how to tell your phd supervisor you are leaving

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How do I tell my PhD supervisor I want to drop out?

I am going to start my PhD degree this week and I realised that, for personal and professional reasons, I don't want to do it.

• Personal reasons: I live in a foreign country and I don't like living here, I have no friends or girlfriends here and I'm far from my family. I already lived two years here during my masters degree and I'm just sick of it.
• Professional reasons: I don't want to work in the academic area. I don't hate it, but I prefer to work in a company or start my own company in the future. Besides that, the companies in my home country don't value too much a PhD degree, so after 3 years of sacrifice in the PhD, I would be applying for the same jobs I could apply now.

At least I'm not officially engaged with the university (I'm not even enrolled), so I could just give up, the problem is telling my PhD supervisor this.

I'm having lunch with my supervisor tomorrow and I don't even know how to start to tell him this. He put a lot of effort to put this thesis together and to make this work for me, he'll be very upset. I'd like to be the type of guy that says "f**k the world, I'll do whatever I want" but I'm not, I'll be very ashamed telling him this, he'll probably try to convince me to do it, and I'm afraid I won't be able to say no.

So basically I wonder how to start to tell my supervisor about dropping out and how to say no when he tries to convince me.

• conversations

• 3 Have you considered asking the question on academia.stackexchange.com ? –  breversa Commented Oct 14, 2020 at 12:27
• 2 @breversa there's a few things about referring people to other sites that are also useful to know for Henrique: a.) If a question, as is, would be on-topic on both sites, it can be useful to point out the differences in answers you can expect on one site vs. the other, so that people know why it would be worth their time to post in two places and –  Tinkeringbell ♦ Commented Oct 14, 2020 at 12:59
• 1 b.) cross-site duplicates aren't strictly forbidden, but they are discouraged and can be (depending on the site) sometimes very ill-received. If you know anything Henrique could do to edit their question to make the reason for posting on a second site clear and tailor this question to be more specifically for academia, that could help them write a better received question for that site :) –  Tinkeringbell ♦ Commented Oct 14, 2020 at 12:59
• What was the reason you let him go through all the preparations? Haven't you made up your mind until now? Didn't you know about his efforts? Other reasons? This will matter for the conversation. –  Captain Emacs Commented Oct 15, 2020 at 22:07

This will not be a fun conversation. Possibly the worst thing you can do tomorrow during lunch is to first lead him on with small talk ("Yeah, I too am really excited for starting the PhD"). I've had conversations like this with parents regarding dropping out of uni and with student councillors about said dropping out. It's not fun. The thing that worked for me, however, is to take charge of the conversation and open the talk with what you have to say.

You need to be clear and direct that this is the choice that you made. Do not say that you are considering to quit, or that you haven't made up your mind completely. If this is the decision that you made, you need to make sure that you do not give the professor room to convice you if you know you do not want to be conviced. Be emphatic, say that you really appreciate all the work that the professor did and that you understand that this is last minute and bad timing.

In the end, the professor will be better of with honesty, because a demotived or unhappy PhD student is not going to help anybody. For them, it will be better if you quit before you even started than when they've invested even more time in it. If they get angry or frustrated, try to remain calm and say that you understand, but that you have made up your mind. Professors I've had showed that they can certainly be frustrated, but leading them on will make it worse, so be honest and clear about your decision.

• 4 This is good advice and not just for this situation. Telling someone bad news immediately, rather than waiting for "a better time" often only makes things worse. –  baldPrussian Commented Oct 14, 2020 at 14:58

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How To Tell Your Advisor You’re Quitting Your Ph.D. Program.

by Gertrude Nonterah PhD | May 16, 2023

“How do I communicate to my advisor that I want to quit my Ph.D. program?”

Someone asked me this question on YouTube and I had to think long and hard about it before responding.

I’m a champion for Ph.D. students and I often want people to finish their Ph.D.s. This is true especially if they are an under-represented minority like me.

