The process of choosing a postdoc lab that satisfies both your personal and professional needs is often not very clear. But choosing the ‘right’ postdoc is one of the most critical choices you will make in your academic career. How do you start? Where do you start? What personal factors should you consider and which ones should you prioritize? How do you choose a postdoc that aligns well with your career goals?
This course, called ‘The Strategic Postdoc’, addresses these questions and considerations. In the first module, ‘Positioning Yourself for the Postdoc’, we will guide you through identifying your needs, preferences, and values (NPVs), reverse-engineering your postdoc search based on your NPVs, and building a game plan to leave your PhD. The second module, ‘Applying for a Postdoc’ will guide you through the process of finding, interviewing, and choosing a postdoc lab, as well as leaving your PhD lab.
While the content of this course is focused on the PhD-to-postdoc transition, we’d like to remind you that the concepts and strategies in this course can be applied to other professional transitions. This course is part of the ‘Skills for a Successful Transition from PhD to Postdoc’ series, created by the NIH-funded Yale Ciencia Academy in collaboration with iBiology.
Module 1: Positioning Yourself for the Postdoc
This module will help you identify your needs, preferences, and values (NPVs) to reverse-engineer your postdoc search. Using videos, case studies, worksheets, and reflection questions, you will build a game plan to leave your PhD and secure your ideal postdoc.
Session 1: Acknowledge Your Needs, Preferences, and Values
Session 2: Start at the End
Session 3: Build a Game Plan
Session 4: Prepare to Leave your PhD
Module 2: Applying for and Choosing the Right Postdoc
This module will guide you through the process of finding, interviewing, and choosing a postdoc lab that is a good fit for you. You will also learn how to apply effective negotiation strategies to help you smoothly transition out of our PhD lab and into the next stage of your career journey.
