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There is one thing that is not mentioned in the article: very-short term post-docs. For instance, I just started my first post-doc after having defended my PhD
by p4bl0 11y ago
There is one thing that is not mentioned in the article: very-short term post-docs.
For instance, I just started my first post-doc after having defended my PhD, but my contract only lasts for one year. This is not atypical, at least in France and in computer science, to have one-year post-doc. And since you can't do a post-doc at the same lab where you did your PhD, it means that in the course of one year you have to:
1- get to know a new domain or at least a new subject,
2- become proficient in this new domain or subject to the point you can publish something in a good peer-reviewed journal or conference,
3- apply for competitive faculty positions and/or another post-doc position (in which case, rinse and repeat, unless you get to extend your current post-doc for one more year, but that depends on external fundings that you have no control or effect on).
Of course 3 requires 2 which requires 1, which means that you only have something like a bit more than half a year to complete 1 and 2, otherwise your applications for your next position will seem weak ("you didn't do anything this year?").
It is really a horrible feeling to be urged to do science. Especially when you just finished your PhD, you have lots of ideas that you want to explore and being so short-sighted (one year term is really peanuts in science) is an atrocious feeling.
- chrisseaton 11y agoSurely you'd be hired for a post-doc because your doctoral work was relevant to the project they were hiring for?
- p4bl0 11y agoIn general yes (not so much in my particular case though), but even then entering a new research project, even if it is close to the one you were working on before still take some non negligible time. But you are right, the time to complete step 1 from my comment may vary a lot and might be short in some cases I guess. In my particular case, I did my PhD on "cryptographic implementation security against physical (side-channel and fault injection) attacks", and my post-doc is on "privacy as control". I chose to apply for this post-doc rather than take one of the few that were offered to me on my PhD topic, because it also interests me scientifically a lot, plus it interests me politically. On the one hand it may have been a bold (or stupid? we'll see that later :)) move career-wise, but on the other hand it was a good time to change topic, as it may be harder to do later when you are even more specialized. And that is not specific to me.
- robotresearcher 11y ago> 1- get to know a new domain or at least a new subject, pro-tip: don't accept a 1-year postdoc in a new domain/subject (unless you urgently need to get away from your old subject).