» Checklist for Selecting Your First Post-Doctoral Position

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 and 10-15 years time? What are your career goals?
2. What particular area of research excites you?
3. What are your skills, abilities, and accomplishments to date? Will they serve you in that specific field of research or do you need additional skills or abilities?
4. What new skills and techniques would you like to learn?
5. How is your publication record? Do you need a project that will allow you to publish many papers?
6. How large or small of a lab do you want to be in?
7. Do you like starting up projects or continuing research that is ongoing?
8. Do you know people you would like to work with because of your graduate lab?
9. What about other people in the field you might want to work with?
10. Have you considered staying in your current lab or department?
11. Are there restrictions to where you can go geographically?
12. Do you want to do a Postdoc in another country?

Things to consider when selecting a lab:

1. How big is the lab? How many undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, research assistants, technicians?
2. Will you have your own project or a joint project with a graduate student or another Postdoc? If so, how will the project be split?
3. Will you be expected to supervise any students or technicians?
4. Do lab members routinely attend and present at local and national (international?) scientific meetings and conferences?
5. Do lab members present at departmental or institutional seminars?
6. Do the people in the lab seem to get on well together?
7. Are there lab activities in which everyone participates or is there little social interaction?
8. Most importantly, do the lab members enjoy working there and on their projects?

Things to consider when selecting a mentor:

1. Can you talk to the person or are you intimidated by him/her?
2. Is he/she a full professor with a solid track record or a newly appointed assistant professor?
3. Does the mentor have time for you or does his/her schedule preclude much time in the lab?
4. Does the laboratory publish routinely in good journals?