James Gould - Making The Most of The Postdoc (2023)
James Gould - Making The Most of The Postdoc (2023)
Postdoc
Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows spend upwards of 15 years hon-
ing their research skills. However, in all this training, compulsory career and
professional development courses are far and few between. In the absence of
a formal training curriculum, this co-curricular postdoc guidebook can be
used as a manual for aspiring scientists to find career success.
Postdocs face many hurdles in their pursuit of research excellence and
independence. None more frustrating than making the most of this chal-
lenging yet rewarding opportunity. Ultimately, the point of postdoc train-
ing is not maintaining a lengthy postdoc tenure but landing a satisfying job.
Regardless of what they do in their career, postdocs need to gain and master
many skills both directly related to their scientific training and beyond. This
book posits that if trainees are motivated and given some practical guidance,
they can build a professional reputation while achieving a successful postdoc
experience.
Based on the personal experiences of the author, this book logically out-
lines the flow of the postdoc experience from beginning to end by providing
actionable advice on how to get the most out of postdoctoral training while
laying out strategies for choosing the right research environment to thrive
along with planning, and executing, a successful postdoc tenure. Written for
current and future postdocs, as well as their mentors, this book covers what
they need to know, and do, to strategically advance in their early research
career.
Key Features:
James Gould
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DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458
Typeset in Palatino
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Contents
Foreword................................................................................................................ vii
Acknowledgments..................................................................................................ix
4 Situational Awareness.................................................................................. 37
Postdoc Pain/Pivot Points............................................................................. 37
Stopping the Negativity Spiral..................................................................... 41
Imposter Syndrome: Managing Your Inner Dialogue..............................43
Resilience and Mental Wellness...................................................................44
v
vi Contents
6 Path to Independence....................................................................................55
Understanding Your Priorities...................................................................... 55
Framing Your Training.................................................................................. 55
Your Training Efforts..................................................................................... 56
Building Your Reputation.............................................................................. 57
Build Transferable Skills................................................................................ 59
Preparing for the Next Step........................................................................... 60
Structuring Your Preparation....................................................................... 61
9 Interview Preparation...................................................................................91
Becoming a Storyteller................................................................................... 91
Common Struggles and Successful Strategies for Interview Prep.......... 95
Interview Performance.................................................................................. 96
Do Your Homework........................................................................................ 97
The Face-to-Face Interview............................................................................ 98
Gratitude and Follow-Up............................................................................... 99
Index...................................................................................................................... 107
Foreword
Getting a PhD is a special journey. One that should unite us all together as
PhDs. Unfortunately, the nature of our work tends to fragment us at times.
We can sometimes be critical of ourselves and other PhDs. Understand that it
was never meant to be this way. We were meant to be critical of our research,
but not our PhD peers, mentors, or trainees. We were meant to be advocates
of other PhDs.
Dr. James Gould is an amazing example of somebody who has dedicated
his life to being an advocate for other PhDs, specifically those in postdoc-
toral appointments. Dr. Gould, who I will call my great friend Jim from here
on out, is not just an advocate for the PhDs he mentors as Director of the
Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine Office for
Postdoctoral Fellows, a very prestigious role he earned through hard work,
intelligence, kindness, determination, and an incredible ability to teach and
guide others; he is also an advocate for his PhD peers.
When I was first starting out in industry after getting my PhD, I was living
in Boston and decided to start my company, Cheeky Scientist. I was eager to
speak to PhDs at local universities and help PhDs learn how to transition out
of academia and into industry careers. This was the company’s mission. The
problem? No one was interested. Until Jim. Jim gave me a chance to speak in
my very first seminar under the Cheeky Scientist banner. After a mountain
of rejections, he said yes and I couldn’t believe it. This was ten years ago in
2013 and the idea that PhDs should be trained to do something other than
become professors was not widely accepted. There is still a lot of work to be
done in terms of its acceptance today, but a decade ago, whenever I spoke to a
room of 50 or so PhDs and asked who among them was going to stay in aca-
demia, 40 would raise their hands. Today, that ratio is flipped, with 40 raising
their hands to indicate they are pursuing careers outside of academia.
Jim was one of the few people to see this coming. He was also the first
person to see potential in me as a fellow mentor of PhDs instead of a threat.
When Jim invited me to speak, or should I say, when he allowed me to come
speak at Harvard to the postdocs he was mentoring, he did so without
judgment, reservations, caveats, or complaints. Instead, he invited me with
friendliness, open arms, and a collegial spirit. He complimented me on the
message I was trying to get across and gently guided me on making my
presentation less abrasive and more considerate and inclusive to academics,
many of whom were skeptical of anyone suggesting they look for work out-
side of the academy.
Jim continued to offer his advice to me over the years, always gently, intel-
ligently, and without ego, helping me understand the challenges postdocs
faced and how to gain wider acceptance of my ideas by smoothing out the
vii
viii Foreword
rough edges of messages. Without Jim, the message, voice, and even the
brand of Cheeky Scientist wouldn’t be where it is today. After speaking at
hundreds of universities, all around the world, there are only a few people I
have worked with who get as much done for PhDs as Jim, and there is no one
who genuinely cares about postdocs as much as him. Jim has deep knowl-
edge of the terrain in terms of what a postdoc goes through psychologically,
the pressures they must deal with, how many self-sabotage their careers for
years, and, most importantly, the world of possibilities open to postdocs,
career-wise and otherwise, once they expand their vision of their training,
their skills, and their worth.
Boston is the beating heart of PhDs worldwide, with more PhDs in Boston
and Cambridge than any other metropolitan area in the US, and possibly the
world. Jim is at the center of that beating heart. If you are doing a postdoc, or
are going to do a postdoc, this book is critical to you making the most of your
time in your position and then leveraging your training to get hired into a
meaningful career. Jim will show you in Chapter 4 what your professional
pain points are or will be as a postdoc and what professional pivot points
will alleviate those pain points. In Chapter 9 he will show you how to use the
P-A-R Stories and the P-A-R Matrix to interview for your next role success-
fully. From thriving as a postdoc to arriving in the next step in your career,
Making the Most of the Postdoc will show you the way.
I want to encourage you to read Jim’s words with a discovery mindset.
Open yourself up to possibilities. Start this book as an exploration. After
all, you likely got into your PhD in the first place to discover and to explore.
Savor the adventure that you’re about to go on. And then commit to putting
Jim‘s words into action for yourself and your career. Enjoy!
Dr. Isaiah Hankel
Founder and CEO of Cheeky Scientist
Author of The Power of a PhD, Intelligent Achievement, and Black Hole Focus
Acknowledgments
ix
Part 1
The Beginning
Introduction
My Path – from Clueless to Clarity:
Finding Strength through Struggle
I have been asked over and over why did I choose this path. I cannot say
exactly when I chose it, perhaps it chose me. For as long as I can remember, it
has always been something that I have done, even when I was younger, just
helping others. I am not saying I was always helpful, just that I was always
willing to help while also being sought out for it. It may be because I have
always needed support though did not know how to consistently seek it,
thus making a lot of mistakes with few initial successes. If there is a theme
to my life and work, it is that there is much to learn through error and I can
help make others aware to avoid the same mistakes I made. (Thereby allow-
ing them to make new and more interesting slipups.)
I was uncertain about almost everything growing up. Going to school and
playing baseball (and just about any other backyard sport) were some of the
few things I could count on, mostly because I was on a team or with my friends.
Regardless, this uncertainty manifested itself as mistakes large and small
and none as monumental as my decision-making process to attend college. I
applied very late in my senior year of high school and had already graduated
by the time I was accepted to Clarion University of Pennsylvania where one of
my best friends had long been accepted. Upon notification, I only had six weeks
before the fall semester started and I had no plan, no classes, and worst of all, no
financial aid. Ever chasing after my oldest sister, I was only the second child in
my blended family to attempt college. Thankfully universities have experience
with naïve families such as mine. Regardless, I essentially just showed up to
campus on a Saturday, haphazardly took placement exams, blindly scheduled
courses, and rashly started classes two days later.
In the fall of my second year, it dawned on me that I needed to decide
on a major. Eschewing any resources or advice, I selected my major out of
the university course catalogue based on three loosely related reasons: 1) I
had already taken several science and math courses; 2) I had really enjoyed
Basic Biology, a class designed specifically for non-science majors; and
3) “Molecular Biology/Biotechnology” sounded way cooler than regular
“Biology” or the unfamiliar “Ecology.” Mind you, I did not have the slightest
idea what Molecular Biology was though I did know (because of the course
catalogue) that it was essentially the same course of study with just a few
advanced-level exceptions. So off I went to the chair of the biology depart-
ment to get the paperwork signed that allowed me to officially declare my
major.
DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458-2 3
4 Making the Most of the Postdoc
new area of research for me and got an offer to be Cancer Research Training
Fellow. I was not alone on the job search, my wife, fully expecting me to have
finished my PhD, also landed a job in Frederick as a teacher. However, I did
all of this before ever giving my dissertation committee an update on my
research progress. Much to my dismay and in hindsight not a surprise, my
dissertation committee, in full agreement with my PhD advisor, determined
that I was not even close to being ready. Having made a huge miscalculation,
I, embarrassed and very much humbled (again), had to ask for a deferment of
the postdoc job offer for at least a year. My wife not only had to do the same
but also had to ask for her old job back.
With renewed commitment and a focus that I had not thought possible, I
generated more data in the subsequent nine months than I had in the previ-
ous five years combined. In the end, less than a year’s work constituted the
bulk of my dissertation. By March 2007, I had permission to write up my
dissertation and make my PhD defense. Three months later I successfully
defended. Because of the previous year’s false start, I made another series of
huge mistakes. I moved my family to Frederick and began my new postdoc
fellowship (in a new research area, remember) only a week after my disser-
tation defense. I started my new position before my degree was conferred;
thus, I was not yet eligible to receive the full postdoc stipend. Worse yet, I
left my PhD lab before I had converted my dissertation into a manuscript for
submission. It took me another 12 months of back and forth with my gradu-
ate advisor before I realized that I would never submit, much less publish, a
first-author paper based on my PhD work. The loss of this opportunity fur-
thered my desperation to find a career away from the bench. However, I was
surprised that others in my former lab had continued to expand the central
observation of my research in new ways, ironically by doing a proteomic
analysis of high glucose–induced signaling in kidney cells. Eight years after
I graduated, I was included as a second author of a paper based on my origi-
nal PhD work.