But I also realize that a Ph.D. is not the right path for everyone. And it goes without saying that there are lots of successful people who don’t have a Ph.D. Some don’t have a university degree at all.

In any case, telling your advisor you’re quitting your Ph.D. program is a difficult conversation no matter how you slice it. It’s common to feel guilty about letting your advisor down. You might experience guilt for letting down the people who have invested in you in various ways. However, it is important to remember that this is YOUR life and you need to do what’s best for you. Even if it means leaving academia.

Watch the video below as I answer this question.

Quitting your Ph.D. might feel like a nerve-racking decision for you. But thinking through your future career goals, and if a Ph.D. fits in that future can help you come to a satisfactory conclusion.

If you’re thinking of quitting your Ph.D. program, take a step back to reflect. Reflect on what you truly want for your life. Consider your goals and whether a Ph.D. aligns with those future plans. If you have the opportunity, take some time away from the Ph.D. program to see how that feels. Write down your thoughts and reasons. The pros and cons.

Writing down your thoughts and feelings before the conversation will help you to stay organized and on track. When you do have the conversation, use those thoughts you’ve written down as your guideposts when you finally discuss it with your advisor. Be prepared for your advisor to be disappointed. But don’t be guilted into staying if you have done your evaluations and realized a Ph.D. is just not the path for you.

Join 2000+ PhDs and academics who receive my weekly newsletter full of career development tips designed for academics & receive 34 non-academic career ideas. Click here to join: theboldphd.com/careerslist

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How to Have ‘The Talk’ About Leaving Academe

By  Karin A. C. Johnson

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I recently completed my Ph.D. in social sciences at a research-intensive university. When I began my doctoral program, I aimed to become a tenure-track faculty member at a similar university.

But over the years, my professional goals changed for numerous reasons. Those ranged from the negative (dealing with threats and sexual harassment) to the positive (discovering internships and that I love researching with a team). Perhaps most important, they included the neutral: realizing the academic market is constrained and that with my skills I could obtain a comparable job outside of the academy.

So in the spring term of the year before I completed my doctorate, I began looking for alt-ac jobs. And that summer, I had The Talk with my adviser about leaving academe.

I was nervous. But why? My adviser and I had had a good working relationship, and I didn’t rely on him for funding. (I know this is not the case for everyone.) Yet even with the knowledge of his support, I didn’t want to disappoint him. In previous years, my adviser had expressed his preference for me to get a job as a tenure-track faculty member. When I first broached the possibility of leaving academe early in my degree program, he had appeared dejected. Another time, he had dismissed the results from the myIDP quiz that reflected my interests, which ranked the tenure-track path in 10th place. Ultimately, I wanted him to back my decision, be proud of me and approve my choice to search for employment elsewhere.

Before having the conversation, I read a lot of blogs for advice, but none addressed what happens and the outcome. So in this essay, I’d like to share with you how I had The Talk and how it went, and to offer some lessons I’ve learned from the process.

Three Key Steps

I took three steps to prepare myself, including:

Identifying what I needed and what made me happy. Over the past five years, I have participated in various academic and alt-ac workshops and events hosted by my university’s GradSuccess program that help inform and assist graduate students during their studies and in transition to a career. I also took professional quizzes. That helped me articulate to myself what I like to do, what I value and what I want in life and a future job.

Likewise, I have had candid conversations with different people in my mentoring circle . I talked with one of my mentors about the expectations of taking a postdoctoral research fellowship and what that would mean for my future career trajectory and mental health. With other people, I networked and asked questions. Unabashedly, I would inquire about someone’s job, how they got it, what they do, what the vibe is like and how they interview candidates. One informational interview clarified that I would prefer not to work in a particular field. Another conversation led me to an internship at an agency where I had a great experience.

