What was important to you in order to make the decision whether to accept an offer for a postdoc (or not)? Is there something that you would like to add to the video? 😀
Dear Prof. Matthias C. Rillig, Before watching your video, I used to feel overwhelmed when reaching out to multiple professors at the same time. However, thanks to your guidance, I have learned how to approach this task in a more sophisticated manner. I truly appreciate the invaluable insights I have gained from you! I eagerly anticipate your future updates! If it weren't for my upcoming literature presentation next week, I would be thrilled to watch all of your videos in their entirety. I am grateful for the opportunity to connect with you and I sincerely thank you for sharing your expertise and dedication!!!
Your video was very helpful, especially the part where you keep saying to trust the gut feeling. Your channel is a great help and support for someone like me who is looking for postdoc opportunities! Please keep it up.
I was putting off on responding to a informal offer from a particular lab PI because I was weighing my options. But after watching this video, I responded right away to be transparent about the situation and ask for a little more time. I hope I did a good job. Thanks a ton!
I currently have two options. I don't have offers from either yet, just interviews. One of them I feel like the PI's character would be a great fit for me, the lab atmosphere is great and supportive, but the research methodology is quite far from what I want to develop in the future. The other is a field I want to do and everything I want to learn is there, but when I interviewed, I felt strongly from the gut that the PI's personality is not a good fit for me, and that he is not much supportive. I feel like both places will only give me an offer if I take action first. People keep telling me to keep sending positive signals to get an offer and then think about it, but I feel like I'm making things up and faking it when I have critical concerns about both. Could you please give an advice on this situation?
It is very difficult to give advice about any specific situation. But first I would wait until I get an offer. Then perhaps you can explore if one of the two options could work: learn more about the PI about which you had a bad feeling, maybe if you have another chat in a more relaxed atmosphere (or a visit) it's not like you think. And about the other place: would that lab support you to go someplace else for a month or two to learn the skill you want?
Then you need to decide what's more interesting to you, the methods you know or the question. There is benefits and drawbacks of each, like if you go for the question, this postdoc would allow you to address this question in a more well-rounded way because you are then learning how to approach it with completely different methods. The drawback: you may be starting from scratch in terms of methods...this costs time and energy. So, in the end this is really up to you.
I consulted with some experts in my field about my CV and my postdoc application. Most of them mentioned that my application surely can achieve postdoc positions. But, after several applications, I have been not invited to any interviews. I do not know what is the problem!
Postdoc positions often receive many applications; for example, positions in my lab often attract more than 30 applicants. Sometimes it is just a matter of probability until you hit a job ad that fits so that your application ticks off all boxes; usually there are specific expectations for positions that go well beyond being basically qualified for a postdoc. But of course, this is difficult to diagnose since I don't know your cv, your experts or the positions you apply for (and sorry, I can't offer individual counseling, since I don't have time for this...).
Learning new skills during a postdoc is positive in principle, as long as there is at least some thread of continuity to the PhD work you did (like in terms of lab techniques, stats, approach, topic), or if you really want to completely retool. The latter, i.e. starting something entirely different, comes with a risk because you're starting from scratch; and thus I would generally not recommend this, if it can at all be avoided. In the end, it's always up to you what you make out of this opportunity, but hopefully you can build on something you learned during your doctorate.
@@mrillig I am not sure that it is easy to find a supervisor who will support an applicant to start something entirely new at the level of postdoc. Maybe my experience is not so rich, but from it it is generally assumed that a postdoc must be able to lead a part of research by their own with limited guiding.
@@Tatiana-kq1bp You are right, it really depends on the situation, and this is perhaps way more common for candidates supported on fellowships (where they can design their own project) than on grants (where there is a clear set of tasks to be accomplished). There needs to definitely be some continuity in what the postdoc does, starting something completely new really doesn't happen. But I like to have people in the lab that bring some new technique, for example. They even may never have worked on ecology at all, for example. So for them, it's about learning something new, but working with the methods they know.