When reflecting on my postdoc experience, among the many challenges, I
remember a few moments of success and satisfaction. The most impactful is
the eventual realization of my career trajectory. The most lasting is the circle
of friends and colleagues with which I surrounded myself and am still in
contact. And the most satisfying, perhaps, was winning the Ft. Detrick Fun
League Softball Championship. Let me explain. Since I joined my postdoc
lab in the summer, it was natural that the lab PI shared that he was on a
softball team that played on base. I expressed my interest in joining as I had
been playing sports my entire life and wanted a competitive outlet as well
as an excuse to network with and impress my boss outside the lab. It did not
go how I had hoped. He left the team in 2008, after only one season playing
with him. Mind you, he had probably been on that team for a decade. I doubt
I was the reason he no longer played, but we never talked about softball after
that. Even though it felt like a missed opportunity, it was also still a chance
to expand my network beyond the lab. In my third and final season, my team
Introduction 7
tore through the league with only a single loss and in so doing, we won the
regular season and tournament championships. This was the pinnacle of
my postdoc tenure: a Fun League softball team triumph that had nothing to
do with research, publishing, or finding a job. While I was playing softball,
there was also a lot happening in my postdoc training.
As I have stated, helping others, outreach, and service were very satisfy-
ing. I moved from a graduate student helping graduate students to a post-
doc helping fellow postdocs. It was infinitely more rewarding than doing
research. I began to strategically seek out more opportunities that followed
my interests, sometimes at the cost of my research projects. As a postdoc, I
was drawn to and eventually played a major role in the Fellows and Young
Investigators (FYI) Steering Committee, the equivalent of a postdoc associa-
tion at the NCI. This was a seminal and formative experience for me. During
my tenure, I was elected as chair and also led the scientific sub-committee.
Additionally, I ran the campus-wide postdoc seminar series and new post-
doc orientation. I worked on the postdoc training satisfaction survey and,
because of my growing reputation, was invited to represent trainees on sev-
eral committees across Ft. Detrick and the NCI. I sought out teaching and
outreach opportunities that led me to lecturing high school and college stu-
dents on poster presentations and cancer metabolism. Even when I realized
that what I was doing informally and for fun might be a viable career path,
I still did not fully understand the idea of managing or directing graduate
or postdoc affairs. From this point, I became very focused and strategic in
what I chose to pursue. I began to elevate how I communicated and framed
my experience to respected leaders in the field. It was an important shift in
thinking for me because now I had a career target to aim my efforts toward.
Because of this new clarity, I was able to transform my experiences into an
internship with the NCI Office of Training and Education. Regrettably, many
of us do not have this frameshift about our next job and how to get there
until it is almost too late. It was around this time that I began to see the fruits
of my many non-research labors. I was blown away to find that my fellow
postdocs were now actively seeking me out to expand their own professional
networks.
Unfortunately, the lack of progress in my research projects caught up to
me. At the end of my second year of postdoc, I found out from a department
administrator, not my PI, that my contract was not going to be renewed. As
a result of this miscommunication (with the administrator, not the termina-
tion), I was finally informed as to who my primary mentor actually was. It
was not in fact the guy I tried playing softball with, it was his very expe-
rienced staff scientist. It was not like I did not know the staff scientist, we
worked closely together, but I always wondered why he was telling me what
to do in my projects and inviting me to attend meetings with him. Not until
two years into my postdoc did I realize this person was my assigned men-
tor. Regardless, thanks to the generous termination policy at the NCI/NIH,
I had 12 months to find a new position. I wasted no time and was still quite
8 Making the Most of the Postdoc
uncertain about my next steps. So, with the help of a lab mate’s introduction, I
made a solid connection that led to an interview for a second postdoc. At the
interview, I used slides from my PhD defense seminar, not my postdoctoral
work. There were two really good reasons for this. First, the lab I was inter-
viewing with was hardcore cancer metabolism, and my dissertation could
be re-framed as being metabolism related. And second, I had not generated a
shred of usable data from my current postdoc. Even though it was obvious to
both of us that we were an excellent fit for each other, I was initially turned
down. As you can imagine, the combination of being fired, turned down for
another job, and not knowing if I could pay my bills led to extreme anxiety
and panic. Humbled (yet again) and very desperate, I reached out and asked
to be reconsidered by the metabolism group. I was eventually hired into that
lab and found out later that two of my future lab mates had vouched for me.
Interestingly, one of them was the third baseman on my softball team. I was
able to return the favor to the second as I helped them to transition to job in
industry 10 years later. As stated, this postdoc was a much better fit for me
both scientifically and personally. I was fully committed to the science and
also negotiated that I be allowed to continue my internship and related train-
ing affairs work outside the lab. For the next 18 months, I flourished. I felt I
had positively impacted the lab and also had the honor of being specifically
named in my research division’s successful program review for my contribu-
tions to the greater NCI-Frederick community.
Despite my efforts, to this point, I had zero research papers to my name. I
had already come to terms with the reality that a future doing research was
not possible. The next step in my journey to creating a new career trajec-
tory was actually convincing myself (and then my wife) that it was worth all
the hardship and anguish of getting my PhD, doing multiple postdocs, and
moving my family across the country twice. To help make this transition, I
took advantage of the resources around me at the NCI as well as the NIH. I
sought out role models and training workshops. I even made friends with the
director and staff of the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education.
Perhaps most helpful was meeting with a career coach and taking the MBTI
and DiSC self-assessments. This effort along with some much-needed self-
reflection provided the necessary tools to recalibrate what it meant to be a
PhD and a postdoc. I had to reprioritize the skills I possessed and the skills I
needed. I would be leveraging all of my experiences as a scientist and apply-
ing them to a completely different set of problems. I would no longer be
doing research but transitioning into a research-adjacent position where I
would be helping people deal with issues that hindered their research and
their professional progress. I realized that it will never be me saying, “I am
going to cure cancer,” though maybe I can help someone else realize their
full potential, by raising their awareness of or even removing some barriers
that might be harmful to their research. I would now be saying “I coached
that person and they made their situation better allowing them to take major
strides toward a cancer cure.” This was a significant and necessary change in
Introduction 9
perspective that allowed me to believe this was the right path. I understood
that this could be enjoyable while also being important. Now all that I had to
do was convince someone to pay me to do this.
However, it was difficult finding a job, especially one I was excited about.
Though I had several interviews for similar positions, it took many more
months of gaining additional experience and training outside of my lab
responsibilities to qualify for my current position. I even went so far as to
pitch the graduate dean at Louisville on the value of having a postdoc office
and a professional development training structure in place in the hopes of
them hiring me. It almost worked. I would not have my current position if I
did not participate in the FYI Steering Committee. Not only did it give me a
glimpse into an administrative career, it helped me tap into a vast network
of people in the field. I was able to hone my leadership skills – learning how
to manage meetings and delegate assignments across a large group of vol-
unteers. In particular, it was my internship in the training office and the
subsequent administrative understanding that made me a top choice for the
position. I would not have even known about the position if it were not for a
few people who knew of my career interests sending me the job ad.
After four years of postdoc that included two years of job searching, I
started my position as the director of the office for postdoctoral fellows at
Harvard Medical School in June 2011. They were a little hesitant about hiring
me straight out of my postdoc though I was also able to connect with and
support the postdocs at HMS on a deeper level than they had previously
experienced. I did miss the scientific chatter of the lab as well as my lab
mates; however, I never missed the day-to-day frustration of failed experi-
ments. I definitely felt that my “Eureka!” moments happened a lot more often
after I transitioned away from the bench.
As Director of the HMS/HSDM Office for Postdoctoral Fellows, it still took
several more years of professional development to gain trust, build rela-
tionships, and find my footing. I now manage a vibrant office of two that
serves thousands of postdocs. I am responsible for developing and execut-
ing programming that adds value to the postdoc training experience. There
is no typical workday as week-to-week I am alternately presenting or host-
ing programs for postdocs while juggling the administration of the office.
One of the first tasks I had was enhancing the office’s visibility, use, and
reputation not only within HMS and Harvard community but also locally
and then nationally. My office currently produces over one hundred events,
seminars, and workshops per year that cover postdoc and research skills, as
well as career, professional, and individual development. Since my arrival at
HMS, I developed and instituted a flexible curriculum predicated on creat-
ing awareness, building skills, and establishing experience to help address
major postdoc pain points of research expertise, publication record, funding
stability, and career readiness.
Having been a postdoc and now running a postdoc office, I have witnessed
trainees struggle with identifying a career path, building an identity and
10 Making the Most of the Postdoc
DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458-3 11
12 Making the Most of the Postdoc
DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458-4 17
18 Making the Most of the Postdoc
reading their recent publications, but you need to also know their major con-
tributions to science. It also helps for you to have an understanding of the
history of the field. When preparing for your interview presentation, you
will need to craft a compelling story that covers a cohesive thread of dis-
covery. Make sure you practice your presentation in front of several differ-
ent audiences. Incorporate their feedback then practice your talk again (and
again).
As you are having your interview conversation, be honest in your responses
by taking credit where it is due, share what skills you bring to the lab, and
admit what you still need to learn. Remember, however, you are also inter-
viewing them, therefore ask a lot of questions. Scientists love to speak about
their own work so let them talk. When interviewing, you must also be aware
of potential “red flags” that may warn against joining as well as “green flags”
that may affirm toward a good fit. For instance, a red flag may be that you
do not meet with everyone in a lab or you talk to others only in the presence
of the PI. Conversely, a green flag may be that you have an off-campus lunch
with all the members of the lab and the PI stays behind to give the group a
safe space to share.
Some questions to ask that will give you a better sense of mentoring style and lab
culture:
During my career, I moved 3 times in 11 years for work and found that
the cost of living increased for each new city. I went from living with
my parents for free outside Pittsburgh, PA to paying $450 per month for
a 2-bed, 1.5-bath apartment in Louisville, KY to paying a $1500 mort-
gage plus escrow for a 3-bed, 2.5-bath townhouse in Frederick, MD to
now paying $2000 for a 2-bed, 1-bath apartment outside Boston, MA.
While my salary also increased at each step, the relative cost of living
in the new city virtually nullified those gains, at least initially.
The Most Important Professional Decision You Will Make … So Far 23
In light of the cost of living, some of you might have to decide between a
renowned lab in a high-cost-of-living area where you are scraping by and
a less well-known lab in a low-cost-of-living area where you live in relative
abundance. Furthermore, since it can be quite expensive to move, be sure to
ask about relocation reimbursements or allowances (or even a lease guaran-
tee), as it is not always a standard practice for the labs to offer. For instance,
if you accepted a postdoc (or any job) in the Boston metropolitan area and
leased a place to live, you could expect to shell out nearly $10,000 to make
that move. In addition to the mind-numbing logistics of moving, some of the
other things you need to be thinking about are the locations of good schools
and the most efficient commuting routes. Ideally, you can find a place to live
as close to the lab as possible because late nights and weekend projects are
easier to handle. However, this might not be feasible due to a number of rea-
sons, some of which are outlined above.
This is not to mention the very real culture shock that many international
(and some domestic) postdocs feel as you move to or across the US. As you
may well find out, the US is huge, and it varies culturally across its many
regions, states, and cities. Since you are pursuing a postdoc in academia,
you will likely be in a relatively welcoming research institution that con-
tains and has experience with other internationals such as yourself. But
these academic enclaves of international awareness can be surrounded by
local residents unfamiliar with the global reach of the research enterprise.
