Working abroad gives you diversity in approaching a way to solve a problem. “If everybody in the room speaks the same and writes the same and approaches the problem the same, then you’re only going to have one solution.” — John Kelly
Camilla Kao
My father made me aware of this article, “How to make the most of your postdoc,” published by Chemical & Engineering News on September 9. The article is written in terms of the chemical sciences, but the advice is general.
The sections of the article are entitled “Picking the postdoc that’s right for you,” “Plan for what comes after your postdoc,” “Develop your soft skills,” “Don’t isolate yourself,” “Consider atypical postdocs,” and “Should you do a second postdoc?” This article is located in the Careers Section of the journal along with many other articles for postdocs. There is also a category of articles for graduate students. A quick browsing of that category revealed articles entitled “For grad students and postdocs, mental health begins with faculty” and “How to combat imposter syndrome.”
“In a postdoc you really have to take time out for yourself and prioritize the things you need for your career. It’s just as important as your research.” — Carolyn Ladd
Jennifer Kong
I’m so happy that Cammy shared this article with me. As a postdoc, that doesn’t have a whole lot more time to “make the most of it,” I think this article actually provides solid advice for postdocs that are at many places in their career.
The graduate student to postdoc transition
A few weeks ago I came across this article, “The autopilot postdoc,” posted on the Nature Jobs Blog. I wasn’t a huge fan of the article — and I think to a certain extent it’s because I self identify a bit as an autopilot postdoc. Let me explain… the article “The autopilot postdoc” paints a bleak picture of postdoc life through the story of Thomas, an individual that spent eight years doing a postdoc, came to realize academia was not for him, and ended up taking a detoured path into patent law. While it is true that (1) many postdocs feel like a source of cheap research labor for a university and (2) postdoc life does at times feel like some strange netherworld/purgatory between graduate school and a real career/job, I don’t think it has to be that way… This article “How to make the most of your postdoc” really emphasizes on making good, conscious postdoc choices by encouraging graduate students to choose postdocs that will help them achieve their larger goals, like expanding their skill sets. When the goal is to improve yourself (and not getting a tenure-track faculty position at a top tier research institution), then the training you receive as a postdoc seems a lot more versatile.
The postdoc to post-postdoc transition
The article, “How to make the most of your postdoc,” dedicates one paragraph to how to plan for life after your postdoc. Too short? Yes, but there are good reminders here like taking time out of your research to prepare for your career and to treat your postdoc like a training position (which means moving on after five years).
Overall a great read with lots of excellent links to other intriguing topics. Thanks for sharing this with us Cammy!!!