Is Grad School or Postdoc Success More Important for My Career?
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Dear Dora,
I’ve had friends who have had very successful graduate careers (big papers, etc) and then, for any number of reasons, their postdocs were not very fruitful. On the other hand, I’ve known people who had what I would consider very average graduate careers and then ended up having tremendously successful postdocs. My question is whether one of those two situations looks better to employers?
– Mark, grad student
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Dear Mark,
Employers in industry care most about the skills that you would bring to their company. While they value publications, your hands-on experience is the most important to them, so you can be productive for them starting on Day 1. That is why I usually suggest that graduate students design a thesis that includes highly sought-after skills, which can be put into practice right after employment. If you are considering a high risk postdoc that has small chance of leading to a publication, then it would a good idea to think about how the postdoc will expand your skill set, even if not your publication record. For example, will you learn new techniques that you did not acquire in graduate school, but are valued in industry ? (e.g mass spectrometry or protein purification or any other “hot” skill in your field.
If you are eyeing the academic track then publishing papers in prestigious journals should be high on your priority list. Interestingly, a solid publication record will not guarantee a faculty position, however. Universities, similarly to companies, choose candidates based on “fit” and the type of expertise they would bring to the department. A candidate with a few publications in a hot area that the department is looking to expand into, might have a better chance than another candidate with a longer, but less interesting, publication record.
Given the highly competitive nature of the job market (both inside and outside academia), you should always strive to have the best possible graduate and postdoctoral career. An empty postdoctoral fellowship will not be welcomes, even if it was followed by a great graduate school publication record. At the least, employers will ask questions. A few years ago, when the job market was slightly less competitive, a woman came away from a three-year postdoc without a single publication. She was smart, diligent, but the projects dragged on for a long time. After three years, her funding ran out so she decided to look for a job. Eventually, she was hired, because she had learned many valuable skills during her postdoc. Nevertheless, she kept in touch with her postdoctoral advisor, and pushed for her work to be published eventually.
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Dora Farkas, Ph.D. is the author “The Smart Way to Your Ph.D.:200 Secrets from 100 Graduates,” and the founder of PhDNet, an online community for graduate students and PhDs. You will find links to her book, monthly newsletters, and discussion board on her site. Send your questions to [email protected] and keep an eye out for them in an upcoming issue!
Stay tuned for the next Dear Dora in two weeks! In the meantime, check a few of Dora’s recent posts:
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Submit your questions to Dora at [email protected], or use the comment box below!