Making the decision. Over the months, I applied for jobs in both the public and private sectors, as well as a handful of faculty and administrator positions in higher education. I had publications, teaching and grants, and I knew that if I pursued a career in academe, I would be successful at it. But would it be what I wanted? Would it be a good fit? In other words, I did not make a sudden decision to take myself off the academic market or say no to academic jobs. It came down to applying to the jobs that I felt were the best for me.

I used to think that the clarity as to whether I would work in academe or industry would hit me like a bolt of lightning or shine on me like a ray of sunshine. That is not how it happened. I did not have an epiphany. Instead, the progression naturally transpired as I built application materials for certain positions. I applied for a slew of grants and fellowships, of which some were academic positions. Knowing that the tenure-track market is tight, I told myself I would only apply to jobs that fit my needs and happiness criteria. I also applied for other interesting positions in similar areas on recruitment websites. Before I knew it, I had to admit that I was fully on the job market because my spreadsheet was filling up quickly. Quickly I found myself only applying to nonacademic jobs that fit me, as opposed to any call that I fit.

Preparing for The Talk. After acknowledging that I was on the job market and not interested in applying for academic jobs, I wondered if I would be a failure if I quit. Admittedly, I dealt with anger with academe. Even before deciding to leave academe officially, I used to feel that someone owed me an explanation as to why I should stay. I expressed these feelings to a friend. She told me that no matter what decision I made, I would still be the same person to the people near -- and even far -- to me. After mulling over the situation and what my friend said, I realized that I was the only person whom I had to convince that I was doing the right thing.

Having The Talk

Once I was comfortable with my decision, I needed to tell my adviser. I turned to blogs for advice. What I took away was that my goal was to be positive and confident, to describe what I was doing and the types of jobs I had applied for, and to lay out expectations for him and me. I was afraid to forget something, so I wrote a list of things to talk about with him.

When. One question that is not easy to answer is “When should I tell me adviser that I want to leave academe?” Some blogs I read suggested not telling your adviser at all if you fear a negative response. A colleague related to me that at a workshop she attended, the advice was to tell your adviser after you’ve defended your dissertation so they can’t refuse to confer the degree. Is there a good time?

For me, I needed to act now. I was in the early stages of applying for nonacademic jobs. I not only needed support to finish my dissertation and to graduate, but I also needed my adviser to act as a professional and personal reference. As such, I had to tell him my plans sooner than later. It’s better not to go at it alone. If you can’t tell your adviser, find someone who will champion you.

Where. When I asked my adviser if we could meet to talk about my dissertation progress, he suggested we go to lunch at a place “where they don’t keep coming over to ask you how things are and to hurry you out.” It was a good idea to talk on neutral territory, as opposed to at work, to avoid the temptation to work.

What I said. A fellow graduate student asked me if I pitched to my adviser that I had decided to look for nonacademic jobs due to the lack of fit or the tight academic job market. The fact is that my adviser already knows that the market is not at its best. I approached it as, “This is what I’m doing.”

I told my adviser I had been applying for jobs, and after I described some of them, he was enthusiastic, saying they were good fits for me. I explained that I was still looking into some academic paths and attending conference career fairs. Although the bulk of my efforts were on nonacademic jobs, I applied to jobs that fit my criteria.

How It Went

Over all, my adviser was positive and supportive. He has continued to be the biggest advocate that I’ve had.

We discussed expectations -- what I needed to do to complete the dissertation and what he needed to do to help me graduate and obtain a job. We set parameters to track my progress and the feedback from other committee members. We laid out a timeline and clarified short-, medium- and long-term mile markers. Finally, I asked my adviser if he would be willing to help me navigate and negotiate job offers, and he happily agreed.

I then told my other committee members. Then my former boss. Family and friends. And other graduate students. And something happened -- everyone was supportive. The most common response was questions: committee members asked how they could help and what this meant for future career paths. When I expected other graduate students to be judgmental, I was surprised when they were interested in knowing more.

I offer the insight into having The Talk with the hopes that if you need to do it, you can adapt my experience to yourself and feel more reassured. Good luck!

