发信人: cyberpostdoc (cyberpostdoc), 信区: Biology
标 题: Postdoc advice #1: start early
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Wed Jun 29 21:26:23 2005)

Original article from http://www.cyberpostdoc.org/

When to start to look for a postdoc position? Start early!

Now that you are starting to write your dissertation, thinking of future postd
octoral training. Do you know when and how to look for a postdoc position? Wha
t is the advice from most people? Well, the first advice is: START EARLY!
There is no formal rules or regulations of when and how to look for a postdoc
position. I've seen people have their postdoc lined up one year ahead of their
graduation date. I've also seen others just spend three months around graduat
ion time and get two offers. But if you are really serious about your postdoc
training, the advice from most people is to START EARLY!

Why? There are two major reasons for a PhD candidate to start her/his postdoc
hunting process early:
1. Give yourself enough time to make the right decision: getting the right pos
tdoctoral training is crucial for ones career. There are a lot of things need
to be considered thoroughly before one makes a decision and starts the applica
tion process. Such considerations include: what is your career goal, are you t
rying to learn new skills or gain in-depth expertise, do you have a specific l
ab or preferred labs in mind, what is your expectation of salary and benefits,
etc. Starting early gives you enough time to sort through details and make th
e right move in looking for a postdoc position to fulfill your career goal.

2. Give yourself enough time to let people to know you: networking and present
ing yourself to the right community is very important in looking for a postdoc
. I have been getting no response after I sent out about ten applications. But
I get an offer just after ten minutes talk with a PI at a conference! It is a
ll about talking to the right people at the right time. While there is not goi
ng to be a conference scheduled just for you at the time of your graduation, w
hich, you wish, should also have the PI that you are interested attending (you
r future mentor), starting early allows you to plan ahead to look for opportun
ities (mostly conference or symposium) to talk to people in the field in perso
n. Furthermore, on the same line, good labs don't always have positions open r
ight at the time of your graduation, starting early allows you to keep in cont
act with labs you are interested, which will increase your chance of getting t
he position you want once they are available.

Well, how early? A PhD candidate should consider to start looking for a postdo
c one year before scheduled defense date. Once started, you will need to decid
e things such as whether to get an academic postdoc or industrial postdoc, exp
ectation for postdoctoral mentor, your future research direction, your expecta
tion for salary and benefits, and other practical matters (reference letters,
CV, publication), etc.

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※ 修改:·cyberpostdoc 於 Jun 29 21:27:45 2005 修改本文·[FROM: 67.82.198.137]
※ 来源:·BBS 未名空间站 http://mitbbs.com·[FROM: 67.82.]