You know from this blog and/or my book what went into successfully applying to postdoc positions and what the outcome of it all was for me. In general, I tend to warn people about postdocs being temporary and not coming with a guarantee of a career in academia. At the same time, I wanted to share how I felt about everything so that you can know not only what it takes to apply and be successful with that, but also what it means to live through it. You might end up in a position where you have to make tough decisions. We all want things, but do we know what to do when we get those things?

To summarize the major tips for successfully applying to postdoc positions

1. Be selective and apply to specific positions that excite you and where you can make a strong case for yourself.
2. Know the name of the person who would be hiring you and do your research on them. Don’t send out generic applications just to send out applications. It’s not worth your time and you probably won’t get interview calls. Make two good applications rather than 20 generic ones.
3. It’s who you know and what you did. Use your network to find opportunities and get referred for them, but also focus on finding positions that are a good fit for you based on the work you did. Having a strong network will help to get you the leads and put you in a better position for getting interviewed, but if what you did is not going to make you a strong candidate for what they want you to do next, then you will be passed over for someone else.
4. Everything you have done already should make you the perfect candidate for the perfect role. In your research statement, talk about the things you have already done that make you a particularly strong candidate for that specific position. That will work to at least get you an interview, from my experience.
5. Don’t feel too shy to apply to prestigious fellowships. Go for it. You have what it takes.
6. Don’t feel too shy to apply just because your papers are in the pipeline and not yet finally published in journals. You can still talk about them in your research statement and link it to preprints. Be confident about the work you have done and excited about what you want to do next.
7. Make connections. Not just with the people, but with the work you have done and want to do next. Bring attention to how what you have done makes you great for the next opportunity. Connect your current research to the work you want to be doing in the future.
8. Even before applying for postdocs, establish what you care about and why. This needs to be crystal clear in your head. This is your dream and the time may come to share it.
9. At the interview, be prepared to answer the question about what is the one thing you would do if money was not a limitation. This is probably your dream. They want to know and you should be able to articulate it. Also, you should have enough faith to do so without feeling shame about it. Own it and say it with confidence. When the time comes to tell the ultimate truth about yourself and what you want to be doing, you should be prepared to tell it how it is.
10. Never go overtime during a job talk. That makes you look unprepared and therefore, unprofessional. So, it is critical to use exactly the time that has been allotted for your talk and transition smoothly to questions.
11. Before telling the audience how you got your results, just tell them the results. Unfortunately, no-one cares about how you got there. So don’t make them wait till after the methods slides. Show results first and keep methods to a minimum. This actually helps to highlight your impact.
12. When answering questions during the job talk, first repeat the question for the rest of your audience. This way you include everyone in the conversation and no-one feels left out.
13. Unless the question is super obvious to you, gain clarification on the question and confirm that you truly understand what they are asking before you even attempt to answer it.
14. Aim to make a good impression on the whole organization or department. If a professor likes you and wants you to have the position but can’t pay you, they might be able to convince the department to chip in and help pay for you. In that case, it would help if you make a good impression with that department as a whole. So, do your homework on the organization or department.
15. Believe in yourself and your work. You need to believe that you deserve to be awarded an opportunity to do the research that you want to do.
16. Be optimistic and excited about the work you want to do. Recognize the importance of YOUR work, the contributions you have made to your field, and then practice explaining the same.
17. When making big decisions, take the pressure off by realizing that life is long enough to fuck up many times. Nothing bad will happen if you take an opportunity and decide that you want to do something else. There will be this and then there will be something else. It’s all going to work out.

Hope these tips on successfully applying to postdoc positions help you out! Please do share on your social networks and leave a comment below!