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Three questions to ask yourself before quitting your PhD

It’s normal for PhD candidates to consider abandoning their studies. Here’s how to take emotions out of the decision.

Gemma Conroy

Credit: Jacobs Stock Photography/Getty

28 July 2020

Jacobs Stock Photography/Getty

Amid lab shutdowns and cancelled fieldwork, many PhD students are facing tough choices regarding the future of their research career.

Roughly 45% of PhD students expect to disengage with their studies within the next six months due to financial hardship related to the pandemic, according to a new survey of 1,020 doctoral candidates in Australia.

While walking away without a doctorate will be the right choice for some – and perhaps the only choice for those with inadequate financial support - it’s important to ask the right questions before making a decision.

“Students need to separate the fake and real reasons for leaving,” says Shane Huntington, deputy director of strategy and partnerships at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences in Australia.

“Some of the most common reasons students quit have nothing to do with their ability to do a PhD.”

Below are three questions that can help a candidate decide whether to quit or continue with their doctoral studies.

1. Are your problems solvable?

Kate Kenfield

Shane Huntington

A disengaged supervisor, toxic lab culture, or a string of failed experiments might feel like reason enough to quit your PhD, but these are not insurmountable problems.

Huntington suggests switching labs if poor supervision or an overly competitive environment are causing you distress.

“I try to get students to determine whether their reasons for wanting to quit are really about them, and not just due to systemic problems. My advice is to map out what the problems are and explore how they can be solved.”

Struggling with specific tasks, such as writing, isn’t a sign to start drafting a withdrawal letter, says Inger Mewburn, director of research training at the Australian National University in Canberra.

“This is a fixable problem,” says Mewburn, who edits a popular blog called The Thesis Whisperer .

“But if you just aren’t enjoying what you’re doing each day, then those feelings need to be critically examined.”

2. Have you talked to someone about it?

It can be difficult for students to admit that they’re struggling, but reaching out to supervisors and other lab members can offer some much-needed perspective, says Frey Fyfe.

“There is a lot of pressure to only convey the positive,” says Fyfe, who quit their PhD in volcanology at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in 2018, and has not returned to academia.

“I wish I had spoken to someone in my research group, as pretty much every PhD student wants to quit at some point.”

Huntington recalls that a quick chat with his PhD supervisor saved him from quitting his own PhD in physics in the late 1990s. The discussion led to weekly meetings where other lab members could help him find solutions to his experimental problems.

“My supervisor told me that most students want to quit at least three times, which sort of gave me permission to feel the way I did,” says Huntington.

He says the weekly meeting helped him feel supported. “We were able to work through the low points.”

Fyfe says that viewing a supervisor as a fellow collaborator, rather than someone to win approval from, can make it easier to communicate more openly.

“It’s not a one-way street,” says Fyfe. “You need to be able to communicate what’s going right and what isn’t.”

3. Does your PhD fit with your long-term goals?

Inger Mewburn

Embarking on a PhD is a major career milestone for many students, but it’s important to consider how it will further your aspirations in the long-run, says Mewburn.

For example, if a candidate wants to end up in a research-focussed job that doesn’t involve teaching, gaining experience from an industry placement could be a more strategic investment than spending years on a PhD.

It’s also important for candidates to make a realistic assessment of the job prospects in their field, particularly in the wake of pandemic-related hiring freezes and job losses .

“You’ve got to explore your options,” says Mewburn. “Is there even going to be a job in your field when you finish your PhD?”

A common mistake students make when deciding whether to quit or continue is focussing on the sacrifices they have made, instead of considering where they want to head next.

“People often think of the past, rather than the future. There’s a lot of guilt about what they’re giving up [if they quit],” says Huntington. “But it’s a myth, because you are not giving up on all the hard work, you’re just taking it in a different direction.”

Whether choosing to quit or stay, it ultimately comes down to feeling confident about your underlying reasons, says Huntington.

