6
$\begingroup$

I am a Ph.D student ( expected to graduate in few months ) works in computational mathematics. In my PhD, I have published just couple of research papers. I am willing to go for a post-doc( US, Europe, Australia ), but not sure that I will get one or not as I have not published anything in the top conference, but still want to take a chance. I have heard from my seniors that getting a post-doc is very difficulty especially in theoretical computer science as there are very few jobs. I am also hesitant to write emails to the top researcher in my field. I can get a faculty job in my local area but that will be a teaching job ( mostly ) and right now I am not that much interested in teaching. I know that if I would have research papers in top conferences then my chances of getting a post-doc would have high.

Question : Is getting pos-doc difficult in theoretical computer science with few published papers?

$\endgroup$
4
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ It will obviously depend on the individual. Have you compared yourself to similar people? E.g. look where people with similar numbers of publications on similar topics ended up going. $\endgroup$
    – Thomas
    Dec 10, 2018 at 5:28
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ It is although true that number of postdoc positions are very few in the domain you have described, but keep trying. $\endgroup$
    – adc
    Dec 10, 2018 at 6:43
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Have you asked your supervisor? (Not only because he may have more experience with this, also because he may happen to know people who are looking for postdocs in your area) $\endgroup$
    – user53923
    Dec 10, 2018 at 11:59
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ This question is probably a better fit for academia.stackexchange.com. $\endgroup$ Dec 11, 2018 at 9:08

2 Answers 2

4
$\begingroup$

I voted to close the question but I see that it's getting upvotes and being "favorited" so perhaps a point that seems obvious to me bears being stated explicitly. So, not to put too fine a point on it: Not all postdocs are equally competitive. What is a postdoc, after all? It's a paid academic position, non tenure track, usually for a fixed time (1-3 years), possibly involving teaching. Usually, any faculty member or department with funding available can offer a postdoc position. But not all positions are created equal, and some are definitely more competitive and prestigious than others. So the strength of your CV will definitely have a major role in determining what kind of a position you'll be offered. Note that publications (especially their quantity rather than quality) are important but not all-decisive. A few very strong publications is certainly preferred to many weak ones -- at least when I'm hiring! Also the letters of recommendation matter a great deal.

$\endgroup$
3
$\begingroup$

Most postdocs (in my experience) are chosen directly by the researcher or small group of researchers who want to work with them. So ideally there are researchers in your research area who may have funding and are working on very similar problems to you, and you have some evidence that you can solve these kinds of problems. (Ideally, they already aware of some of your work because it's relevant to theirs.) So quantity of research doesn't have to matter, except as contributing to the above factors.

$\endgroup$