they cannot abide
being criticized, and a degree of closure to ideas which have
arrived later than their personal ‘defining moment’ as a
researcher. Usually these inevitable personality quirks do not
matter much. Their presence often briefly enlivens conversa-
tions or seminar and conference debates. Academics normally
moderate how far they expose their hang-ups in the normal
ebbs and flows of interactions with colleagues (who all have dif-
ferent quirks of their own). But PhD examining is one of three
contexts in academic life where these aspects of people’s per-
sonalities can cause serious problems or be decisive. (The other
two contexts, incidentally, are making academic appointments,
and deciding upon promotions.)
The best way to help ensure that you end up with suitable
examiners is to get out into your profession at an early stage in
your research. Go on the conference circuit and try to sit in on
sessions where you can see fairly senior people who might be
potential examiners in action. It can be worthwhile trying to
ask them a question in the session or to talk to them individu-
ally afterwards to see how open they are and how they might
react to your ideas or approach. In the bars and tea rooms at
conferences, quiz your fellow research students and people at
other universities about possible examiners, their reputations
and behaviour traits. And for possible internal examiners from
your own university, make sure that you similarly know about
them from students whom they supervise and that you get to
see them in action. If you identify people who seem sympa-
thetic and viable examiners, take care not to blow their inde-
pendence or eligibility to serve later on by sending them
chapters from your thesis and seeking comments from them.
THE END-GAME◆ 215