“Students should have some power over their destiny. Make the right decision on the right basis, and feel good about the choice you’ve made.”

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Quitting - How to tell my supervisor?

I started my PhD in science about 11 months ago mainly because I didn't have a specific plan for what I wanted to do with my life after my Masters. A month into it, however, I got a call from one of the companies I had wanted to work with (I lost hope after not hearing from them for 3 months) and I embarked on a lengthy recruitment process which is still ongoing. My situation is complicated by the fact that my supervisor is a really nice guy. He took me in despite crap grades in my first year of undergrad and lack of publications from my masters, and is now paying me from his own research funds (in Canada, it is extremely difficult to receive scolarships/funds without having published). On the other hand, the project I was given was very ill thought of and quite vague. I've tried to find a tangent to work on with limited success and absolutely no encouragement/support from my supervisor. He isn't pleased with the fact that I've diverged from the topic he wanted me to work on, but I have absolutely no motivation to go back to it, especially that I very strongly feel it's somewhat of a dead end. I have started hating the lab and the very obvious lack of support (for instance, my supervisor will ask the other PhD student to attend conferences and prepare posters/presentations, but not once has he asked me) and I have to drag myself to work every day. Right now I am fairly certain that I will be getting a job offer from the company some time soon. The pay is excellent, advancement prospects are even better. I will know their answer in September for a start date in November. My guilt is eating me up though. I guilt-trip myself over quitting my PhD and how my supervisor would take it. I feel like I wasted almost a year of funds that could have gone to a more worthy student, but I just couldn't quit without at least having a solid prospect to move onto. When should I tell him? How should I tell him?

Tell him/her/it straight up truth with tact: tell them you're not engaging with the work, you feel this career path is not for you and, while you sincerely appreciate all the time and effort they have put in, you feel it would be unfair both on them and you to expend further valuable resources for suboptimum gain in a field that leaves you feeling trapped. Voila, damn I'm good 8-)

Your supervisor might be nice - but honestly, if he's not giving you opportunities, he really can't be that good. That said, yes, just tell him once you have a job offer. You'll have a difficult conversation, but then you'll be free! Imagine how good you'll feel! I have a restless employment history, and always hate telling the boss that I'm leaving, but they get over it soon enough. Your supervisor might then find someone who wants to do his original project. You have to do what's best for you and you can't go on doing something you hate. And you have to publish from a Masters? Wow, we don't need to do that in Australia.

Must I do it in person? I'm so not the confrontational type and I already feel guilty enough... :-(

Yes, you must do this in person. He's been good enough to be your supervisor, and you should do him the courtesy of telling him in person. Don't expect it to be confrontational. It won't be as bad as you think - someone else on this forum said that the reality of going through with something they didn't want to do has never been as bad as the actual reality, and I agree with that.

Always remember that your PhD is just a stepping stone to your career goals. Considering you are going through this now i.e in your first year I would suggest tackling the situation immediately. You must tell your advisor in person, at the earliest possible time,  that either you are considering leaving or leaving for good. Advisors are understanding and this situation arises more often than you actually think. Forget about guilt. If you're unsure about your PhD plans this early in the game, the rest of the upward hike is going to be confusing, depressing and extremely frustrating for you. Good luck.

I hope it goes well... i know that if i told my supervisor i wanted to quit then she would convince me to do otherwise as they can be quite convincing. You should write down what you want to say and your reasons and then back this up with an email afterwards.

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How to explain past PhD withdrawal to employers/potential supervisors?

I am currently working in education but also looking for job prospects in more technical/mathematical fields. I signed up to a STEM job site and I am not sure how to give a good response to the question "Could you tell me about the circumstances behind you exiting your PhD?"

Basically, I quit a PhD 8 months after starting for the following reasons:

I hadn't fully developed the soft skills needed to be able to tackle one (e.g. time management, organisation, resilience) which resulted in slow progress.