Nevertheless, you must also navigate the new logistics of living in the US.
You will need to find housing (as outlined above), sometimes from abroad,
deal with the exchange rate, and possibly learn how to pay your taxes. You
will likewise be introduced to a new and potentially very confusing sys-
tem of healthcare management and insurance. And you will deal with all of
these issues as non-native speakers (and writers) of English. There are many
resources available within your new institution that can help you manage
your onboarding including your department administrators, postdoc office
or association, human resources, and the international office to name a few.
Postdoc Process
I remember my teachers and parents asking me as a kid, “What do you want
to do when you grow up?” I sometimes still ponder that question today.
While it is an important one to consider and, as PhDs and postdocs, you
need to better understand where you are headed. Having been a higher
education professional, two-time postdoc, and a grad student, I know first-
hand that the process of scholarship, research, career advancement, and
professional development are neither quick nor passive. Instead, you should
actively approach your career development using a methodical process of
self-knowledge and reflection by envisioning an endpoint, assessing your
situation, developing plans, accomplishing goals, telling stories, maintaining
progress, and creating your exit.
In developing your own postdoc protocol, you start your training with the
end in mind. Thus, you are much better equipped to set expectations and
strategically position yourselves to take advantage of growth opportunities.
You can then identify pivot points while avoiding pitfalls through height-
ened self- and situational awareness. This process also encourages you to
plan for research and training challenges with the guidance of your mentor.
When you are encouraged to develop and share your career story, it compels
others to be your advocate. Ultimately, you can efficiently proceed toward
your desired endpoint by combining research, professional development,
and career advancement efforts.
DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458-5 25
26 Making the Most of the Postdoc
respond with a lengthy and wide-ranging list that goes from networking to
publications but interestingly, “gaining independence” is deemed the most
important success factor. When asking a group of faculty mentors, however,
they all agreed without hesitation that a successful postdoc depended almost
entirely on publications. While I am not surprised by either group’s opinions,
I remain astonished at the huge disconnect in outcomes.
Perhaps the most straightforward description of a successful postdoc
can be found by merging their respective definitions: Successful means
accomplishing an aim or purpose while Postdoctoral Fellow, according to the
National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation (NIH and
NSF, respectively), is described as an individual who has received a doc-
toral degree and is engaged in a temporary and defined period of mentored
advanced training to enhance the professional skills and research inde-
pendence needed to pursue his or her chosen career path. Consequently, a
Successful Postdoc can be defined as an independent research professional
who has pursued his or her chosen career path. With few caveats, most
researchers would agree that this definition is a great starting point.
FIGURE 3.1
(A) The “reality” of your career trajectory up to this point. (B) The “impression” of your career
trajectory that you want to convey to others. Image provided by the author.
The Postdoc Protocol 27
FIGURE 3.2
The data cloud and multiple trajectories that your experience can generate. Image provided
by the author.
FIGURE 3.3
The convergence of your skills, interests, and values can lead to long-term career fit and ulti-
mately satisfaction. Image provided by the author.
The Postdoc Protocol 29
might uncover even more objectives to pursue and goals to set. Involving
others will speed up the process by engaging them to consider your goals,
uncover any challenges, and share solutions with you. You can execute your
plan by taking advantage of the feedback you receive from your network.
Then it is up to you to actually do the thing you planned to do. Remember,
it takes practice to do this well along with time to convince yourself that you
are doing something worthwhile.
SMART AF Goals
In my work, I found that while the standard stages of the SMART goal
process are invaluable, I needed to further bolster them by introducing
Accountable and Fortitudinous steps. Thus, making your goals SMART AF.
When embarking on a goal, you need to check it. An accountable goal will
help you stay on task. The most efficient way to do this is to make a concrete,
specific plan, in essence, just following the SMART goal protocol intuitively
includes accountability. You can further hold yourself to account by identi-
fying the stakeholders that are interested in the outcome of your goal and
share responsibility with them. Celebrating successes and milestones helps
you sustain your enthusiasm for completing the goal while ensuring that
you are strategically reviewing each step as well as revising the overall goal
as you go. You will encounter many challenges along the way to finishing
your goal, and you will therefore need to reinforce it. A fortitudinous goal has
elements of courage and resilience embedded into it so that you can accom-
plish your goal while facing adversity. To maintain your steadfast commit-
ment to completion, you need to fully understand the benefits of achieving
your goal. By anticipating any potential obstacles and finding relative solu-
tions, you are able to identify alternative means and methods for achieve-
ment. It is natural to think of success as the only option but acknowledging
hardships and learning from your failures is essential for forging new key
skills as well as revising goals for the better. However, you should know who
your allies are and the people you can ask for help when you do get stuck.
Just remember, take one step at a time and trust the process that you care-
fully planned out.
SMART AF Goals
Specific – focused and unambiguous
Measurable – milestones marking your progress
Achievable – realistic actions can be taken
Relevant – significant to you and others
Time-bound – an explicit deadline
Accountable – helps to stay on task
Fortitudinous – face adversity with courage
You will have many occasions to implement SMART AF goals. For example,
a set of career advancement goals may include expanding your professional
network, updating your CV/résumé, identifying new mentors and advisors,
or seeking informational interviewing prospects. Additional cases for imple-
menting SMART goals could be around the completion of some piece of your
project. You could create a plan to finally finish that stubborn statistical anal-
ysis for your CRISPR experiments where you would present the results at a
department meeting or include them in a conference proposal. You could
32 Making the Most of the Postdoc
make progress on your goal to draft, revise, and finally submit the paper
that has been sitting on your to-do list. You could also develop a goalsetting
process around expanding your presentation skills. You might first get foun-
dational knowledge of presentation best practices by reading a book, talking
to an expert, or taking a course. Then you would look for ways to practice
and hone that new skill such as giving a short talk on your research or an
unrelated topic. Finally, you might ask others to assess your level of mastery
and critique your presentation skills.
Maintaining Progress
To sustain the progress you have made, you need to practice patience and
maintain motivation. Give yourself the grace that you would give others on
an unknown path to learning and building a reputation. And remember, it
takes time and effort to do this. Subsequently, there are a couple of different
ways to go about getting and staying motivated. As in your research, the
earlier you seek, clarify, and verify any information, advice, or guidance you
gain along your progress the better. Of course, you need to have a plan while
determining the next thing that needs to be done. Try your best to keep
things as simple as possible. Regardless of your approach, you have to real-
ize it is going to take time for you to get good at anything. It is going to take
time to finish your projects and revise your application materials. It is going
to take time to learn how to interview well. It is going to take time to actu-
ally convince yourself that you are capable of transitioning. It is going to take
time to appreciate your worth. And it is going to take time to find a job with
a good fit. You do not have to go it alone while you gather your thoughts and
collect your materials. You have people and resources, maybe even a career
and professional development office like mine, at your own institution. If
not, you can use resources as an alum from places you have matriculated. A
thing I realized early was that if I have questions or issues with something in
particular, there are countless others with those same or similar needs. Why
not share your worries, reach out to others, and access resources as well?
You can literally gather a community around you to help in your research
as well as your job search. Maintaining progress and staying motivated in
your transition is difficult at best and nigh impossible without the input and
feedback of others. For example, I cannot tell you how many résumés, CVs,
cover letters, research plans, and more that I have critiqued. I did not just
help them in that moment and then send them away never to hear from them
again. No. I insisted on having a conversation about the document or process
that inevitably brought out more details, thus adding more context to the
material. So, I return to advising you to be patient and give yourself room to
The Postdoc Protocol 33
grow. Just allowing yourself the necessary time to do this and to do it well
should minimize stress while keeping you motivated to continue.
Getting a Job
Multiple Career Paths
Most trainees I counsel seem resigned to only two career tracks: academia (i.e.,
teaching and research) or industry (everything else). While an academic career
provides a known landscape, compatible training, and an intellectually
rich environment, it is also highly competitive, growth-limited, and grants-
driven. If this path does not pan out, the default alternative is industry with
its potential for growth in a fast-paced and highly collaborative environ-
ment. However, industry is also an unfamiliar landscape that is still highly
competitive, somewhat unpredictable, and business-driven. Obviously, the
post-PhD scientific workforce is much more nuanced than described above,
therefore, I argue that the trick to finding your endpoint is for you to rec-
ognize that there are more than two career trajectories. By considering all
of your options, you can take control of your training and begin to make
smarter, more focused decisions regarding research directions and profes-
sional development.
At this point, you should be considering all of your career options, some
of which you may not yet have realized as possible. For example, I shared
earlier in the book that my current role simply did not exist until 2007. At
that time, I was exploring my own career options and transitioning from a
PhD candidate to postdoc fellow. While it sounds trite to say that you can do
just about anything you want as a PhD, it does not change the fact that it is
true. Having said that, sometimes, eliminating options can be as helpful as
adding career options to explore. I am unable to enumerate all of those career
possibilities, but I do share some major areas of potential career pursuits in
a few paragraphs.
First, I want to dispel the myth that you are only qualified to do academic
research and/or teaching. If that is indeed what you want to do, you are well-
positioned already. Having worked with graduate students and postdocs, as
well as from my own experience, I fully understand both the attraction and
repulsion of chasing a career in academia, especially as research or teaching
faculty. Regardless of where you end up in your career, academia is the place
you started. It is where you pursued higher education, received a PhD, and
where the vast majority of postdoc training takes place. Having taken the
only path available to you so far, most of you have merely witnessed teach-
ing, science, and research being done in academic settings and thus only
really know a very narrow characterization for career outcomes. There is no
34 Making the Most of the Postdoc
As I said, not all careers are represented above, there are dozens if not hun-
dreds of other types of jobs you can do as a PhD. While it is not the scope
of this book, I will offer a short list of resources at the end that many of my
advisees have utilized with success to explore diverse career pathways.
Part 2
The Middle
4
Situational Awareness
As for personal pain points, I see a lot of postdocs coming into my office
with analysis paralysis, where they are faced with too many choices or
they are faced with a choice that paralyzes them because there are so many
implications to making that choice. There may be unrealistic expectations
either placed on you or unrealistic expectations that you have for yourself
in your research, job search, or networking. You need to check with yourself
and examine whether this is truly what you want. You must be careful on
your postdoc journey because you could just get tired, exhausted, or worse,
burned out. This is a real problem that may lead you to consider transition-
ing out of academia, away from the bench, or out of science altogether. In
fact, I have actually had postdocs in difficult but seemingly manageable situ-
ations come to me in full crisis mode because they were so weary and so
narrowly focused that they could not see a satisfying solution. And this was
mostly due to the fact that it had been months or even years since they had
any significant time off. Again, gathering your wits, you might just realize
DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458-7 37
38 Making the Most of the Postdoc
all you really need in that situation is a break or time off to gain perspective
and recharge.
