By Russell Weiner, Ph.D.
I often get asked, “Do you think I should do a postdoc?” My answer is the same today as it was 15 years ago, “YES!” Don’t think that a two-year postdoc will only delay your career development by two years. In fact, it’s not unusual for someone with additional postdoctoral experience to come in at a higher starting salary, especially someone with a really successful postdoc.
I’ve never understood the negative connotation that a postdoc has for our newly minted Ph.D. scientists. I’ve heard, “If I do a postdoc, people will wonder if I did a postdoc because I couldn’t get a real job.” Really? You acquire extra training and new skills that complement the skills you gained as a graduate student.
Publishing
Hopefully, you will have additional peer-reviewed publications to your credit. This is critical; a postdoc with zero publications can be viewed as a red flag. At the very least, you should be a coauthor on other colleagues’ papers. Sorry, poster presentations don’t count. Do not mix together your peer-reviewed paper references with your poster references. Everyone knows getting an abstract accepted at a national meeting is far easier than getting a manuscript approved in a peer-reviewed journal. Don’t make me weed through a dozen references to find your one and only real peer-reviewed publication. Please, I’m begging you, please, do not include any references to the presentations you did at school during your graduate research. This is all too common and distracts from your true accomplishments. Bulking up your résumé will not make up for a lack of true accomplishments. The moment I see “presented at the monthly departmental seminar,” my paper shredder automatically turns on. I’d much rather see a very short résumé with few accomplishments, than a long résumé with a bunch of useless filler.
The last first-author paper you publish, or for that matter, the last article you publish, could be from your graduate research. Read the last sentence again. Yes sad, but I see this all the time. Depending on the length of your postdoc, which should be at least two years, you could easily double or triple the number of peer-reviewed publications on your résumé. Again, when sifting through dozens and dozens of résumés, seeing more publications really does make a difference. It’s also proof that you’ve done the research using the techniques listed in your résumé. You’ve helped validate that your résumé is real.
Moving Up the Résumé Pile
When I’m recruiting for an entry-level junior scientist, or for that matter any scientist, and I see an applicant has postdoctoral training, that résumé goes right to the top of my massive pile. Let’s face it, getting a job is difficult, even more so today with tens of thousands of highly qualified scientists being laid off due to mergers or companies tightening their belts as the result of blockbuster drugs going off patent causing loss of significant revenue. While these junior scientists aren’t necessarily competing for the same positions as the highly experienced pharmaceutical scientists, they could be competing with applicants with one to five years of industry experience. As a result, scientists entering the job market for the first time must be competitive. Hiring managers review dozens of résumés for every position and spend less than 15 seconds per résumé. Shockingly, some reports say five to seven seconds.
Something must catch the hiring manger’s eye. It could be the techniques you list, your publications, the prestigious university you attended, or maybe the lab where you worked. If you did a postdoc, you could quite possibly double all of the key eye catchers.
Learning
Aside from possibly helping you get a job, what does a postdoc offer? It offers the opportunity to learn, to significantly increase your network, and to publish. By learning, I specifically mean thinking and solving problems by yourself and in your own way. Before the postdoc, I believe, you think and act as an extension of your graduate studies mentor. As a postdoc, you must solve problems by yourself and without the crutch of asking your mentor for advice. New Ph.D.s tend to think in black and white, only seeing answers as right and wrong. A scientist who sees only black and white will often miss the big picture, the broader implications, and the opportunities. As a postdoc, you will begin to learn to see the greys. It’s this independent thinking that I believe is the main reason why I feel so strongly about the value of a postdoc.
Networking
You should, maybe even must, get a postdoc at a different institution than where you received your degree. A new institution will allow you to meet many new students, postdocs, research assistants, and junior and senior faculty. All of these individuals will be added to your existing network. While you may not see the value today, five years in the future, when you’re looking for a new job, one of these individuals may be able to send your résumé directly to the hiring manager. The most important thing you can do to improve your odds of getting an interview is having a large, well-established network.
Still not convinced? When evaluating the need for a postdoc, consider the following: How strong was your graduate program? Was your mentor well recognized in the field? Did you really get an opportunity to solve problems? Be honest with yourself. Do you want to learn a different area?
Most important, how relevant was your graduate work to the position you want now and in the future?
Academia or Industry?
OK, you finally decided to do a postdoc and now you must consider one of the most difficult questions. Where should you do your postdoc, academia or industry?
The pros of industry: You often have access to state-of-the-art-equipment and a nice associated budget. It can be very exciting and yes, for those companies that hire their postdocs, you get an immediate foot in the door. If this is a major driver in deciding to choose an industry postdoc, you must ask if the company hires their postdocs. Not all companies do. You will learn how industry works and industry lingo including all those three-letter acronyms like SOP (standard operating procedures) and GLP (good laboratory practices). Last, you may be offered a higher starting salary.
There are some cons of an industrial postdoc. Remember, one of the most important things to get out of a postdoc is publications. Due to the proprietary nature of the work performed in industry, you may not be permitted to publish your work before you leave the position, but you may be able to in the future. Again, ask if your research can be structured in such a way as to provide you the opportunity to publish. Future employers will understand that publishing in an industry postdoc is challenging, so no red flag.
The issue really comes in when you interview. As part of the interview process, you will be asked to give a seminar. What will be the topic of your seminar? If your work in your industrial postdoc was proprietary, you will have no choice but to go back to your graduate research to develop your seminar. Is that a show stopper? No. I just want to point out that you may not have a choice. If the job you are applying for is more like your postdoctoral than your graduate research, you will need to be creative in how you develop your seminar. There are generic ways to highlight what you did in your industrial postdoc without breaching confidentiality.
Finally, an academic postdoc has few disadvantages, aside from the possibility of not having access to the latest and greatest equipment and of a lower salary. The major advantage is that you will (you better) and are expected to publish. Additionally, like your graduate research, your work hours are much more flexible than what you will experience in an industrial postdoc.
Remember, there is no right or wrong decision on whether or where to do a postdoc. It’s simply an experience that will help you grow as an independent scientist.
This article first appeared in the December 2015 Ligand Binding Assay Bioanalytical focus group (LBABFG) newsletter.
Russell Weiner, Ph.D., is executive director and head, Global Clinical Bioanalytical, Biomarkers and Companion Diagnostics at Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.