Now it’s time to mention that the result of your dissertation does not depend on you solely. Your hard work, time-management, and writing skills add up to somewhat 80% of the successful outcome. Your advisor is responsible for another 20%. If you choose a wrong person to guide you and help you shape a noteworthy paper, you won’t reach the desired goal. And even if you will, You’ll spend much more energy and nerves on doing so.
Most of the dissertation advisors try to be as helpful as possible as they know that it’s their duty to make the tiring process of writing a dissertation less difficult and overwhelming. But there are some who are not fit for this role. They can spoil everything with their incompetence and constant lack of time to provide guidelines. You have a bad advisor if he or she:
- is always busy doing something else
There are only 24 hours a day and it sometimes impossible to do everything you plan. But if your advisor is never around and can’t answer your questions when you urgently need his or her input, it’s a clear indicator that you’ve made a wrong choice. Try not to choose a professor who is famous to have numerous publications and is involved in multiple projects. Every meeting will turn into a marathon of right and wrong answers. - is the nicest person you’ve met
This kind of advisors will never say anything you don’t want to hear and will never criticize your dissertation. Remember that all of us need someone to push us forward and walk that extra mile to get better results. Your advisor has to be able to do just that. If you leave his or her office crying after the harsh but constructive feedback, it’s a good sign. - has too negative attitude
an opposite situation can also take place. If your advisor always criticizes your ideas and is constantly unhappy with the results you have so far, run away from that person. You will feel small and useless most of the time and that will definitely influence on your productivity. If you can’t change the advisor, don’t be afraid to defend yourself and make it clear that you can stand for yourself. - changes his/her mind all the time
This is something that can drive anyone crazy. One day your advisor thinks that you should add another chapter to this section, and then asks you why on earth would you include such an irrelevant piece of information to the dissertation at all. Not to let this situation spoil your process, take careful notes of what you and your advisor agree upon after every meeting and send an email with this information. This will keep the process more organized. - steals your ideas
This is the worst case scenario. If you are sure that the things are this way, you need to change the advisor immediately. This cooperation is not in any case beneficial for you and you should get out of it.