Other pain points you want to realize are in your project. You might be near
your appointment or project end date or your overly complex project keeps
expanding in scope. You might also feel that you have incomplete accom-
plishments. Unfortunately, it is common to experience uneven or neglectful
mentor engagement. If you have a perception that you are not getting what
you need out of your mentor-mentee relationship, you need to begin to work
on that and realize that you should begin to “manage up” to get what you
want from your faculty mentor. Again, these are just pain points where you
need to acknowledge that this might be a potentially negative situation, rec-
ognize it, and take action to pivot into a more positive space.
Title IX, Gender Equity, and Diversity Offices – Many institutions have
designated offices or personnel that handle policies and procedures
designed to provide prompt and equitable support for or investigation
into concerns regarding harassment, bullying, and misconduct.
Research and Professional Integrity Office – These offices promote best
practices and standards of professional conduct and support grievance
processes in accordance with institutional professional integrity policies.
The office is also usually responsible for investigating concerns related
to research integrity as well as fostering a safe and healthy research
environment.
“failing” in a laboratory for many years. Many of your experiments have not
worked, for any number of reasons, and you still found a way to move your
project forward toward success. You are familiar with failure at this point.
You have been in a dark box of struggle, ambiguity, and failure and you are
constantly learning to get out of that dark box or more significantly, move
that dark box into the light. The trick is to remain curious as you change your
perspective to understand that the subject of your experimentation is now
yourself and your career (rather than mice, cells, or nucleic acids).
To continue to normalize failure, you must grasp that everyone around you
is struggling in some way or another. Most of the time you only see or hear
about the successes of your peers because very few people actually disclose
their challenges and hardships. For example, you may be familiar with the
concept of a “CV of Failures” popularized by Dr. Johannes Haushofer where
he quite humorously and honestly shared all of the rejections he received
from PhD programs, grants, papers, and job applications. He succinctly
demonstrated that most every success is preceded by several failed attempts.
Thus, admitting your limitations, accepting your failures, and sharing your
struggles can be important steps in advancing toward success. In addition,
having a growth mindset where all experiences, good and bad in life or lab,
are learning opportunities that build self-awareness, minimize blind spots,
expand boundaries, and foster resilience.
a moment to check the veracity of these words as they describe you and
your actions. Then imagine what a supportive story would tell about you by
replacing the untrue and negative words. Now compose a new and accurate
story to tell yourself. However, I would go a step further than just a correct
story, I suggest that you craft an inspiring story to tell yourself. One where
you are not a victim or villain, but the hero. This story will eventually form
the larger narrative of your career that you share aloud with others.
When re-drafting your inner dialogue, take advantage of the fact that hind-
sight is 20/20 as you can now reflect on the past and place its true effect on
your present circumstance and future options in context. Your internal (and
eventual external) discourse should include several elements of creative hero-
origin storytelling. It should be emotive, optimistic, future-focused, confident,
and, of course, inspiring. Your self-story should be full of concrete details as
you remind yourself of your unique interests, goals, and motivations. While
this may sound cliché, being the hero of your own stories is nothing but a
distillation of your own authentic resilience through failures, hardships, chal-
lenges, and barriers. However, be sure not to inflate your story, show a lack
of humility, or stray into toxic positivity. Regardless, the story you tell your-
self should specifically demonstrate a growth mindset where you continue to
learn lessons from your adventures. Below, I share examples of self-dialogue
that show how you can exchange your narrative of negative self-imagery by
composing an accurate and inspiring story to even optimistic storytelling for
the future. When others hear your new story of perseverance, passion, and
progress, they will be compelled to be your advocate.
new kind of fear, uncertainty, and existential dread. A silver lining I found
in this instance was that irrespective of how bad it may be, it was at least a
shared experience everyone had and I was not alone. Similarly, COVID laid
bare many social, medical, and historical inequalities and the disparity in
postdoc support came to light. While I had been aware of and working on
these for years, my office, myself, and postdocs now had a seat at the table
and a voice in the room when decisions were being made.
The message I hope you take away from all of this is that no matter what
you may be facing, keep an open mind, be open to possibilities, and stay
in the moment. If you are able to learn from your misadventures, you can
make impactful contributions while exceeding all expectations. And always
remember that you are not alone, that you can count on friends, colleagues,
and mentors to be there in good times and bad.
5
Navigating through Your Postdoc
Your Expectations
As you may recall from Chapter 2, there are many things you must consider
when selecting a mentor and research environment. In addition to align-
ing research interests and scientific compatibility, you must also establish
ground rules and expectations for your subsequent training and comple-
tion thereof. You should ask what their definition(s) of success is and where
their successful (and unsuccessful) former trainees have continued their
respective careers. You should not only clarify your faculty mentor’s long-
term expectations for you in your training but also in the near- and mid-
terms, always with an emphasis on providing a path to independence. You
should strive for complementary mentoring and management styles while
inquiring about how projects are allocated as well as the financial stabil-
ity of the position. You should know whether you need to write grants to
DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458-8 47
48 Making the Most of the Postdoc
secure funding as well as if you have the requisite access to proper facili-
ties and instrumentation to fully pursue your project. The lab should have
a widespread recent track record of publishing, and it should be apparent
what the manuscript writing and submission process is. Importantly, you
should expect to join a well-adjusted and supportive training environment
with good-to-high morale. That environment should be grounded in mutual
respect and driven by psychological safety and intellectual curiosity. You
deserve no less than genuine mentor engagement, freedom to fail, and an
opportunity to grow.
Their Expectations
Your mentors also have many expectations for you. Not all mentors are cre-
ated equal though, and some may not explicitly communicate their expecta-
tions hoping that you either learn on the job, from watching others, or by
osmosis. Simply put, your mentors expect you to do your research and take
ownership of your project(s). They want you to be resourceful, organized,
and generous with your time, materials, and advice. You should seek to be
a good lab citizen by mentoring lab mates, exhibiting a collaborative spirit,
and getting along with others. You are expected to strive for excellence
while always giving your best effort. Your mentor wants you to be open
to feedback and critical suggestions. These expectations, whether shared
or implied, can be boiled down to the three overarching principles: be
responsible, be respectful, and be industrious. Finally, your mentor does not
expect to have to act as your caretaker so, as mentioned in Chapter 4, you
are responsible for taking care of yourself, pursuing interests away from
research, and nurturing relationships, as well as maintaining your physical
and mental health.
Meeting Expectations
You and your faculty mentor(s) must have regularly scheduled meetings
that not only cover project and experimental progress but also interpersonal,
career, and professional development as well. This is how you clarify research
responsibilities and understand how success therein is defined. This is also
where perceived skill or experience gaps should be addressed and support
offered to learn necessary skills while accomplishing your work.
In addition, an individualized development plan (IDP, discussed in the
Mentorship and Individual Development Plans section) will guide you in
your research, career exploration, and professional development along
with identifying other relevant mentors whom you might be seeking out.
You should be encouraged to discuss and explore desired career trajectories
while also pursuing relevant training experiences throughout your postdoc
tenure.
Navigating through Your Postdoc 49
FIGURE 5.1
An IDP template. This example is formatted for maximal flexibility and can be edited to suit
your specific needs. Image provided by the author.
on past accomplishments, future goals, and next steps. For instance, I can
imagine a scenario where you have identified an opportunity that will allow
you to gain and hone an important technique or skill and you feel that the
two of you are not yet in agreement regarding it. A useful approach for you
to take is aligning common interests by suggesting that by doing “this thing”
or going to “that workshop” on presentations or grant writing, is going to
make you a better and more productive researcher, for example. Adding that
whatever you are learning is not going to take away from your project, time-
line, or effort. In fact, it will actually enhance these things and potentially
add further value for the entire lab. Then you share the actual steps you plan
to take to accomplish such a thing.
A typical IDP outlines major topics of discussion, benchmarks for advance-
ment, and identifies real or potential barriers to success along your training
path. The IDP should also allow for an element of feedback where your fac-
ulty mentor can evaluate your performance and progress while at the same
time letting you share issues related to research, training, or mentoring. You
can make the IDP even more practical by incorporating a calendar that out-
lines and organizes your research and career development goals across the
upcoming year. Briefly, the IDP meeting plays out in several steps. First, you
and your faculty mentor should complete the IDP form separately and ahead
of time. It is especially helpful if you provide this form with an updated CV
for your mentor in advance of scheduling the conversation. The two of you
Navigating through Your Postdoc 51
should then meet and discuss your respective filled-in IDPs, making sure to
review accomplishments, goals, barriers, and feedback. As the conversation
comes to a close, you should have an agreed-upon framework toward mak-
ing progress and meeting stated goals and objectives for the future. Finally,
using the SMART AF tools discussed in Chapter 3, you can now implement
your action plan, review your progress, revise as needed, and repeat the pro-
cess next year.
grow in your expertise and independence, when asking for help or feedback,
it is important that you explore potential solutions beforehand. Seek out per-
spectives from secondary mentors in addition to your primary faculty men-
tor. Cultivating multiple mentors is a common practice that allows broader
discussion and support. These can range from informal non-hierarchical
connections that give advice on everyday academic struggles to more formal
faculty mentor-mentee relationships that offer substantial intellectual contri-
butions to your project or career. By doing this, you also expand the potential
pool of references for when you launch your job search.
Stay patient, mindful, and connected throughout your research experience
as it can feel exasperating, tedious, and isolating at times. When this happens,
it is important to remind yourself that struggles lead to learning. Building
and maintaining a community, including your lab mates, your department,
affinity groups, as well as your loved ones, will provide support. As in most
supportive relationships, there is a give and take, an ebb and flow. Realize
that mentoring is a two-way street. The mentoring relationship is an alli-
ance built on bi-directional respect, open-mindedness, communication, and
adaptation. You cannot be passive; you are expected to play an active role in
managing the relationship. Be honest about your preferred style while also
realizing they have their own way of doing things. The object is to align your
mutual goals and be flexible as they evolve.
Remember that you are an adult and this is your career. You are ultimately
responsible for your actions along with how your research and career prog-
ress. While you may be supported by your mentor and the institution, you are
the ultimate stakeholder in your success. Therefore, you should advocate for
yourself at every opportunity. When seeking advice and guidance, it is up to
you whether to heed it or follow your own counsel. Use the resources avail-
able to you. Please be assured that you are not alone nor are you expected
to know everything. Your institution has created an entire infrastructure to
support you and your work. Human resources, the Ombuds, the postdoc
office, department administration, and career services may be just a few of
the resources you have to help you in your tenure as a postdoc.
