Found yourself comfortably cocooned in research, only to realize it’s time to venture into the great unknown of postdoc life? Thinking, why didn’t they teach us this stuff? Been there, done that.
This guide covers all of my meta-findings. I should mention my expertise: NLP and Machine Learning (Computer Science), and Why do I mention it? because postdocs are very individual and fields and origin countries (Israel) may alter some of the suggestions.
Now, you’re probably thinking, “There must be better guides out there.” I hope you are right, share them or add here the best tips you found! Let’s make it epic, for us all.
Who to Talk to (Do Your Research)
Before you dive into the hunt, get more information, from guides like this, sure, but also discuss it with your peers:
- Consider your future career – talk to someone doing it
- You would want a position – talk to someone who just got the position Ask them what were they asked about, what were people interested impressed etc.
- Also ask the ones deciding on such positions, those are usually senior researchers
- Some people will be very friendly but noncommittal. Posts are fluid and complex and outcomes are hard to predict. True, but there are patterns in this chaos. Ask someone else.
- Whoever wants to listen – like jobs, you never know who has just heard of an opportunity, make others know you are looking. Remember, you are no longer one of the thousands starting their research. Professors are not flooded with such requests for help and most decent people would gladly give you a hand. Moreover, it might even be an opportunity for you to get known and to share your plans so they will have you in mind. Last, we are still irrational machines, asking for help, paradoxically, makes you closer and might help when you ask for help next time, and you might need their help applying when you get back.
How do I know I am done with information gathering? When you feel the advice you receive starts repeating itself, it’s time to embrace the partial information and look for a post. But before we send you to send emails, here are our tips to reach this enlightened point fast.
What to Look for in a postdoc
It boils down to 3 questions:
What allows the best research during my post?
What do I need to get the job I want after the post (I assume here, academic or PI in an institute)?
What would help me perform the job after I get it? (skills as opposed to CV)
Notes:
- Yes, there are many reasons, many, not to get the post that maximizes all of the above, but I can’t tell you where your wife would be happiest or where they offer more money. Definitely start with what would make you (and everyone coming with you!) happy and among those options maximize the other things.
- You will never get everything, but each checkmark here would be an advantage.
Good for Research
This is a very individualistic choice, but (arguably?) the most important one, so take the other choices with grain and salt. One interesting and repeating piece of advice for many reasons is to look for a “hub”. Consider who else is around, eventually, you might collaborate with more than your supervisor, you might learn, influence, share or find more opportunities, with more people around. Ask yourself, if something happens with your host, will the postdoc be considered a failure? Ensure you are confident you do not rely on one person too much.
Academic Job Checklist
You don’t need all of those, but those are advantages that might be good to tick
- Your research impact (citations, venues etc.)
- A good recommendation letter from someone(s) senior (tenure + known in the field)
- A known institute (yes, some would appreciate the university, regardless of the advisor)
- Proof of making a large investment in research, “living it, living for it” (e.g., moving abroad and being immersed in research)
- Proof of diverse abilities, one trick ponies are a risk for the hiring committee, maybe you won’t be able to replicate this success in the future
- Research Agenda, at least one line of research – a relatable direction you might keep pursuing and they can see how it complements the faculty’s current interest
- Researcher on your own, were all your research piggyback? All with the mark of an advisor or two? Can you collaborate with others? Lead? or only join a running project etc.
- Proof of excellence (Especially, Grants and Scholarships which may predict whether you will manage to get funds as a Prof.)
- Some teaching experience is also a bonus (but only if you had none before, and even if so, most places value research first).
Post’s Effect – Post Being Hired
As a professor, you would apply for (non-anonymous) grants of all sorts. The committee members would not be necessarily from your sub-field or even from your field, depending on who are you competing against, and you probably have less advantage as you compete against more. So the committee members would not know your supervisor, and they might not know if your research is impressive, they would know how many citations you had, and that you have been to Stanford. So for this, location is much more important than the supervisor’s name (although letters might still count for some steps in the way).
Contact Potential hosts
Writing Emails
Know why you chose the host, say what makes you special and also what makes them special for you. Generic emails (and apparently mentioning a paper or two is still generic for professors). If you have a connection who can introduce you or you already know the host, it is always better. Some professors would like a reminder if they haven’t answered, others ignored you on purpose (but if you ask me, they can ignore you again if they need to). Expect 1\3 to even 1\10 not to even answer your emails, professors are busy, have sabbaticals etc.
Meeting (optional)
People communicate better face-to-face. At the initial lookout stage, if you have the opportunity (e.g., at a conference or a trip going through one or many universities), suggest meeting and discussing opportunities for your post. Professors are often busy, so you probably should set a meeting and not count on fate.
Another stage where you might consider meeting directly, is when you approach closing with a host or a few. You might consider giving a talk. This will allow you to meet with the people around, see the surroundings, the university, the town, and meet the host. Financially, the host, or your current lab may (or may not) help, also adding it to a conference might save something.
You Need to Decide
Postdoc roles vary a bit more than a degree. Still, there are 3 main types of postdocs and you should choose which one(s) suits you.
Extended PhD – You are a senior researcher, keep doing your research.
Grant based – The funding for the post comes from a large project, it has the advantage of security, being able to advise and lead a large project, but the disadvantage of flexibility; it comes with less freedom, at least a major part of your time should be dedicated for this project. Such positions are often shared somewhere as hosts actively search for someone to fill this role. Ask around to find out where to find those (Twitter? word of mouth-> ask many people if they know? Can you share that you look and they will contact you? mailing lists?)
Advise – Mostly in large labs, postdocs act as the ones leading research and advising, it offers a lot of freedom and little help or intervention from above. Remember, you are still expected to publish at least a bit as a first (or last?) author.
Time
With some luck, you can move in 3 months. However, if you find your best match but they have no money, sometimes you can apply for a grant together. For this, about a year in advance may help you. Also note fellowships are submitted once a year, so you need to time that as well. Last, note that some places would require you to have the Ph.D. approved and not only submitted which may take many months, check that in advance.
Money
Apply early for Scholarships, it is worth it for the prestige, and maybe the money. If you got one, it might be worth revisiting the places you wanted to go to and couldn’t or didn’t answer, maybe with the funds (even partial ones) it might be easier to open a position and acquire the rest of the funds (matching). Look for fellowship related to your background (e.g., women’s), to the place you are looking for (e.g., Fullbright if you got to the US), and also to places you consider going to (many universities or institutions have fellowships (e.g., NYU center of data science).
Industry
Some areas may have real postdocs with institutes or companies. Those might or might not be holding prestige, check. Usually, they would pay better. Apart from that, make sure what kind of postdoc are you expected to do there. Is it really focused on research (nothing else would count)? Would you be able to fill the checklist (e.g., get a meaningful letter from someone appreciated in academia)?
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