-
13
minutes
Timelines
Postdoc positions typically last 1 to 5 years. It’s easy for both you and your postdoc to feel like they’ve got plenty of time for career development, particularly at the beginning when there’s so much to set up, learn and get started. Thinking about their next steps may seem less important compared to project-related priorities.
“One bit of advice I would give to any postdoc is it’s all too easy to take on a postdoc position, and because they have generally a fixed term with like, one year or two years, you think, well, this is what I’m doing for two years and I will worry about what to do next at the end of the two years. I would say it’s better to start asking yourself right from the start what you want to do next.”
Dr Tom Hasell, Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of Liverpool.
But not thinking about their next steps means your postdoc is likely to miss out on opportunities. As their manager, you can help your postdoc identify skills they might want to develop and experiences they can gain. If left until later in their contract, many of those opportunities will have passed.
“So from day one, I’ve discussed career development with my postdoc.”
Dr Ruth Nugent, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, University of Liverpool
From the outset, work with your postdoc to plan the research as well as the experiences they’d like to have and their development needs. Postdocs who make research plans with their PI at the start are more likely to publish and submit grant applications. Planning can also help postdocs to clarify their career goals and gives them more time to pursue training opportunities (Davis 2009).
“Within the first six months we established what kind of role they want to take in that sense and how they are going to develop. Then it depends also on how long the project is, but let’s say in a three-year project you will start by doing that and just carry on through that in the first year. When we get to the second year we normally start thinking about: what are the skills that you have learned, what else you have to continue to develop in order to be successful after the project.
Then we encourage them over the second year to start thinking about what they want to do in the future because three years goes like that! You move really fast and particularly when you are in early career, because of the way that the postdoc works you need, I would say, at least at the end of your second year to start thinking what is going to come after the third year.”
Dr Patricia Murrieta-Flores, Co-Director of Digital Humanities and Senior Lecturer in Digital Humanities, Lancaster University.
What to do when
You can support your postdoc’s career development at every stage, from funding to finish. Below are some suggested things to consider at each step along the road.
Before your postdoc starts
There is plenty you can do to support your postdoc before they start with you, from how you write the project grant to how you interview for the position. The ‘Funding and recruitment’ page has resources that may help you lay some groundwork for supporting the career development of your postdocs.
Induction
In the first few days of your postdoc’s contract there are many important tasks that need to be done to help them settle into their new role. Discussing development needs and future careers at the induction stage, no matter how briefly, can help to reassure your postdoc that you’re interested in helping them and give you an initial idea of what support they might need from you.
Prosper’s ‘Induction’ page for managers has resources to help you with your postdoc’s first days.
Timelines
In the following sections we’ve outlined a rough structure you might want to consider when supporting your postdoc with their career development over the course of their contract.
The suggestions below are based on a postdoc who is unsure of their next steps. This is for two reasons:
- Your postdoc might not want to tell you they are unsure of their next steps or that they’re considering moving beyond academia. They might worry that being honest about their thoughts or concerns could jeopardise their chances of getting a contract extension or other development opportunities.
- Academia is highly competitive (see the realities of achieving an academic career here). Even if your postdoc is certain they want an academic career, being aware of their wider options can be helpful for confirming their goals and considering contingency ideas should academia not work out.
Remember that every postdoc is different and the support they need will be individual. For instance, a postdoc who wants to move beyond academia will require different support than a postdoc who wants to stay within academia. Individuals also move at different speeds and will want more support with some aspects of their career development than others.
The structure below provides resources and pages that you could signpost your postdoc to. If you both felt comfortable then you could structure regular career development meetings around these prompts to discuss how they are getting on, act as a sounding board and discuss any additional support your postdoc might need. Alternatively, you could use these suggestions as a way of providing your postdoc with resources for self-directed development and reserve meetings for other aspects of career development.
The first third of your postdoc’s contract
Over the first few months of your postdoc’s contract, encourage them to consider their career so far and what they’re looking for from a career. This early time in their contract is also ideal for helping them realise the range of skills that they have, skills they’re potentially missing, and working together to plan how they can gain those skills.
You may find Prosper’s career conversations resources for managers of researchers helpful for discussing careers with your postdoc.
To reflect on their career to date, your postdoc could:
Discussion prompt: What common threads come through from your postdoc reflecting on their career journey so far?
When considering what they want from their career, your postdoc could reflect on:
- Career values
- Career strengths and interests
- What provides them with job satisfaction
- Their personality traits and career fit
Discussion prompt: What do these topics tell your postdoc about the types of work they’d be interested in doing and gain value from?
