Youâve survived the late-night lab sessions, got past the stress of your PhD defense and signed on for a postdoc position. Chances are that youâre in it for the long haul. Unfortunately, enthusiasm and a shining academic track record are not enough to climb to the top of the academic ladder.
Thereâs no getting away from it: for the tens of thousands of postdocs in the US, the odds of landing a coveted tenure-track position at a research university are slim. Itâs a simple case of supply and demand. According to the National Science Foundation, only 26 per cent of people with science and engineering doctorates in 2006 were working as tenuretrack faculty four to six years after earning their degrees.
With such fierce competition, âyou need to be the total package,â says Zoe Fonseca-Kelly, chair of the board of directors of the National Postdoctoral Association. To get you started, here are eight ways to ensure you are the pick of the bunch.
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1. Make yourself understood
Stellar writing and presenting skills truly make a difference. To be successful, âyou have to be able to tell the world about what you do,â says Mary Anne Timmins, administrative director of biomedical postdoctoral programs at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. You also need to be able to do it in a variety of ways, she says, which means adapting your speaking and writing styles to fit your audience.
The abundance of free communication skills training is staggering â check out what your university, scientific society or funding agency offers. The time invested will pay big dividends.
Itâs a no-brainer that any job or grant application should be written perfectly, but Eight ways to set yourself apart Competition for tenure-track positions at research universities is fierce â and a stellar academic track record isnât always enough. Becky Oskin spoke to those in the know to learn what makes candidates stand out an âappalling numberâ of job application packages are badly written, according to Gregory Petsko, chair of the biochemistry department at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. A well-crafted research statement will therefore stand out.
Pro tip: âGet used to telling people about yourself in five short sentences and making it sound great,â says Fonseca-Kelly.
2. The publication imperative
Letâs face it: a postdocâs job is to write papers. âWhen you have 500 applications, the publication record is whatâs most likely to get an application beyond the first cursory read,â says John Fourkas, a chemistry professor at the University of Maryland.
Expectations vary among fields, but a good benchmark is six to eight papers by the time you start applying for tenure-track positions. Aim for journals that attract attention in your field, not just Science and Nature.
Pro tip: If you havenât started a postdoc yet, choose a mentor who publishes in high-impact journals to boost your chances of doing the same.
3. Work independently
A modern scientist must understand the business of science. Learn to manage grants and the fundamentals of running a lab during your postdoc years, recommends Keith Micoli, postdoctoral program director at the New York University School of Medicine.
The National Postdoctoral Associationâs core competencies toolkit details the essential expertise: knowledge of your field; research skills; communication skills; professionalism; leadership and management; and ethics.
âAcquiring these skills will ensure you have a head start and also demonstrate great leadership,â says Fonseca-Kelly.
Pro tip: Attend a professional development conference or join a leadership program such as COACh, from the American Chemical Society, which offers professional skills courses and workshops specially tailored to postdocs (bit.ly/yb6cp1).
4. Pay your way
Hiring committees see passing an external peer review process, such as those that dole out research grants, as a strong indicator of future success.
âI think that getting your own [research] funding absolutely makes you stand out,â says Petsko.
To begin with, write proposals with your PI and attend any grant-writing courses on offer at your institution. Apply for awards from your own institution and, once youâve got a little experience under your belt, approach non-profit organizations and government agencies.
Jacqueline Fairley, a third-year postdoc at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, followed this process step-by-step. Her research applies statistical modeling to human sleep cycles and she is now principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health Training Grant and a NSFâfunded Career Initiation Grant, a role usually adopted by a faculty member.
Pro tip: Ask an expert in your universityâs grants office to read and critique any funding applications, as Fairley did.
5. Get a life
As well as keeping your friends happy, there are professional benefits to extracurricular activities. âWhether itâs being involved in the scientific or lay community, I think itâs critical,â says Micoli. âPeople who spend all their time at the bench have to be amazingly productive, because, at the end, they donât have a network that will help them.â
Pro tip: âA lot of postdocs donât even go to department seminars. You never know which visiting scientist may have a job opening in the future,â says Fonseca-Kelly.
6. Network, network, network
Itâs been said a hundred times, but itâs important enough to say again: attend conferences and introduce yourself to key people in your field. âYou need to spend your time as a postdoc building a brand for yourself,â says Micoli.
To some, even the mere mention of the word ânetworkingâ is enough to induce a cold sweat. Even if youâre a social butterfly, introducing yourself to a Nobel prize winner can seem pretty daunting. To help you get over your reticence, talk to their postdocs instead. âEven other postdocs are vital to your networking because you never know where they will be next,â says Fonseca-Kelly. From there, you can work your way up to the big cheese.
To really make an impact, boost your social skills. When postdocs first start at the medical school where Timmins is administrative director, she teaches them how to shake hands properly. Postdocs can then choose to learn business etiquette, including proper dining habits: âEverything they need to not be terrified in a social situation,â she says.
Pro tip: Smaller conferences give you a better chance of connecting with top people. âBig national meetings arenât necessarily the best places to build these connections,â says Fourkas.
7. Build a support system
Collect a group of people who know your work and will offer support and guidance throughout your career. âI tell everybody, from undergraduates onward, that they need to get to know multiple faculty members they can rely on for long-term support,â says Fourkas.
Fairley has built three different groups during her postdoc. The first, her peers, support one another in their struggles to finish their postdocs and find a job. The second are young faculty members. âThey can tell you techniques that are new in the field and will excite someone who is hiring,â says Fairley. Finally, her dissertation adviser, a department chair, reviews Fairleyâs application packages and offers advice on what hiring committees look for in candidates.
Pro tip: Start new collaborations during your postdoc. âInstitutions are looking to get scholars who are recognized in areas outside of their home institution,â says Fairley.
8. Plan it out
Planning your postdoctoral career from the start will put you ahead of your peers. Some schools provide formal programs called Individual Development Plans; if yours does not, find examples online at the National Postdoctoral Association (bit.ly/xEa4O6).
It is also important to carve out time for personal career development. âSchedule time once a week or twice a month,â says Fairley. Karen Peterson, director of the office of scientific career development at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, adds: âThe number one mistake I see is people not preparing far enough in advance for applying for an academic position.â
Pro tip: Pay close attention when job candidates visit your department. Watch and learn from their performance, and from what faculty members say about them afterward. n Becky Oskin is a science writer based in California.
