On Obtaining Postdoctoral Position

I would like to share my personal strategy and experience on obtaining academic postdoctoral position in physical sciences. The process is different in every research fields and subfields; it also varies from one principal investigator to another. I don’t think there is really a general rule but I hope that some people will learn something from my experience.

The first stage is self-evaluation. This is very critical, be as truthful to yourself as you can be. Realistically, when do you think you will graduate? Eventually, what career path are you taking? Do you need to do a postdoc? If so, where do you think is the most optimal route: at university, industry, or national labs? What type of research do you want to pursue? Also, think about the professors whom you want to be working with. These are just among the questions that you should ask yourself in this stage.

In my case, after weeks of contemplating, I realized I really wanted to pursue an academic postdoctoral position. The major reason is that I want to be a university professor someday. I love the academic setting, the intellectual interaction; it feels like home. Finding an academic postdoctoral position, in my opinion, is much easier than looking for industrial or national lab postdoctoral position. (Am I correct?) I started my postdoctoral search in February of this year with July/August as my target graduation date.

Second, prepare necessary materials like curriculum vitae (CV), cover letter, and recommendation letters. If you applied for fellowships or awards before, then you should have a CV already, keep it updated. Talk to your recommenders about your short- and long-term plans and ask for their personal tips and advice. Have clear expectations with your Ph. D. advisor about how actively he wants to be involved in your search.

Third, come up with a list of professors whom you wanted to work with and contact them. The list should be perfectly aligned with your research interests and future goals. It is important to start the search early so as not to resort to “shotgun” approach in which you contact people in a massive manner and wish that one of those will offer you a position. The cover letter should be tailored such that it is sort of “personalized” addressing your fit to the research group very well.

Personally, I know I wanted to do something different from my Ph. D. subfield so I have in mind the top researchers in different subfields but still including some top researchers in my PhD subfield. In my list were a mix of senior professors and junior professors. I only had about a dozen in my list. I showed the list to my Ph. D. advisor and he actually strongly suggested not contacting some names in my list which was totally fine with me. I ranked them according to my preference. The plan is to contact the first four in the list and wait for few weeks; if it worked out, then the process is done, if none worked, then contact other another set of professors and so on. Now you have tossed the ball to the other side and can only wait for their response.

Fourth, the professor shows interest and asks for recommendation letters. After you have arranged to have the letters sent to him, you can only wait and cross your fingers. Yes, the waiting is a killer!

Fifth, the professor asks to know more about you by meeting you personally. He will specify what he needs from you from this meeting. You may be asked to visit the research group. This can be done differently in various ways.

Lastly, you got an offer!

In my case, I ended up contacting only half of the professors in my list. I feel very lucky to get offers (in March) from my top choices, the ones I did not even consider that would take second look at me. I would say that my search from contacting the professor to getting the postdoctoral position appointment (yes, got it) is pretty quick, only less than two months yet I still find waiting game very crazy. I did have difficulty deciding which one I would like to accept because they are all very good opportunities (that is why I feel very lucky): good universities, good mentors, and very dynamic group. Eventually, in my case, future personal life issue (long-distance relationship) is the determining factor.

On the other hand, I also got responses like "I don't have money for another postdoc at this time, but if there are fellowship opportunities that you can apply, I would greatly support it". One of the weirdest experience I have is that one of the professor I contacted already approached my Ph. D. advisor early on about projects I could work on and other possible collaboration with my Ph. D. advisor but never contacted me at all! Not even a single-liner email! But three months later, he contacted my advisor again about me and my advisor already said I have already accepted a position somewhere. It doesn't make sense to me why he doesn't communicate with me but only with my advisor!

I am set to start my postdoctoral position in September. I am excited but scared at the same time. Before that, I need to finish writing the dissertation and successfully defend it. Wish me luck!

postdoc+carnival