What was important to you in order to make the decision whether to accept an offer for a postdoc (or not)? Is there something that you would like to add to the video? 😀
Dear Prof. Matthias C. Rillig,
Before watching your video, I used to feel overwhelmed when reaching out to multiple professors at the same time. However, thanks to your guidance, I have learned how to approach this task in a more sophisticated manner. I truly appreciate the invaluable insights I have gained from you! I eagerly anticipate your future updates! If it weren't for my upcoming literature presentation next week, I would be thrilled to watch all of your videos in their entirety. I am grateful for the opportunity to connect with you and I sincerely thank you for sharing your expertise and dedication!!!
Thanks so much for writing, I am glad you like the videos!
Your video was very helpful, especially the part where you keep saying to trust the gut feeling. Your channel is a great help and support for someone like me who is looking for postdoc opportunities! Please keep it up.
thanks for the positive feedback!
I was putting off on responding to a informal offer from a particular lab PI because I was weighing my options. But after watching this video, I responded right away to be transparent about the situation and ask for a little more time. I hope I did a good job. Thanks a ton!
Thanks for writing. Sounds like you did the right thing to me, and good luck with making the best decision in the end!
This is so helpful Prof...this is exactly what i was thinking!
Thank you! :)
I currently have two options. I don't have offers from either yet, just interviews. One of them I feel like the PI's character would be a great fit for me, the lab atmosphere is great and supportive, but the research methodology is quite far from what I want to develop in the future. The other is a field I want to do and everything I want to learn is there, but when I interviewed, I felt strongly from the gut that the PI's personality is not a good fit for me, and that he is not much supportive. I feel like both places will only give me an offer if I take action first. People keep telling me to keep sending positive signals to get an offer and then think about it, but I feel like I'm making things up and faking it when I have critical concerns about both. Could you please give an advice on this situation?
It is very difficult to give advice about any specific situation. But first I would wait until I get an offer. Then perhaps you can explore if one of the two options could work: learn more about the PI about which you had a bad feeling, maybe if you have another chat in a more relaxed atmosphere (or a visit) it's not like you think. And about the other place: would that lab support you to go someplace else for a month or two to learn the skill you want?
@@mrillig Thank you for your thoughtful advice. Your last point is something I hadn't considered 🙂
what is your advice, if there is a Postdoc position with a completely different methodology than the Ph.D. but similar research questions?
Then you need to decide what's more interesting to you, the methods you know or the question. There is benefits and drawbacks of each, like if you go for the question, this postdoc would allow you to address this question in a more well-rounded way because you are then learning how to approach it with completely different methods. The drawback: you may be starting from scratch in terms of methods...this costs time and energy. So, in the end this is really up to you.
many thanks for your advice!
I consulted with some experts in my field about my CV and my postdoc application.
Most of them mentioned that my application surely can achieve postdoc positions. But, after several applications, I have been not invited to any interviews.
I do not know what is the problem!
Postdoc positions often receive many applications; for example, positions in my lab often attract more than 30 applicants. Sometimes it is just a matter of probability until you hit a job ad that fits so that your application ticks off all boxes; usually there are specific expectations for positions that go well beyond being basically qualified for a postdoc. But of course, this is difficult to diagnose since I don't know your cv, your experts or the positions you apply for (and sorry, I can't offer individual counseling, since I don't have time for this...).
What is your advice, if I need in postdoc stage to work on smth different than my PhD.. how to make it
Learning new skills during a postdoc is positive in principle, as long as there is at least some thread of continuity to the PhD work you did (like in terms of lab techniques, stats, approach, topic), or if you really want to completely retool. The latter, i.e. starting something entirely different, comes with a risk because you're starting from scratch; and thus I would generally not recommend this, if it can at all be avoided.
In the end, it's always up to you what you make out of this opportunity, but hopefully you can build on something you learned during your doctorate.
@@mrillig Thanks a lot ..
@@mrillig I am not sure that it is easy to find a supervisor who will support an applicant to start something entirely new at the level of postdoc. Maybe my experience is not so rich, but from it it is generally assumed that a postdoc must be able to lead a part of research by their own with limited guiding.
@@Tatiana-kq1bp You are right, it really depends on the situation, and this is perhaps way more common for candidates supported on fellowships (where they can design their own project) than on grants (where there is a clear set of tasks to be accomplished). There needs to definitely be some continuity in what the postdoc does, starting something completely new really doesn't happen. But I like to have people in the lab that bring some new technique, for example. They even may never have worked on ecology at all, for example. So for them, it's about learning something new, but working with the methods they know.