I was struggling to manage myself in a lot of ways (e.g. money, food, mental health)

The area ended up being quite a bit out of my comfort zone (i.e. more pure mathematics compared to an applied mathematical background) and was chosen more based on fanciful ideologies rather than what I was traditionally good at, and it took me a long time to do things that my supervisor thought were straightforward.

I didn't have a break before starting my PhD and felt consistently burned out/depressed having gone straight into it after my Master's degree - not the best decision to make in hindsight.

I know the reasons in my head for dropping out of the PhD are sound, but I am struggling to come up with a way that explains what happened without potentially giving off an impression that I made a bad decision. I want to make a transition out of high school equivalent teaching (having been doing it for 2-3 years) into something more technical but would appreciate some guidance on how to answer the question I've mentioned above.

Furthermore, suppose I did find a niche of an area I was truly passionate about, or found a Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) which I felt could truly advance my career in some way (say, being able to access some very technical and well-paid STEM role). How would I explain to potential PhD supervisors that I already quit a PhD without them thinking of it as being too much of a red flag?

• career-path
• What is wrong with mentioning the reasons you give here? Except maybe the second reason. But mention how you've addressed these issues in the years since and why at that point in you life, the PhD was just the wrong choice for you. –  Jeroen Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 19:28
• Well there isn't anything wrong with the reasons I mentioned above as far as I can tell, though maybe the second one could ring alarm bells. But if I wanted to do a different PhD (say) would these ring alarm bells for potential supervisors? –  user32670 Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 20:19

2 Answers 2

I wouldn't go into a lot of detail. The person asking you this wants one single answer, and it should be something that puts you in a good light for the new opportunity and doesn't provoke hard follow-up questions .

• If you want to go into the workplace, I would say "My previous program focused too much on theory without useful application and I really wanted something more applied. I like to work on projects that have useful application in the real world."
• Alternatively, if you want to be in industry, you can say that you realized you actually don't want to work in academia and your previous program was interested in keeping you in that realm, rather than preparing you for the workplace.
• If you are pursuing more education, you may focus on differences between the field you quit and your new one. Something like: "I realized I'm really much more passionate about computer science than I am about pure mathematics."
• You should do nothing to mention the issue in anything that you give to everyone. That's information to be conveyed in an interview, if at all.

It's a given that there were probably other things going on and your interviewer will assume there is more to it, but they are not your therapist and do not need to understand the whole situation. Only give them what is sufficient and positive.

I was kicked out of a Ph.D. program at a very late stage because I simply was not performing well. The main reason for my poor work was personal issues that are embarrassing and were my fault but were not directly related to my studies. Later I re-applied to a program in the same field. When they asked why I dropped out I said that my advisor was travelling my whole last year and unable to supervise me well and that I had a compelling offer in industry. Both of those are true and were significant factors in my outcome. I didn't tell them I was also having personal problems at the time that negatively impacted my ability to focus on my work.

I got into the program and finished my Ph.D. On the job market people again asked me why I did a few years at one school before finishing at another. I said various things similar to the above but was never in a position where I really had to explain it. I did some studies at one school, went into industry for a while, and then went back and finished at a different school. That's as much as people know. To this day my colleagues don't know what the deal was and have never had enough interest to find out. That's the way it should be---professional conversations should be kept professional and private information rarely has a place in them.

I have seen people play the "I was young and immature" card and seen it work out, but it's a big risk. My advice is to be honest with people, but don't undermine your future by dredging up potentially harmful issues from your past. Instead say things that are true, put you in a good light, and will satisfy the asker.

• I think it's good to show some ability to reflect on past makes and learn from them. To paint your current self in a positive light is not the same as pretending everything your past self did was perfect. Lastly, what you did was straight out lie, which may or may not work. –  Timon van der Berg Commented Jan 5, 2021 at 16:50
• Timon, if you were referring to me, I have never lied about my experience. Like most such events, my failure to finish was a result of several interacting factors. I see no reason to bring up personal, private issues as answers to general career questions unless there is no alternative. You don't want to be one of those people who brings up private or embarrassing issues in inappropriate times. –  farnsy Commented Jan 5, 2021 at 17:49

tl;dr - Sounds like something went wrong in your past. Prospective employers would likely be interested in understanding this prior event to inform their consideration about whether or not you'd be suitable for a new role.

