Should I Do postdoc : Pros and Cons – ResearchersJob

Should I Do postdoc : Pros and Cons – ResearchersJob

“Should I Do postdoc” it comes in every researcher’s mind who completed a Ph.D. or at the end of completion. Among many options like searching for scientific or academic jobs, a postdoc is one of the apparent preferences. But you need to think carefully about this by considering difficulties and your interest.

A postdoc (highest education degree) is often referred to as “postdoctoral fellows,” “research fellows,” “associate researchers,” etc.  It is a person who has just completed his doctorate and is employed in a temporary research contract, usually as a springboard for a future position in the academic world. Should I Do postdoc

Postdoctoral fellowships are a relatively new phenomenon, but they are quickly becoming a prerequisite for a successful academic career. A common assumption is that PhDs hold a postdoctoral position in an educational research institution to improve their research and reputation skills, which increases their chances of achieving the ultimate goal: Academic Appointment. While this is a laudable goal to pursue, and there is no doubt that a post-doc position is often the key to a future appointment to a university position, there are growing concerns that post-doc is failing and unsustainable.

Therefore, if you are planning to do a postdoc, here are some pros and cons to consider that could help you make a better decision.

6 golden tips for finding successful postdoctoral opportunities

The pros of doing a postdoc

If you are confident that you want to stay in academia for a long time, doing a post-doctorate before applying for other types of academic work offers several advantages:

1. Career development opportunities: Being a postdoctoral fellow provides you an extended training period after obtaining your Ph. D. You have more flexibility than during your doctorate, without any of the teaching and administrative responsibilities that academics usually have at the beginning of their research career; you can travel freely for conferences, working hours are almost as flexible as during your doctorate. You have the opportunity to expand your skills to understand a new area, or even a new field, complementary to your Ph.D. work.

2. New research opportunities: A postdoc is a valuable educational experience for anyone wishing to pursue a research career. The reason is that a postdoc allows you to revise the cycle, start a new project, learn a new field and become an expert in a given subject, and therefore offer an excellent opportunity to perfect your skills and prepare yourself for life as an independent researcher. You can dedicate 100% of your time to research. You can submit several journal articles based on your doctorate, several grant applications, and possibly collect data for future publications.

3. New Skills: A well-chosen combination of doctoral and postdoctoral research areas can provide you with a broad and distinctive set of skills that allows you to develop particular fields of study as an independent researcher. You have more time to acquire new technology and research skills, expand the research undertaken during your Ph.D. or gain experience in a whole new field and become known in academic circles before looking for long-term academic positions post-doctorate. In two or three years, it is possible to gain additional value from Ph.D. knowledge and skills in a new field.

4. Intellectual Development: A postdoc is the last time in your career where you can focus exclusively on your intellectual development. For many researchers, this is the most important and influential part of their research training. A postdoc should not be ignored for those who wish to maximize their ability to pursue a high-level research career.

Cons of doing a postdoc

Despite the serious benefits, you should also consider the flip side: doing a post-doc and not finding a suitable job in the academic world.

Here are some of the disadvantages of doing a postdoc.

• Most postdoctoral students who hope to take an educational post after completing it do not achieve it; in the United States, only 30% and in the United Kingdom, only 20% of post-docs succeed in obtaining a long-term post-doc academic position, and most have to hold a series of postdoctoral positions before reaching a more stable academic position or leave the academic world

• Most postdoctoral fellows who are expected to leave academia receive little or no professional advice or training and may be less attractive to prospective employees than doctors because of their specialization at this stage.

• You may also experience poor working conditions while undertaking the post-doc; in particular, some postdoctoral fellows complain that they have been neglected by their department as staff, meager salaries, specific tasks, and job descriptions, and are always stressed by their financial situation due to the brevity of contracts.

• Also, post-docs who are unable to obtain an academic position often become overqualified for jobs in the industry, while losing higher alternative pay (wages in the sector) and often putting their personal lives (marriage, children) jeopardy.

Some Effective Tool to Improve Your Research Writing Skill

Final thoughts

All things being equal, it seems that the decision to do or not do a postdoc depends mostly on your desire to stay in the academic world in the long run. If you are not sure of pursuing an academic job, a postdoc can be an excellent way to find out: you will be placed in a university department for a year or three, and you will deepen your understanding of university life. In the meantime, both types of the postdoc will give you a secure payment check. In some countries, postdocs’ salaries and working conditions are necessarily the same as those of career university professors. In contrast, in other countries, a postdoc is not much better paid than he is, better treated than a doctoral student.

How to write an attractive research proposal?

All Postdoc Position : Researchersjob

Though, consider asking as much advice as possible from your supervisor and other academic staff or senior before deciding whether to do a postdoc or not.

If you ask my view then I will suggest you to try to get postdoc position if you have not secure academic or research position.   

However, a postdoc helps develop you as a mature researcher who can take responsibility, think independently, and work in a more skilled way. Besides this, if you are interested in interacting with new people, new areas, and overseas study, then to do abroad postdoc is the best option.

How to Write an Effective Cover Letter – Prepare Yourself

Related