Considering their existing skills can help your postdoc identify areas of further development and ensure they are fully aware of the skills they have and are able to articulate them in future job applications. Your postdoc could:
Discussion prompts: What skills does your postdoc have that they aren’t aware of? What skills could they gain or develop during their time with you? Regularly revisiting what skills they’re interested in developing is important throughout their contract and starting off with them assessing their own skills gap can help you support their development.
You can also access resources dedicated to managers of researchers for how to support the skills development of your postdocs here.
The middle third of your postdoc’s contract
Once your postdoc has more of an idea of what they want and need from a career it can be helpful to support them to explore their options and what they might need in order to obtain their goals.
There are a myriad of possible careers your postdoc could go onto, within and beyond academia. This can make it hard to know where to start but Prosper’s career clusters and resources can help postdocs to explore a range of different options, both related to and distinct from their subject area. Your postdoc may wish to:
- Explore Prosper’s career clusters
- Learn about careers in academia
- Discover how to research organisations of interest
- Use library resources to explore their options
Discussion prompts: What sectors or organisations has your postdoc been most interested in? How could they find out more about those areas of work?
Prosper has also created resources for you as a manager of a researchers for how to support them to consider careers within academia and careers beyond academia.
One of the most effective ways of discovering more about a career, organisation or job role is via networking. Your postdoc could learn about:
Discussion prompts: How confident is your postdoc with networking? How could you help them to develop their networking skills? Are there any contacts you have, within or beyond academia, who might be able to provide your postdoc with further information about an organisation or job role?
Visit the managers of researchers Postdoc Networking page for resources on how to support your postdoc to develop their networking skills.
It’s important to revisit your postdoc’s skill development needs at regular intervals throughout their contract with you. This can help them to identify what new skills they’ve developed and what skills they might want to develop further in the coming months. Your postdoc may wish to develop certain skills as a result of finding out more about possible careers. Prosper has also spoken with a large number of employers whose insights into desirable skills may be useful in guiding skills development.
Prosper has also created resources that your postdoc could use for the six most in demand skills in today’s job market:
Discussion prompts: What additional skills would your postdoc like to develop over the remainder of their contract? How could you support them with this? What skills do you think are essential for an academic career?
The final third of your postdoc’s contract
As your postdoc moves into the final stages of their contract with you, they’ll most likely be considering their next steps: finding, applying for and getting a job. This can often be the most stressful and uncertain time in the postdoc cycle and whilst it can feel important to finish off as much of the research project as possible, your postdoc will still benefit hugely from your support.
The first step to getting a job is finding job opportunities. For careers beyond academia there are various approaches your postdoc may take, for careers within academia you yourself may be aware of the best routes to finding a job within your discipline.
Discussion prompts: Where is your postdoc looking for jobs? Are they approaching potential employers directly or utilising LinkedIn, or are they replying on job boards and listings? Are there any avenues that you are aware of for finding job adverts within your field?
The application process can make or break a postdoc’s chances of getting their next job. As their manager you may be well placed to help check, review or advise on their CV or application. Your postdoc can also use Prosper’s resources on:
Discussion prompts: Does your postdoc have an up-to-date CV? Are they aware of different CV types, including traditional academic, narrative CVs and CVs beyond academia? Would you be willing to read a cover letter that they’d written?
You can also access Prosper’s resources for managers of researchers for supporting postdocs making job applications and going through recruitment processes.
As your postdoc progresses along the job application process, they may benefit from resources on:
Discussion prompts: How does your postdoc feel about job interviews? Would they benefit from a mock interview with you or someone else? Are they aware of any assessments or tests they might be asked to complete?
When your postdoc finishes
Once your postdoc has finished their position you can continue to support them, by providing references for their future job applications. Staying in contact with your postdoc and knowing what roles they go onto has advantages too: you might find that your former postdoc becomes a collaborator on a new project and you can tell future postdocs what your previous postdocs have gone on to do.
Prosper's ‘Project end and outcomes’ page has useful resources to help you continue to support your postdoc once they’ve left your team.
References
Davis, G. 2009. Improving the postdoctoral experience: an empirical approach. In Science and Engineering Careers in the United States: An Analysis of Markets and Employment, Edited by Freeman, R.B. and Goroff, D.L. pp99-127, http://www.nber.org/chapters/c11619
Refine