Personally, I'd guess that the best way through this is to help prospective employers to understand what happened and how this information should inform their evaluation of whether or not you're the appropriate candidate for the job.

Most of the following's written in the first-person. This is meant to reinforce the point that I can't really speak for hiring managers in general as there're many diverse viewpoints and philosophies. So, the following should be understood as my own thoughts and perceptions. Also disclaiming that none of this is legal advice; for example, there may be relevant laws/regulations/etc. involved in interviewing interactions and disclosures that aren't considered below.

I know the reasons in my head for dropping out of the PhD are sound, but I am struggling to come up with a way that explains what happened without potentially giving off an impression that I made a bad decision.

Sounds like you did make a bad decision at some point. Still, unless you're trying to convince someone that you're infallible, that's not the worst thing in the world. Then on the plus side, you avoided making the sunk cost fallacy : the decision to stick with a path that's no longer optimal merely because resources have already been spent on it.

Personally, if I were considering hiring you, I'd want to know the following:

What mistake(s) did you make?

• I'd be extremely interested in this question, so you'd probably want to help me figure out the answer. If I couldn't figure it out, I'd likely perceive there to be an unqualified risk, and probably opt to avoid that risk by not hiring you.

What do those mistakes say about you at the time you made them?

What do those mistakes say about you now?

• What, if anything, have you done to correct for their causation?

How concerned should I be about any potential problem areas that they may reflect on?

How should I evaluate your response to these various problems?

• While causing problems may reflect negatively on you, fixing them can still reflect positively. You can earn points here.

It sounds like you've already given these some thought. However, you might want to give it a bit more thought. For example:

That sounds pretty bad. And while I'd give you kudos for recognizing it, I'd still want to feel confident that this problem is resolved, or at least manageable.

A major point here is that, if I hire you, I want to feel confident that I made the right decision. So I need to understand exactly what happened and why, despite those facts, you're still the right person for the job.

So, here're a few of my first thoughts on seeing your points. I'm speaking in the first-person here because my perceptions are my own; I can't generally speak for any hiring manager who might be considering you, though I hope that these may be helpful.

Apparently you had trouble managing your time and working at the expected pace. That's a pretty big problem in most positions in which you'd need to manage your own work flow.

Have you done anything to fix these problems?

Are they still problems?

If I hired you, how should I expect them to complicate things in the future?

If you were a PhD student struggling with money or food, that's not so unusual or hard to understand. If you're applying to be a PhD student again, it'd be a big point to address because it seems like you might have the exact same problems this time around, too. But if you're applying for a higher-paid position, it'd seem less relevant (though you might still comment on if it'll be a problem, and if it won't, why not).

As for issues with " mental health ", that's alarming. Poor mental health can truly wreck people, and there's often very little an employer could reasonably do to help fix it. No employer wants to be in that position, so you may want to:

Think about all the ways in which your mental health might adversely affect your employer.

Try to figure out how you might correct for any of those problems before going into any interviews.

Explain these to the interviewer.

Note: There may be various laws/regulations/etc. surrounding mental health disclosure, discussion, hiring consideration, etc.. I'm not a lawyer and I'm not offering legal advice. I am not asserting that anything here or in this answer is compliant with any given legality's rules or regulations.

Is this a concern for whatever you'll be doing in the new position that you're being considered for?

Does this reflect on any sort of inflexibility that might result in an unwillingness to perform some future job function?

Could this be a problem now?

Are you prone to burning out, such that it might be a problem a few years down-the-line?

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How to tell PI I'm quitting my PhD