Good Postdoc Bad Postdoc Publish lots of papers
Good Post-doc/ Bad Post-doc
“Publish lots of papers” § Focus on quality, not just quantity (avoid weak journals) § Avoid books and special issues (or write 2 papers) § Get appropriate (critical) people to read your stuff and weigh up their advice carefully (especially if they seem to have had success themselves) § Send hardcopies of published papers to everyone you can think of (even if you don’t know them!) and attach a nice note
“Avoid distractions” § Avoid getting sucked into things that won’t have an obvious gain – Teaching a lot! (some is good) – Running field trips (unless you can use it to network more) – Editing/reviewing special issues (huge sink of time) § Some things have an obvious gain – Organising a conference session (perhaps hook up with some one more established? ? ) and propose a session at EGU)
“Get out of your comfort zone” § Think about your “portfolio”, – e. g. , modelling plus field work, plus lab experiments, and try to become more interdisciplinary § If a PDRA on some one else’s grant think of – Trying for a personal fellowship (NERC, RSE etc. ) – Applying for NERC grant a Research Co-Investigator § Move around to other universities is possible (even if only temporary can still put it on your CV) § Offer to give talks in other departments (use your contacts and get out there even if you have to pay!).
“Applying for jobs” § Choose your referees carefully – Ask for feedback on what your referees write about you – Try and cultivate the best contacts (don’t be shy!). Arrange to meet key people at conferences, visit other places to give talks § Write a strong personal statement – Emphasise your unique contribution/skills in your CV – Try and network as much as possible, both in the UK and internationally (even if you have to pay!) § Prepare well for interviews – Show that you have found out about the background. – Think about the panel members and their interests.
“Other suggestions” § Be wise to the fact that your post-doc could be a dead-end project and get out before it is too late (one paper is enough). (Even established scientists can be useless!) § Self promotion doesn’t have to be tacky! – Practice conference talks several times beforehand (in front of a critical audience) so people are wowed by you!
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