![]() ![]() The postdoc is temporary and you’ll need to find a “real job” eventually, so if you don’t want to stay in academia I don’t recommend spending a bunch of time in a low-paying job that doesn’t help your career. I’d suggest taking those skills to a proper job with stability and long-term prospects for advancement. You’re in this weird limbo where you’re basically considered a glorified student (but without student benefits) even though you’re now a highly trained scientist. You don’t get paid nearly as well as you would in other jobs and the benefits usually suck. If you don’t need to do a postdoc, then I don’t recommend doing one. Of course, you’ll want to talk to people in whatever industry you’re targeting to make sure this is true. A postdoc usually isn’t required for jobs outside of academia, such as biotech, data science, writing, policy, consulting, etc. If you know you don’t want an academic job, then my opinion is that there’s no reason to do a postdoc. But if you start a postdoc and decide you don’t want to stay in academia, you can always leave at any time (and you can job search during your postdoc). It’s very hard to leave academia and then try to come back. If you think you might want a tenure-track research job, you should do a postdoc. A postdoc is mainly a means to an end-the end being a tenure-track job. If you know you want one of these jobs, you need to do a postdoc. This kind of job is typically referred to as “staying in academia”. The postdoc is a necessary step if you want a tenure-track research job at a university or other research institution, such as the NIH. Postdocs shorter than 3 years are not typical in my field but may be common in other areas. ![]() (Hopefully the former.) In biology, postdocs typically last from 3 to 7 years, and they seem to be getting longer-8+ years is not so unusual anymore, at least in neuroscience. Like most PhDs, postdocs do not have a defined time limit-you keep working until you get another job or your lab doesn’t want to fund you anymore. You typically do a postdoc in a different lab than you did your PhD. Note: in my field you don’t get paid twice as much, but maybe 50% more. But in general, a lot of people find the postdoc to be pretty similar to grad school.Ĭredit: PhD comics. You might be expected to take on additional responsibilities like mentoring grad students or writing grants for the lab. future you.)ĭoing a postdoc is typically a similar experience to being a PhD student, except that you are more knowledgeable and experienced, and so you may be expected to be more independent. (Postdoc is also an abbreviation for “postdoctoral fellow” which refers to the person in that position, i.e. ![]() So what’s the deal with a postdoc?Ī postdoctoral position, or “postdoc”, is a position that you take after you get your PhD in order to obtain further training in your field. This post is based on my own experiences and those of other postdocs I know, so the usual disclaimers apply: these are my opinions and I’m sure some people will disagree my experience is in the field of biology (specifically neuroscience) and may not be applicable to other fields. In my typical style, it is super long and comprehensive, but feel free to scroll down to specific sections that catch your interest. So here I’ve written up my thoughts and advice about how to get a postdoc and choose the right position. It made me realize that many grad students don’t know much about the process of obtaining and choosing a postdoctoral position, and that I have a lot of knowledge to share that could be helpful. Recently I was on a panel for PhD students about “How to get a postdoc”. ![]()
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