I returned from the Southwest, Europe and West Coast Extravaganza to a busy semester start complete with two fresh new undergrads to supervise, a schedule full of seminars and journal clubs and lab meetings, and already a presentation coming up and report due by the end of the week. This is manageable compared with the huge career decision I'm facing. I now have to take what I learned during the 12 hours I spent on the West Coast and process it into a huge decision about my career and where I'm going with it.
The thing about this job I'm deciding on is that it involves the research I'm going to be taking with me and working on for the rest of my career. Therefore, I have to pick something that is 1) interesting to me and 2) interesting enough to everyone else to bank my career on but 3) not so interesting that someone else does it and publishes it before I can.
The problem with all that is that I feel much too young and naive to make a decision like that. Who am I to say what I'm going to be interested in some fifteen years down the road? And how am I supposed to know what other people are going to be working on? Especially when we're talking about a field that is totally unfamiliar to me (they say it's good to change fields for this move, which to me just makes it all the more difficult).
So what I found out about this lab in the 12 hours I was with them is this: They are all great people, who I got along with well. The PI is also a great guy who I get along with well, and I think I will do well under his supervision (although that you never really know). The research fascinates me. The projects are all forward-thinking and high-profile.
So that makes me 95% sure I want to go to his lab for this job. What is the 5% holding me back? The bug he works on is the bug everyone and their mom works on. Since his research is cutting edge, that means they get scooped (someone else publishes on their work before they do) all the time. This means the pace is a lot faster than what I'm used to. A fast pace is ok for doing a post-doc, but I'm not sure it's a pace I can maintain for my career. Plus, if they are always competing with everyone, the environment is not as nurturing and pleasant as that which I'm in (where we have very few competitors). So that aspect is very unfamiliar and uninviting.
So what do I do? I wish I had a fairy godmother that would tell me. Dang! Where did she go?
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2 comments:
Aren't you considering more than just one lab?? Go on some more interviews! It doesn't sound like you are totally comfortable with the Seattle lab. Go talk with more people, then at the very least you will see that maybe the Seattle lab is not perfect - but the best you've seen.... I agree that it's practically impossible to know what a work environment is like until you get there. Your first impresssions will help you a lot, but there will be things you like and things you don't like - you will find these out when you get there.
About the research area, EVERYONE does 2 post-docs these days. That's not your goal, of course, but thats' how it is. If you hate this lab, or the resaearch area turns out to be too competitive, do another post-doc or switch fields! My former boss at Iowa is currently switching to another pathogen (and he's on 6 month sabatical in England to do it - fun!!)
I would not join this lab now. You aren't sold, and you haven't seen any other labs. Trust me, it will be a lot easier if you interview more and think about it.
I think ctg gave you some good advice.
I know you didn't look at just one place for grad school so why would you do that for a post doc?
Go on at least a couple more interviews. Wasn't there some place in Toronto you were interested in?
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