The Postdoc Search: Considerations in your CV

I'm a few months away from my defense and I'm frantically writing, my Ph.D. was one of those that had a few projects going on at the same time as opposed to one steady one with a publishable outcome. I'm glad my Ph.D. has gone the way it did, it exposed me to a lot of new ideas and ways of thinking about collaborations, applications of my field of study and ambition. While I've been writing, I have been applying for postdoc positions. 

I started my postdoc search about 6 months ago and over that time I can say that frequency is the operative word here. Sending out many many CV's will never do you harm BUT what will is being an ill informed applicant. You don't need to necessarily know if a potential PI is searching for a postdoc to apply, but when you do apply have some thoughts about what the lab does, the more insight you show the more that potential PI will appreciate your efforts and delve further into your CV. With the surmounting numbers of Ph.D. graduates, PI's essentially are spoilt for choice so give them a reason to look at you. Having a neat and tidy CV is half the battle, having your cover letter and CV well put together will make a tremendous difference. Ph.D.'s seeing the end of the tunnel in the next 1 year to 6 months should start looking. A concerted effort towards a cover letter that conveys you really like what the lab is doing and that their lab is not just on a list that you and your PI or you have come up with will go a long way! 

I've sent out about 15-20 CV's all of them with a meaningful cover letter followed by my CV, I happened to apply to my particular institution after reading 3-4 papers from the lab. I had some valuable insights and questions that I formed into my cover letter, the next day the PI emailed me to schedule a phone interview, shortly after that I met in person. He would later tell me the main reason he wanted to contact me was because I showed knowledge of their projects in my cover letter.

Next up will be the phone interview: Do's and dont's and how I almost missed my interview!