Some of you sent emails asking about post doctorate work. Instead of answering all of you here is our take on it. This was a response sent to a recent email question.
Good Question,
Post-doctoral work was not done by anyone in our group. Everyone went directly into a job. The economy has changed and many folks are going into post-doctoral areas to enhance skills and maybe work near someone who may hire them later. This is probably a good option for many folks. It is an area our group needs to look at and discuss with folks who have done it. But I cannot offer you much (useful) guidance.
A couple of ideas are to find out exactly what the qualifications and expectations are for the placement- find the source documents and exactly what you need to do step by step. That usually means researching on line but it never hurts to call someone at the organization and politely (and briefly) ask for help/guidance. Sometimes I ask what the person at the organization would do next if they were in my position. Many times I get a good answer that moves me to the next step. Also try to find someone who has done a post doc there before and again call or email. Folks will say very little in an email that can be blasted to 100 other people so emails get you to source documents locations but give little insight usually. They may answer an email and say go to this web site or that one. If you can talk to someone who has done what you want to do that helps greatly. It is like putting together a puzzle. Take your time and figure it out. I was in sales so calling folks is not so hard. If this skill is hard for you then learn this skill it is how the world works.
Expect to put significant time into this, lots of competition no matter who you are or how good you are. Be humble even though as a new doc you feel like you can bench press a Buick. Ask for help and guidance and be polite. If you just finished your doc then you are tired and may over react, over think and respond emotionally in the wrong way. Your body and your mind are tired and the reserves that you used to graduate have been drained.
When you are interviewed you need to have read everything about your prospective post doc site. Read their web site(s), take notes and look at their org chart. Know their goals and what they have done to stand out. Know this better than your interviewers. Don’t spout it off to impress the reviewers’ just use it to fill out /improve your responses to their questions. I have interviewed folks for jobs that had a lot of talent and knew nothing about our organizations background. The candidates who could show they cared enough about us to look at our organization background stood out the most.
I wish you all the best and wish we were experts in this area. Go to OUR WEBSITE and read over the older posts that talk about graduating, stress, resting etc. This material is built into most posts. Get to know what is probably happening to your body and mind now. I talked to a successful doc a few months who the night before had stormed out of a restaurant leaving her significant other sitting there over nothing. I think she walked home not even sure what had set her off. She is an attractive person who found a well-paying high prestige job after she graduated almost a year ago. But she still has these mini blow ups as if she is still not calmed and in control all the time. She was pretty drained by the experience of getting the doc. So just be careful if you are running on adrenalin now. Put some rest into your life. Read over the older posts more than once if it relates to your current experience.
I wish I could do more for you! I wish you the very best.
Warmest regards,
Dr. Parker
Good Question,
Post-doctoral work was not done by anyone in our group. Everyone went directly into a job. The economy has changed and many folks are going into post-doctoral areas to enhance skills and maybe work near someone who may hire them later. This is probably a good option for many folks. It is an area our group needs to look at and discuss with folks who have done it. But I cannot offer you much (useful) guidance.
A couple of ideas are to find out exactly what the qualifications and expectations are for the placement- find the source documents and exactly what you need to do step by step. That usually means researching on line but it never hurts to call someone at the organization and politely (and briefly) ask for help/guidance. Sometimes I ask what the person at the organization would do next if they were in my position. Many times I get a good answer that moves me to the next step. Also try to find someone who has done a post doc there before and again call or email. Folks will say very little in an email that can be blasted to 100 other people so emails get you to source documents locations but give little insight usually. They may answer an email and say go to this web site or that one. If you can talk to someone who has done what you want to do that helps greatly. It is like putting together a puzzle. Take your time and figure it out. I was in sales so calling folks is not so hard. If this skill is hard for you then learn this skill it is how the world works.
Expect to put significant time into this, lots of competition no matter who you are or how good you are. Be humble even though as a new doc you feel like you can bench press a Buick. Ask for help and guidance and be polite. If you just finished your doc then you are tired and may over react, over think and respond emotionally in the wrong way. Your body and your mind are tired and the reserves that you used to graduate have been drained.
When you are interviewed you need to have read everything about your prospective post doc site. Read their web site(s), take notes and look at their org chart. Know their goals and what they have done to stand out. Know this better than your interviewers. Don’t spout it off to impress the reviewers’ just use it to fill out /improve your responses to their questions. I have interviewed folks for jobs that had a lot of talent and knew nothing about our organizations background. The candidates who could show they cared enough about us to look at our organization background stood out the most.
I wish you all the best and wish we were experts in this area. Go to OUR WEBSITE and read over the older posts that talk about graduating, stress, resting etc. This material is built into most posts. Get to know what is probably happening to your body and mind now. I talked to a successful doc a few months who the night before had stormed out of a restaurant leaving her significant other sitting there over nothing. I think she walked home not even sure what had set her off. She is an attractive person who found a well-paying high prestige job after she graduated almost a year ago. But she still has these mini blow ups as if she is still not calmed and in control all the time. She was pretty drained by the experience of getting the doc. So just be careful if you are running on adrenalin now. Put some rest into your life. Read over the older posts more than once if it relates to your current experience.
I wish I could do more for you! I wish you the very best.
Warmest regards,
Dr. Parker
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