Professional Development
Postdoc Skills and Competencies
You also want to evaluate the whole of your training. The National Postdoc
Association created a list of postdoc core competencies that I shared in
Chapter 2 and reiterate here. If you are in PhD or postdoc training, this is
really what you should be striving to learn. They are basically broken out into
your research skills and transferable skills. Research skills are knowledge of
Navigating through Your Postdoc 53
data analysis for your paper, or learn how to do it using a different method.
If you want to strengthen your public speaking, join Toastmasters® or culti-
vate other opportunities outside of your institution by reaching out to your
various alma maters and offering to speak to current students. You can see
where pursuing these new skill sets can be multifunctional across the skills
spectrum. For example, if you are in fact teaching, you are also communicat-
ing and presenting, and possibly mentoring.
If you are lacking leadership experience, you can join the postdoc or
graduate student association. These groups can be found at the department,
school, institution, regional, or national levels, including professional or sci-
entific societies, affinity groups, and the National Postdoctoral Association.
As a current and former member of several of these groups, I know they
are constantly recruiting for leadership and support roles. If you are inter-
ested in science policy, there is plenty of opportunity there, especially in
today’s complicated scientifically averse political climate. Trained PhDs get-
ting into policy or engaging in the local, national, or global dialogue is vitally
important.
As a result of your extensive PhD and postdoc training, you definitely have
writing and (maybe limited) editing experience, but you can always get bet-
ter by diversifying your skill sets. Also, I can attest that while I no longer do
research, I am still writing all the time. You can bolster your writing creden-
tials by volunteering to be a guest blogger, becoming a social media content
creator, or designing your own website that shares accurate and trustwor-
thy information. You can gain editing experience while raising your profes-
sional profile as a reviewer for journals and professional conferences. It may
be as easy as offering to help your mentor with a review they were invited to
do. There are also freelance writing or consulting opportunities available to
you as well. Regardless of what you do to enhance your skills and strengthen
your credentials, be sure to do it well, with integrity, professionalism, and
authenticity.
6
Path to Independence
DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458-9 55
56 Making the Most of the Postdoc
FIGURE 6.1
Framing the different phases of your training helps to gain perspective on the transferability
of your experience. Image provided by the author.
You may even have familiarity with aspects of laboratory budgeting, inven-
tory, and workflow. You probably have a very good understanding of time,
resource, and personnel management through your supervisory, mentoring,
and project management experience. Many of you have been teaching and
training high school, undergraduate, or graduate students in the laboratory
and classroom. From this, recognize that you have leadership, service, and
community-minded skills and experience even though you may not have
been given an official title or role. All of these are very valuable and quite
transferable though it may take some reflection to frame them appropriately
for current and future pursuits.
There are many additional transferable skills inherent in PhD and postdoc
training. You may not realize it, but you have very well-developed relational
and decision-making skills. In your training you have taken a universal,
open-minded, and unbiased approach to problem-solving, all through the
use of the scientific method. You have an impressive level of comfort with
ambiguity since you are not used to knowing the answers ahead of time. You
have had to create new knowledge and maybe even invent new methods and
approaches to address your research question. You are proficient in flexible
thinking as there is a built-in expectation of failure (before success) in sci-
ence since you are always trying to disprove the null hypothesis. You have
an uncanny ability to pay attention to the smallest details while maintain-
ing a big-picture perspective since you are usually involved from ideation to
analysis to communicating the impact of the work. Finally, you have experi-
ence in dealing with difficult people, which is unfortunately very common
in academia.
The End
7
Career Transition Readiness
DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458-11 65
66 Making the Most of the Postdoc
of what you have been trained to do – discover something new, work through
ambiguity, master it, and then use it to your advantage.
Regardless of how you arrive at knowing when you are ready to transi-
tion, you should never be reacting out of fear. It is important to contextualize
your transition as moving toward, pivoting, or growing into a more suitable
situation. As outlined in Chapter 4, many of the initial reasons you might
be considering a transition from your postdoc may come from a space of
anxiety, negativity, doubt, or even fear. You may have even come to a certain
realization that the academic routine or faculty career is no longer for you.
The reason could be as simple as a changing or broadening of your skills and
interests. Nevertheless, you must recognize that for what it is and try to pivot
into something that is a good fit for you.
Common Ground
When talking about developing your network, I like to dive into three mul-
tifunctional areas: establishing common ground, identifying contact points,
and integrating your networking activities. Establishing common ground is
very important, and it helps bridge the differences you have with a person
or group of people that you are speaking with. A former colleague shared
a simple way to do this. They suggested creating a short script that you can
use while briefly introducing yourself. The script basically has you saying:
68 Making the Most of the Postdoc
You can just fill in the blanks (or in this case, the emphasized phrases) mad
lib style. Thus, creating a relatively easy and memorable way to introduce
yourself while quickly establishing a foundation of mutual understanding. It
also allows them to process and connect the information you are sharing with
their experience. You might even get a few follow-up questions for clarifica-
tion or further details. Then, turning your attention to the listener, you ask
them, “So, what brings you here [to this gathering]?” Before you know it, you
have started a conversation and begun to network at a deeper level. For inter-
nationals, you may have to have these conversations as non-native speakers
of English. While there are some potential communication difficulties, I am
constantly amazed at how gracefully you, as international postdocs, face this
language barrier. Instead of worrying about your accent or making a gram-
matical mistake, you should concentrate on how your listener is absorbing the
details of your story. Any spoken errors are either ignored or quickly forgiven
by the listener for the sake of establishing a meaningful connection.
Contact Points
When you are talking with people and after you have established some com-
mon ground, you will find that as you continue, you immediately begin to
identify contact points or potential points of commonality. You are at the
center of a vast system of contacts and common points and these network-
ing conversations usually revolve around your (or their) education, PhD
training, postdoc experience, or a combination of thereof (Figure 7.1). When
first meeting someone, we tend to want to know where the other person is
from, either geographically or scholastically, where they went to school, or
got their training, followed closely by who they worked with and/or studied
under. Academically speaking, you are an alum of your postdoc, graduate,
and undergraduate institutions. Some conversations may go as far back as
high school. Because of this multi-layered alumni status, you can leverage
thousands of potential points of commonality across faculty, students, staff,
trainees, and beyond. And we are only just taking into account your aca-
demic research experience thus far.
The deeper, broader, and further you go, the more people and places you
have to connect with. When connecting with people, you want to remember
Career Transition Readiness 69
FIGURE 7.1
You are at the center of a vast multifaceted network. Image provided by the author.
Even if you are unable to attend a specific seminar or workshop, you can still
reach out to the speaker, whether it is days, weeks, or months after the fact.
Believe it or not, you can still reach out to a speaker and say, “Dr. So-and-so,
you were at my institution and gave a seminar 6 months ago. I am sorry to have
Career Transition Readiness 71
missed your workshop on XYZ topic at ABC University but I wanted to follow-
up and ask you a few questions.” I also recommend going to job fairs, even when
you are not actively on the job market, to introduce yourself, exchange contact
information, and possibly set a time to meet later. You can incorporate network-
ing into your calendar and schedule specific times to check in with your profes-
sional network. You can also bring a trusted colleague to ease the pressure of
official networking events. Just do not overdo it – you are allowed to meet people
one person at a time. Regardless, these are all fairly low-risk, high-reward set-
tings and you have a chance to make a really good impression as well.
It is important to continue to reach out to and connect with other people.
However, you must understand that you may need to do more than just net-
work to expand your contact list. You also need to do informational interviews,
which are more targeted professional and in-depth conversations with people
who are in positions to which you may aspire. Because of these discussions, you
are much more prepared to speak the language while furthering your under-
standing of the new career path or sector you may be entering. Subsequently,
you will gain more contacts and referrals to more people you can meet, poten-
tially leading to increased interest in or elimination of future options.
In addition, you have a peripheral set of contacts that exist outside of
your mentors, colleagues, alumni groups, and friends which can be called
a “stealth network.” Your stealth network includes people at your places of
worship, parents at your child’s daycare, or even your barbershop or hairstyl-
ist. They may be the people you sit next to at the coffee shop, work out with at
the gym, or compete against in your basketball, golf, softball, or kickball rec
league. While being very careful on public transportation (which I use every
day), you may strike up a conversation with someone you see on a regular
basis or has a similar commute schedule. My point is when you are open
and transparent in your conversations, then you are staying visible while
interacting with authenticity and sharing your interests with other people.
conversations about your research and your career. What you can do right
now is to fully engage with your mentor, not do this alone, and keep those
lines of communication open. Chapter 5 covers several avenues for you and
your mentor to foster a productive relationship including implementing an
IDP, setting expectations, and respecting boundaries.
As you progress on your path to independence, it is vital that you allow
them to come along with you on your journey. They can help you distinguish
whether or not you are actually ready for the next stage of your career by
sharing their knowledge of what it takes to successfully transition. If you
bring them into the discussion, your mentor can assist in discerning the type
of role you want in the field or sector into which you are considering a transi-
tion. They can provide valuable insight into where you may be best suited to
work, and what it is like being an assistant professor, or they can introduce
you to a colleague of theirs who is a senior scientist in biotech. They can also
help you define a realistic job search timeline that leads to a seamless exit
from the lab. Your mentor’s advice and insight will be critical when deciding
to start your search. If you go too early and your projects or fellowship are
not yet complete, you risk not being able to commit to an offered position.
Similarly, if you launch a search too late, you might be without an offer in
time for your expected exit. Even if you timed it right, you may not receive
interviews or offers and will need to go on the market more than once. Each
of these scenarios takes time, effort, and a network of support.
You may also be interested to know that once you are committed, your
job search, regardless of sector, will become a second full-time job that you
will have to manage. It will be infinitely more achievable with the support
of your mentor and lab mates. The job search timeline varies depending
on your endpoint, but generally from application submission to job offer,
the academic job cycle can take up to a year while a non-academic search
could last as long as six months. In that time, not only will you be continuing
experiments and submitting manuscripts, but you will also be expected to
manage multiple applications, gather your references, and navigate multiple
rounds of phone, virtual, and onsite interviews. The success of this process
relies, in part, on negotiating time away from the lab and your projects with
at least the knowledge, hopefully full backing, and ideally actual assistance,
from your faculty mentor. Stay open-minded to what your mentor can do for
you as they can be your greatest ally if you give them the chance. The worst
thing you could do during your postdoc is to become isolated. You do not
want to be alone and on the verge of burn out when making these decisions.
are you initiating your job search but you are prepared to leave your current
role. When that hiring manager reads your application, they expect you to
understand their mission, speak their language, and know their approach to
science. As part of your postdoc tenure, you will have to decide what path
to pursue. What makes this extraordinarily tough is that whatever path you
choose likely requires a similar skillset, at least initially. It takes a team of
mentors and trusted peers to talk this through. To me, it comes down to the
pace of life, work/life considerations, type of research, and whether or not
you enjoy grant writing and competing for funding. Choosing a career path
and when to pursue it are very personal decisions where you have to line
up the pros and cons and understand where the intersection of your skills,
interests, and values lies. All while acknowledging that there are countless
different options across the scientific enterprise and beyond.
