Post doc questions

[54321]

I am just starting the post-doc/job search and have a few questions that I have not been able to get fully answered on internship, or that i would just like a wider range of perspectives on. For those of you who have been through the process, could you please share your thoughts on the following questions? Thanks in advance!

1. How many post-docs and/or jobs did you apply to? Did you have any geographic restraints and how did this affect your search and long-term career?

2. Did you attend any conferences for additional networking or just apply? I'm especially interested to hear if anyone went to the ABCT post-doc session and if you found it worth your time.

3. Can you apply to post-docs both within the match and separate from the match? If so, how does this work?

4. For VA psychologists, I know that post-doc affects your initial pay-grade, but is there any long-term benefit to doing a post-doc vs. taking a job? How easy or difficult is it to move around once in the system (e.g. if I wanted to consider taking a less than an ideal VA position due to geographic constraints with the idea of eventually moving to another position)?

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[AcronymAllergy]

I am just starting the post-doc/job search and have a few questions that I have not been able to get fully answered on internship, or that i would just like a wider range of perspectives on. For those of you who have been through the process, could you please share your thoughts on the following questions? Thanks in advance!

1. How many post-docs and/or jobs did you apply to? Did you have any geographic restraints and how did this affect your search and long-term career?

2. Did you attend any conferences for additional networking or just apply? I'm especially interested to hear if anyone went to the ABCT post-doc session and if you found it worth your time.

3. Can you apply to post-docs both within the match and separate from the match? If so, how does this work?

4. For VA psychologists, I know that post-doc affects your initial pay-grade, but is there any long-term benefit to doing a post-doc vs. taking a job? How easy or difficult is it to move around once in the system (e.g. if I wanted to consider taking a less than an ideal VA position due to geographic constraints with the idea of eventually moving to another position)?

I'll give this a go:

1) If I'm remembering correctly, I applied to a dozen post-docs

2) I attended INS to interview, and that was it. Beyond that, nearly all of my communications and networking occurred via email. Didn't go to ABCT, and I don't think I know anyone who did (or at least who attended the postdoc talk), so I unfortunately can't offer any insights there.

3) I'm not completely certain on all the specifics of the non-neuro match, but I am almost positive you can apply for match and non-match sites. The neuro match seems to be more heavily-regulated than non-neuro, and we were allowed (and in some cases encouraged) to apply to non-match sites. There are certain rules in the neuro match that come into play if a non-match site makes you an offer while you're still participating in the match, and I believe those same rules are followed for the non-neuro match.

4) I'd say it probably depends on your area and what you want to do. Academic medical centers and VAs are both more-frequently wanting/requiring that their new hires be board certified or board-eligible. I could certainly see it becoming more of a standard in forensic work as well. Beyond that, the main benefits are just increased specialty training (and, thus, increased specialty competence).

As for moving around in the VA, I haven't been employed by one long enough to know the answer to that question. However, I get the feeling that once you're in, it may be easier to later move to a new position than if you weren't already an employee and had to apply "from the outside." Probably depends on the position and the VA, though.