The ideal job search process is a multistep sequence. If you have the fore-
sight, you give yourself a timeline of at least a year when you know you will
be on the job market. The longer the better, but at least a year. The job search
is much more self-reflective and interpersonal than anybody gives it credit
for. The first thing to do is some fairly in-depth self-reflection as laid out in
Chapter 3. Begin to think about what you like to do, what you are good at,
and what your values are. Then follow-up with your network contacts who
share similar attributes. Identify what resources you have institutionally, in
the lab, at your alma mater. You must recognize that you have many resources
just within your grasp, all you need to do is find and use them. When you
have people helping you, ask them what the current job trends are, what they
have seen recently, and where postdocs with similar training have found
success. After gathering this important information, you can begin to refine
your vision for the job best suited for you.
1) Establish a timeline
2) Activate your network
3) Self-assessment and reflection
4) Identify skills-interests-values
5) Leverage institutional resources
6) Informational interview
7) Hone application materials
8) Submit applications
9) Interview prep and performance
10) Negotiate and accept job
As you visualize your ideal job, you should share that vision with people
who have jobs that are very close to what you are describing. Through
74 Making the Most of the Postdoc
informational interviewing, get their insights and begin crafting your appli-
cation materials. At the same time, you should be passively collecting inter-
esting job ads and opportunities. Then, you go to a career counselor, or a
coach, and get feedback on your materials to make them stronger, more rel-
evant, and representative of a viable candidate in your desired career path.
Give yourself time to digest what is out there and analyze job advertisements
to learn how to read between the lines. Chapter 8 summarizes how to go
about putting together a practical application through a series of revisions,
peer review, expert critique, and then beginning to apply. You must be very
strategic, focused, and targeted. Please be realistic, however, because your
first job out of postdoc may not be the absolute ideal one yet but will hope-
fully put you on the right path. This is but the beginning of the rest of your
career.
If you are leaving your postdoc under bad circumstances, I remind you of
my earlier advice, to make sure that you are coming from a mindset and a
perspective of future-focus and optimism. You have to take care that you are
strategically planning out your next moves. You should be pivoting into the
next logical step rather than looking back from a place of fear or frustration.
It is okay to feel that way, but you cannot have your decisions dictated by
distress. You must tap your resources to help you move past your struggles
by reaching out for help, activating your network, and cross-training, thus
creating positive and forward momentum.
8
Some Advice on Application Materials
DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458-12 75
76 Making the Most of the Postdoc
critical to understand what made them effective. Additional advice is for you
to always be yourselves, honest, authentic, and direct. You believe that you
can do the job, now tell them all about it, with concrete examples.
Job Postings
Almost everything you need to know about a job is in the posting.
Understanding the purpose, style, and general format of your application
are the first steps in creating an effective package. While drafting your docu-
ments, do not miss a chance to incorporate the information laid out in the job
posting. You should repeat the keywords provided, mirror their language,
and recognize all aspects of the posting. Most job postings follow a general
structure. To start with, it usually gives some level of background about the
position as well as information about the employer and its mission, vision,
and perks of working there. Of course, it shares minimum research and
technical qualifications, education, and years of experience. The posting also
contains preferred technical, interpersonal, and professional skills and expe-
rience in a specific environment or field. Typically, there are also application
submission instructions or a link to an online portal. Please be sure to read
and follow all guidelines. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask for
clarification by reaching out to the contact person, if provided.
Some Advice on Application Materials 77
Cover Letters
Crafting the Cover Letter
A cover letter is a great opportunity for you to capture the attention of the hir-
ing manager or search committee by providing the proper representative con-
text to your experience while controlling the narrative of your candidacy. While
many positions allow you to apply directly from your LinkedIn profile without
a cover letter, it is a good idea to have one at the ready and an excellent exercise
to help you promote yourself. By understanding the job posting and aligning
the cover letter to its content, you can quickly and concisely convey interest
and job fit, all in just one page. In crafting and tailoring a cover letter, you must
address specific qualifications employers are looking for when they advertise
open positions. The cover letter essentially summarizes the CV/résumé with
concrete details. But not everything can be included; therefore, you must use
representative experiences. This document should be able to stand alone while
still complementing other materials. You should draft a clean, clear, concise,
and flexible cover letter written in active voice with traditional style conven-
tions that are easy to follow. Considering your reader and your purpose, this
document has to be specific to the position with obvious connections.
Generally, the first paragraph of your cover letter states why you are writ-
ing (applying to a specific position), the position title and requisition num-
ber, and refers to how you learned about the employer or the job whether it
was through a previous conversation, meeting, correspondence, or just the
job posting. You should convey a sense of enthusiasm about the position,
department, company, or sector; use the opportunity to demonstrate you
know something about them. They want to know what excites you enough
about the position to apply. Keep it short, upbeat, and engaging while avoid-
ing clichés and platitudes.
The following paragraph is where you describe the “big picture”. For exam-
ple: “As a postdoctoral research fellow at Respected Medical School, I have
been investigating the effects of X on Y under the supervision of Respected
Professor.” Start with your postdoc experience and, if relevant, work your
way backward to your graduate training describing your research, under-
scoring its significance, and adding publications. Include other significant
experiences, education, and research as appropriate while highlighting
the breadth of your expertise. Elaborate on your distinctive qualifications,
strengths, achievements, skills, and experiences. The amount of information
and what is relevant to include will be determined by the job posting. You
need to understand what they are looking for and incorporate details from
your training that will directly address their hiring needs. If it is not relevant
to the position, you do not need to include it in your cover letter.
You further address your “fit” in the subsequent paragraphs using con-
crete examples of your soft skills and related technical expertise. You could
78 Making the Most of the Postdoc
also weave this information into the experiences outlined above to tell a
more fleshed-out story. Demonstrate that your skills, interests, and values
are suited to the position (e.g., pace of discovery, use of innovative technolo-
gies, collaborative research setting, etc.). Show that you know what a job or
career in that field entails, stating why you are interested in working for this
employer and your interest in this specific type of work. The remainder of
this paragraph is used to make a direct connection between you and the
requirements of the job, using several key requirements for the job to demon-
strate how your experiences and training fit with what they are seeking. This
could include specific leadership experience, research expertise, collabora-
tive approaches, techniques, or technologies. The better the match, the better
your chances of getting invited for an interview. It should be obvious to the
reader that this is the next logical step in your career.
Wrap up the final paragraph by continuing to convey a sense of enthusi-
asm about the position. Offer that you look forward to discussing the posi-
tion and tell them again how to contact you. End with a sincere concluding
remark and thank them for their time in reviewing your materials.
As you can imagine, the Academic Cover Letter, while very similar in
overall structure and content, is expected to be framed in a manner that
demonstrates how well-prepared you are to independently run a lab in an
academic setting. The cover letter for your academic job package should be
about one page and contain roughly six paragraphs. The opening paragraph
should include your name, what position you currently have, the location
and PI of your lab, and what position you are applying for. It also contains
a brief mention of specific motivations. You need to write one to two past
research paragraphs that are short and punchy, conceptual, and mostly focus
on postdoc research, with a little graduate work, if relevant. Because you are
including research findings, you would need to add citations using a short
reference format. In your future-plans paragraph, focus on the novelty and
impact of pursuing the proposed research. While there is no need to specifi-
cally refer to your Research Statement here, you will essentially be giving a
high-level summary of it. If you will be expected to teach, or are applying to
a more teaching-focused faculty position, you will need to add a short para-
graph outlining your teaching approach and experience. Again, there is no
need to refer to your Teaching Statement but only share an overview. In the
exit paragraph, in addition to the ideas listed above for a general cover letter,
include the names and contact information of your references as well as the
documents enclosed in your application.
FIGURE 8.1
81
A sample “hybrid” document using the author’s credentials that represents a transition between a CV and résumé targeting a position in Postdoctoral
Affairs. Image provided by the author.
82 Making the Most of the Postdoc
position, the document you are creating will be a full CV. If you are looking
for a second postdoc or a residency, you will be using a CV that includes a
technical skills section. If you are going up for an internal promotion at an
academic institution, you will probably have to format your CV into a stan-
dardized institutional document which is fairly comprehensive and usually
inflexible. I must note that, because it is designed for internal promotion,
the institutional CV format is not especially helpful when you are on the
academic job market and applying elsewhere. If industry research is your
goal, I recommend that you draft a document that is more of a CV/résumé
hybrid. A transition into a non-profit, entrepreneurial, science-adjacent, or
non-science career is going to use a résumé or hybrid of one, two, or three
pages at most. If you are submitting a grant or a grant update, you should
NOT be using a CV, that will require you to draft a Biosketch (for US federal
funding you can use the NCBI’s SciENcv system). Please note that these
two documents, the CV and Biosketch, should not be treated as equivalent
because they convey different information for distinctly different purposes.
In conclusion, one size does not fit all and the style with which you write
this document is going to change depending on the purpose it is supposed
to fulfill.
FIGURE 8.2
An example page highlighting typical organizational and formatting conventions. Image pro-
vided by the author.
84 Making the Most of the Postdoc
and domestic). Generally, the heading and contact info traditionally include
your name and associated degrees (i.e., James Gould, PhD) in big bold letters
at the top followed by an address, phone numbers, and email. For those of
you that may have changed your name, perhaps converting your maiden
name to a non-hyphenated married one or adopting an anglicized name,
and have experiences and publications that preceded this change, you can
show both names at the top using the following formats: Marie Gladstone
(neé Smith), PhD, Marie Gladstone (formerly Smith), PhD, or Zhien (Jenny)
Chang, PhD. Regardless, in the digital age, you only really need your name,
phone, and email. Mobile/cell phone numbers are fine and you can use either
a permanent (i.e., Gmail) or institutional email or both. In the US, you should
not include any demographic or personal information, photo, or government
or school ID numbers. The reason being that this info could potentially bias
the hiring process so those involved would rather not have it at all.
Another US-centric convention is having roles, titles, and degrees on the
left while the dates are placed on the right. I recommend this for two major
reasons: (1) since we read from top to bottom, left to right, the flow of infor-
mation should follow the same direction. In my opinion, the most important
information (roles, titles, and degrees) should be seen first, at the top and on
the left. Dates, while important, are not the most important details and thus
should be relegated to be read last, on the right side of the page. (2) Formatting
this way saves a lot of space while still allowing for separation of sections.
When drawing the attention of the reader, you should use bold, italics, and
underline functions as sparingly as possible. I highly recommend bolding
your name (especially in publications), titles, roles, and degrees. Within the
separate experiences of the CV or résumé, you should avoid large blocks of
text and instead use focused, single-line bullet points or references that con-
cisely convey the “who, what, why, where, and how” of your achievement.
When creating a multi-page document, you should use the header and
footer functions to include page numbers at the bottom and your name (with
degrees) at the top right. Not only does this look very professional, but there
are some that still print these out. For instance, if they are not careful, and you
have not placed your name and page number on each page, the printouts may
get shuffled, and it is your fault (fair or not) that the document is out of order.
You should stick to ¾- to 1-inch margins and make sure that your text is con-
sistent in both size and font style. I recommend using 11- or 12-point font with
Times New Roman, Arial, or something similar all the while using standard
symbols and characters. I know this sounds a bit boring but the more exotic
you get with the formatting elements, the more likely you will have format-
ting errors. Thus, simple elements make for consistent formatting.
the page. While it depends on the specific audience and pursuit, in gen-
eral, I recommend starting with Education, Research Experience, Awards,
Service, Leadership, Presentations, and Publications, in this order, as major
sections. In the case of the CV/résumé hybrid or straight résumé, I encourage
the following general sequence: Summary, Education, Research Experience,
Technical Expertise, Awards, Service, Leadership, Patents, and Publications.
Overall, these sections bring the reader to a better understanding of your
work, experience, and context.
the CV when applying for faculty positions because they are assuming you
know everything needed for running your lab.) You should use the term
“technical expertise” so you do not have to qualify the level of experience
you have in each technique; you are an expert in everything you list. I also
recommend using this section to collect in one place all the methods you
tend to repeat across appointments in the “Research Experience” section.
This allows you to stay on topic in each section while emphasizing impor-
tant information for the reader where they will best understand it. Again,
you will have to decide whether to list all the techniques you are familiar
with or use a focused or abbreviated approach.
The “Awards” section demonstrates that you are recognized as and contrib-
ute to being a well-rounded scientific citizen. You can be very creative with
the titles of your sections, and these sections, in particular, lend themselves
to descriptive, eye-catching headings. Many of you have different numbers
and types of awards that you may want to highlight as one or separately.
There tend to be as many as four types: “Fellowships,” “Grants,” “Awards,”
and “Honors.” Depending on what you want the reader to see, how many
of each, and how recent, I recommend using “Fellowships & Grants” and
“Awards & Honors” sections on the document. Fellowships and grants may
be straightforward, anything you applied for that gave you money to do
research. However, awards and honors may be less defined. I would suggest
putting travel awards, Dean’s list or honor roll, poster or talk awards, depart-
mental or institutional recognitions, and other related honors in this section.
If you place something in these sections, be sure not to repeat it elsewhere on
the document. That goes for information in all sections.
The “Leadership & Service Experience” section is one of the most effective
units you can use to demonstrate your leadership, teamwork, service, and vol-
unteer experience but, unfortunately, it is also the least utilized. Depending
on how extensive your experience is in this area, you may consider break-
ing it out into more than one section covering experiences in “Leadership,”
“Service,” “Outreach,” “Volunteer,” or any combination thereof. You may
even go a step further to distinguish the sector in which you served, for
example, an “Academic Leadership & Service” section may include any peer
review, departmental committee, or scientific society leadership experiences
you have. That said, I must note that this section can and should include rel-
evant non-academic or non-research-related activities and experiences such
as coaching youth sports, organizing a 5K run, or sitting on a school board.
Your “Presentations,” “Patents,” and “Publications” sections demonstrate
your research productivity as well as your communication and writing skills.
While there are divergent thoughts on where to place them and how to format
them in your document, I recommend placing them toward the end based on
the reader’s tendency to look at the first page and then to flip to the back page.
In addition, I advise formatting your patents and publications as long form
citations with authors and title of the work followed by the identifying infor-
mation for the patent or journal. As for your not-yet-published manuscripts,
Some Advice on Application Materials 87
there is a very straightforward means to show that they are indeed in the
publishing pipeline. You can either list these as full citations at the top of the
section or as a sub-heading called “Manuscripts in Preparation.” Regardless,
you will follow these citations through the pipeline and label them in pro-
gression from “In Preparation,” “Pre-Print,” “Submitted,” “Under Review,”
“In Revision,” “Accepted,” “ePub Ahead of Print,” to “In Press.” After your
paper finishes this process, it is now an official publication and needs no
further qualifiers. You should note that preprints count as a manuscript in
preparation and ought to be listed as such.
In the case of presentations, depending on your career stage and the sheer
number of your talks or posters, I suggest that you emphasize oral presenta-
tions over posters by having separate sections for them. You may also want
to only list a selection of each if you have so many that cataloging all of
them would detract from the document. Furthermore, you should only select
those that you were either the first author (i.e., primary researcher) or pre-
senting author (if you presented as the primary researcher or on behalf of
your research group). In this instance, since authorship is assumed, you do
not need to list the other contributors in the reference; you only need to share
the title of the talk or poster, the conference or meeting, and when it all took
place.
Including a section on “Teaching Experience” or “Mentoring Experience”
may be necessary if you are applying for academic teaching-focused posi-
tions. They can also be useful in non-academic settings, especially when
combined (“Teaching & Mentoring Experience”) or expanded to include any
supervisory experience you have (“Mentoring & Supervisory Experience’”).
I would suggest placing the teaching/mentoring section directly after
“Research Experience” and before “Awards” or “Technical Expertise.”
When appropriate, you can have other sections and information to tailor
your document. I recommend adding “Relevant Training” or “Continued
Professional Development” for non-degree granting courses, certifications,
and workshops such as a mini-MBA, commercializing science, or Cold
Spring Harbor methods course, to name a few. I also advise including a
“Collaborations” section for those of you that have many team-based proj-
ects across multiple labs, institutions, or countries throughout your research
career. Whether you were the lead scientist or cog in the machine, listing col-
laborations separately unclogs your research experience section highlighting
past and current experiences in team science. This is especially important for
careers in industry.
For international postdocs, you should also include all the languages you
speak or can communicate in using the following sequence of qualifiers:
Native, Fluent, and Conversational. In most scenarios, this is enough infor-
mation and you can always further describe if needed. However, if you have
taken language examinations, please share the results here. There are many
assumptions made and biases brought by the reader, so, while my general
recommendation is to be as transparent as possible, for some, the disclosure
88 Making the Most of the Postdoc
(or non-disclosure) of Visa, citizenship, or work status can either help or hin-
der. The final decision is up to your best judgment. If you think it will be
advantageous, then disclose your status, but if you think it might hurt your
chances, there is no need to share this information just yet. Ultimately the
point is moot because through the application process, employers are going
to realize your Visa/work status.
Becoming a Storyteller
Thus far you have already heard about self-assessment, networking, and
updating your materials all with the hope of applying and getting inter-
views for jobs. Some say, and I tend to agree, that the only way to get better at
interviewing is to interview. However, I believe you can help yourself along
the way since interview preparation can start long before you are invited to
interview. This involves pre-work, understanding your skills, and storytell-
ing. For example, here is an email I received on the topic of storytelling:
Dear Jim,
I hope this message finds you well. You may remember me. I met with
you once to review my résumé and have attended a few of the postdoc
career development events. I also ran into you a couple of times on the
bike trail!
I want to share with you some good news: after a somewhat long(ish)
process of networking and interviewing, I recently accepted a position
at Momenta Pharmaceuticals. I started a few weeks ago working as a
Scientist in the Translational Research group.
I saw that you will be leading a seminar on “crafting your story for
career transition” in the coming week. I can tell you first hand that for
me, it was all about finding and refining that story! In the end, my skills
were secondary as compared to what my particular “story” was and how
it distinguished me. I truly believe that attending the many postdoc ses-
sions helped me craft this story.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all the work you do.
Know that it does make a difference, even if people just sit and listen, as
I have often done. Something always sticks.
If there is anything that I can ever do to help other postdocs transition,
please do not hesitate to reach out.
Best wishes,
A former postdoc
DOI: 10.1201/9781003285458-13 91
92 Making the Most of the Postdoc
P-A-R Matrix
The strategic combination of the P-A-R storytelling with the certainty that
the majority of interview questions can be found ahead of time (through
friends, colleagues, and the internet), allows you to prepare your responses
before ever landing an interview. In fact, I developed a series of career clin-
ics specifically designed to help postdocs do just that. Additionally, a single
P-A-R story can cover multiple topics or skills and may be appropriate to use
across several different questions. Furthermore, you can have more than one
P-A-R story that describes a certain experience or answers a distinct ques-
tion. You can begin to imagine that you have actually created a matrix of sto-
ries to share at an interview that you can strategically deploy for maximum
impact (Figure 9.1). For example, you might be asked a question about leader-
ship and teamwork, and using the P-A-R matrix, you might have developed
two or three stories you can tell that fit the interviewer’s assessment. To fur-
ther extend this example, the two or three stories that demonstrate leader-
ship and teamwork may also address your communication skills, ability to
take initiative, or problem-solving skills. Depending on the question, you
can essentially pick and choose which P-A-R story you want to use at the
appropriate time that demonstrates the desired skill(s). While it is important
94 Making the Most of the Postdoc
FIGURE 9.1
P-A-R matrix of stories and skills. (Used with permission from Derek Haseltine.)
P-A-R Practice
When developing your P-A-R stories, I recommend that you practice your
responses with a partner or small group, especially non-native speakers. You
should practice with a native speaker to ensure your message is not lost in
translation and the tone is appropriate. These low-stakes mock interviews
are high-reward situations that allow you to get more comfortable with the
flow of details and structure as well as polishing the story. You will find
that your answers will naturally lead to more questions from the interviewer
(mock or real). Some will ask clarifying questions about details while others
will have deeper inquiries that address their interest, confusion, or curios-
ity. Your first few attempts may be difficult to follow as you are exploring
terminology, syntax, and pace while trying to craft cohesive answers. As you
practice, your stories will likely get more concise and convincing due to the
feedback you receive. Eventually, you will feel more at ease and gain confi-
dence. You may then realize that P-A-R merely provides a systematic struc-
ture and that you are the one performing all of the tantalizing elements of
memorable storytelling.
that you are taking responsibility for those things that you are accountable
for (perhaps you could have done or said or approached something differ-
ently). If it ultimately was out of your control, in a neutral-to-positive frame-
work using the P-A-R structure, you can tell what the situation was, your
approach to fix that problem (or how you worked around it or came through
it), acknowledge that as a result something did or did not happen, and what
you learned from the experience. Below is an example of such a situation.
Therefore, you end up turning that negative situation into a “lessons learned”
or positive learning experience.
a project, both of which are essential skills for setting up your own lab or for
joining a research group. Additionally, since many of you may have never
contemplated the skills valued outside of academic research until now, you
have had little exposure to other possibilities and thus are not comfortable
with handling interview questions that pertain to competencies involved
in interactive team science. When you remain unsure about your ultimate
career direction or are frustrated that you have to apply for jobs that are not
your first choice, your dissatisfaction can manifest in your storytelling dur-
ing the interview.
Having only known the academic environment, you need more knowledge
of the sector you are transitioning to, especially industry. Not reading up on
the organization and being unsure of who will be attending interviews puts
you at a huge disadvantage when interviewing. You also tend to get stressed
and question your confidence. It is expected that you will be nervous while
interviewing but you cannot let your fear of the unknown result in a lack of
confidence. Furthermore, many of you feel too intimidated to take advantage
of mock interview sessions, consequently, you end up facing a hiring commit-
tee without having practiced at all. Many of you are also unsure what ques-
tions to ask and to whom. Some of you may be uncertain how to handle your
two-body problem (where a spouse or partner likewise needs employment)
that can prevent you from moving in your preferred direction. You sometimes
get ahead of yourselves and become afraid of having to potentially choose
between jobs or even find it difficult to weigh a single job offer. You also need
to understand that the interview does not end when you leave but proceeds
through the follow-up and continues until the eventual hiring decision.
Many of the challenges outlined above can be mitigated by thoughtful
reflection, preparation, and practice. As I wrote with minute detail in this
chapter, you need to prepare to share authentic experiences through P-A-R
stories. In doing so, you should also take time to reflect on what your inter-
viewers may really be asking, as if some of their questions have a deeper
purpose. For instance, many of you are very anxious that you will be asked
about your greatest weakness (a question that is actually not commonly
asked). Your interviewer does not want to know your deepest darkest flaw. If
they ask, they want to know whether you are self-aware enough to acknowl-
edge that you still have room to improve on some important but non-critical
area or competency. They also would like to hear that not only are you aware
of a weakness, but you are actively seeking to develop new and better skills
in that area that might progress into a future strength.
Interview Performance
For the most part, interviews follow a familiar process and structure meant
to provide you ample opportunity to make an impression on the hiring
Interview Preparation 97
manager or committee. You must keep in mind that you may be contacted
by different personnel with differing levels of scientific or technical under-
standing of the job, before and after an interview. In these cases, you should
be aware of how to frame your responses (e.g., general HR recruiter vs. hir-
ing manager) which may require adjusting your technical pitch and discus-
sion of experience using or avoiding buzz words, jargon, and field-specific
terminology. Of course, certain sectors or fields have specific features that
differentiate them from one another. For instance, if you are interviewing at
a consulting firm, you will have to prepare for a case-based interview where
you are given scenarios and expected to perform back-of-the-envelope cal-
culations that lead to suggested solutions in real time. Many of you may
already be familiar with the academic faculty or industry expectation of pre-
paring and giving scientific presentations during your interview; however,
you may be less aware that you may also have to give a teaching demonstra-
tion or chalk talk. Additionally, depending on the sector and job type, you
may be required to go through several rounds of interviews across multiple
visits. Regardless, the following advice on interview performance is applica-
ble to all interviews, regardless of sector. Your institution’s postdoc office or
association as well as its career services office should have ample resources
for field- or sector-specific interview preparation.
Do Your Homework
Once you have been invited to interview, you will want to make sure you
are doing your homework by exploring the company, department, or insti-
tutional website. By researching the leadership team while reviewing and
understanding the mission and vision of where you are applying, you will
be better prepared to talk about how your values and trajectory align with
theirs. With the 24-hour news cycle, you need to be checking the news
and social media to see if anything, positive or negative, has happened in
between the time of applying and your interview. Upon being invited, you
want to make sure that you have a list of interviewers so you can prepare by
researching them, similar to when you are networking, to begin looking for
points of contact, such as, schools attended, lab pedigree, publications, and
relationships in common. When meeting with your interviewers, be sure to
point those out and leverage them throughout the conversation. In addition
to learning about your skills and experiences, what they want to do is verify
and examine what you are saying. For example, they may think to them-
selves, “They went to this school (or worked in this lab). I went to that same
school (or knew of that lab). That school (or lab) has a great reputation.” Thus,
by association, that means your pedigree (or your research) is respectable.
They can also go a step further and actually reach out to their contacts to
confirm connections.
98 Making the Most of the Postdoc
a link to a paper that you referenced in the interview. In this note, you also
want to reinforce your interest in the position (if true) and you can add a sen-
tence like, “Talking with you (or with the team) only increased my interest in
the job and I believe because of this conversation and the team that you are
building, I would be a fantastic fit for this position.”
Unfortunately, there may be a time when they do not respond to or follow-
up with you afterward. It is appropriate to follow-up but make sure you give
the time to finish an established timeline or fulfill their obligations to any
other candidates. As their timeline for follow-up nears, wait until the day
after then reach out at that time. “I am just following up to see where you are
in the process. I hope it is going well and am hoping to get an update.” If you
do not hear back, give them a few more days, maybe a week, and then follow-
up again. It is fine to reach out multiple times but remain patient because
sometimes the process is affected unexpectedly. The only time where it is
imperative to push is if you have multiple parallel interviews or offers and
you are still interested in that particular position.
In addition to following up with your interview hosts, you may also want
to reach out to your references as well as individuals in your network that
assisted you by setting up an informational interview. Touch base with them
and say, “I just had an interview with [insert employer here], thank you very
much for looking at my materials. I appreciate you being a reference, they
may reach out to you soon. So you can be better prepared, here are some
things that might come up in the conversation.”
Finally, I recommend that you reflect on the successes and challenges of
this entire job search process, especially aspects of the interview process.
Think about what you found easy, tough, challenging, surprising, enjoyable,
boring, and so on. Also, consider whether there were certain resources or
certain people that you really appreciated (or should avoid next time). Doing
this will help you process what just happened but will also help you prepare
for the next round of interviews as well as dealing with the offer.
10
Negotiating Your Exit
them on your candidacy. I truly believe that open, honest, and transparent
negotiation is the best policy, however, full disclosure may put you at a dis-
advantage at times. When this is the case, you do not need to share all your
motivations but do not lie, ever. Nevertheless, this process may be arduous
and you may need to ask for time to think about and consider your options.
In entering into any negotiation, you should know your “walk-away” point,
that moment when you have reached an impasse and will not accept the
offer unless you get what you are asking for. Remember, you (and they) can
say no at any point in the process. It is possible that you might have to turn
down an offer (or they rescind one), not for lack of genuine effort, but due to
competing priorities or unforeseen changes in circumstances.
In negotiating the conditions of your job offer, you may mistakenly believe
that the only thing worth negotiating is salary. While indeed significant,
you may be missing out on other, possibly more important, aspects of the
bargain by fixating on salary. Besides, your compensation package may not
be very flexible owing to budget constraints, so instead concentrate on bet-
tering your quality of life and growth opportunities. It is not about what
you are owed but what you are worth. In general, start time, salary, mov-
ing expenses, housing allowance, significant other job placement, signing
bonus, rate of promotion, management opportunities, expedited evaluation,
and professional development are all negotiable. However, many perks such
as medical and dental insurance, retirement, and tuition remission are usu-
ally fixed.
When you do actually start negotiating salary, try your best to not name
a number first. If you have to, name a range that includes your target num-
ber (10–20% above and below), based on objective criteria whenever possible.
Websites like Glassdoor and public universities list salaries either through
crowdsourcing or actual data. Keep in mind that these numbers may be
biased or out of date. Salaries vary widely between, across, and within sec-
tors, due to demand, geography, and cost of living among other reasons.
Broadly, you can expect a starting academic salary to range from $60,000
to $150,000; $120,000 to $180,000 in industry; over $150,000 in business con-
sulting; and $60,000 to well over $100,000 in science-adjacent or support
positions.
multi-year commitment from the school to support you and your research
that is hopefully enough to cover you and your lab expenses until you are
awarded a major grant or cultivate independent funding streams. As part
of your preparation, you are expected to know everything you will need to
be successful. In negotiating the start-up, you have to make sure that you
understand what it costs to manage a lab including the physical space, the
number of work benches, cold room access, and culture hoods. The depart-
ment chair can outline shared resources, common-use equipment, and core
facilities available while you can generate a detailed supply budget particu-
larly listing any special equipment. You will also be expected to plan for
personnel such as a technician, postdoc, grad student, and yourself as well
as how to pay for them.
Regardless of where your next offer comes from, after the negotiation is
finished, reflect on the information you gained while clarifying any linger-
ing questions as well as how much time you have to make your final deci-
sion. You should be brief and specific in your appreciation, making sure to
acknowledge their generosity and time. You ought to also touch base with
your faculty mentor, references, and trusted colleagues to seek out their
opinions and perspectives. Finally, you must give them an answer after con-
sidering whether the negotiated offer will help you be successful in your
new job while setting you up for future advancement.
will need to disclose to them that you received, or have accepted, a job offer
elsewhere along with a proposed plan for your departure. In order to avoid
blindsiding your mentor with the news, you should strive to extend every
professional courtesy in giving them notice, regardless of how contentious
your relationship may be. You need to notify them and the department at
least two to four weeks before your end date so as to expedite the adminis-
trative separation process.
Wrapping Up
In making a successful and transparent exit plan with your lab mates and
faculty mentor, you will need to prioritize the projects you still need to fin-
ish, the pieces of the project you may be taking with you, and the parts of
the projects that will continue without you, thus necessitating coordination
in handing it off to others. Additionally, the start date of your new job may
preclude you from seeing any papers in the pipeline you have (co-)authored
to the finish line. If you plan to stay in academia, you may be able to negoti-
ate with your new department chair time to submit, revise, and publish your
postdoc papers so that they may count toward grants and possibly tenure.
If you are moving to an industry position or any other sector, you might
have to do the final steps on your own time or hope that your mentor and
lab mates will complete the process without you. I can say with experience
that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to publish a paper when you are no
longer in the lab. Therefore, my advice is to either finish everything before
you leave or reconcile with the fact that this particular part of your work may
never be published.
There are many reasons to be on good terms during your transition and to
remain so after your exit. You will continue to need references for future jobs
and promotions as well as having allies in grant and peer review. The advan-
tage of not burning bridges (even with a rough exit) is that you can maintain,
and perhaps enhance, your professional reputation while also leaving open
Negotiating Your Exit 105
107
108 Index
T
R
“The talk” with your mentor, 71–72,
Reach/skillsets, 76 103–104
Reality and impression trajectory, 26 timing your exit, 104
Red/green flags, 21 wrapping up, 104–105
Relevant goal, 30 Their expectations, 48
Research and professional integrity Time-bound goal, 30
office, 40 Timing your exit, 104
Research enterprise improvement, 15 Title IX and gender equity office, 40
Resilience and mental wellness, 44–46 Tough postdoc environment, 38–40
Index 111
Training, 19–20, 66 W
Training and career offices, 14
Wrapping up, 104–105
U
Y
Underrepresented groups (URGs), 38
Understanding your priorities, 55 Your expectations, 47–48
US-centric convention, 84 Your training efforts, 56–57