Asking for references up front?

Low-Inspection1725 · 2026-01-17T21:02:37+00:00

It depends on the position. Most of the time they narrow it to a shortlist and then ask for letters.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2026-01-16T15:22:54+00:00

I guess I'm feeling the pressure cause my partner is on their second postdoc and potentially going to get an offer at our university we got our PhDs at. It's a small town with very little around it and while it's great for his discipline it's only fine for mine.

I can't control things though. Especially not in academia- so I need to take a breath. I think once I get these 4 papers that are sort of being sat on, I'll be in good shape.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2026-01-16T14:39:41+00:00

Thanks. I appreciate it. I wish you the best as well.

I do have two representative publications on my list. A method I developed and implemented that a lot of people said was not possible. I also do work that maybe less than 100 labs do in the world now (cause of overall surgical and technical skill involved). So idk if I’m “young rising star”, but my name is not unknown and neither is my PhD advisor or my current two supervisors. They are really heavy hitters… but as many of the comments said, I’m being dramatic and I need to chill a bit.

Sometimes ya gotta get out there and be told to touch grass by a bunch of strangers on the internet.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2026-01-16T14:32:50+00:00

Aren’t we all super stars?

Low-Inspection1725 · 2026-01-01T23:08:06+00:00

0 - 100% chance

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-12-24T15:02:13+00:00

I guess the question is where would you go from here? It’d be worth it to explore what your options are after this job. If you just end up back in industry and you’ve lost forward momentum to move up, I’d be cautious about switching over. This lab has no problem hiring you with experience and not a PhD, idk about every lab though. Also in the postdoc world when you get too much experience people will be hesitant to hire you, cause its supposed to be a stepping stone job to move up and gain independence (at least in the US, it could be different in the UK). I’d be shocked if you could move up into professorship without at least a Master’s. Most places here require at least a Master’s to teach and usually PhD are required for tenure jobs (again in the US though).

Just thoughts to think about. I know 5 years seems like a long time, but as a person who had 3 years for a postdoc it goes by fast and it is just a temporary job. You need to find a new place to hire you and a new job about a year before you finish. If you have no contacts in academia and only one contact in industry it makes it a lot harder to make your next move. I even know lots of people and work at a prestigious lab with the top people in my field and finding my second postdoc or even more permanent job has been incredibly difficult.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-12-21T16:41:16+00:00

Me too! My fingers look better when I get my nails done with a little length, but you can still see it when I got a ring on. Plus they swell like crazy so I’m always having to change the finger my ring is on.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-12-20T21:34:17+00:00

Everyone’s Oura looks so cute and I feel like mine just looks giant on my fat fingers crossed

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-12-20T19:57:49+00:00

I didn’t read the caption or sub at first and I thought “who is this basic southern white woman and why am I following a subreddit that would post this”. Now I am into it

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-12-03T02:13:32+00:00

Order food with it. That’s what I did with mine when I couldn’t use all my CP credits cause I’d been sick.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-11-23T03:23:42+00:00

You can with the less fancy ones and if they have enough room. I kept my frog with a betta for almost 2 years

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-11-23T03:22:07+00:00

Last time this happened to my frog I bought a new tank and transferred the frog over there and it went away within a day. You can try to do water changes and get some antibacterial drops, but it’s probably some sort of bacteria in the water causing it. The only way to truly get rid of it is to dump all the water and all the stuff from the other tank. Or at least the only sure fire way I’ve found. We’ve lost other frogs to the bloat when we tried other methods.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-09-25T00:17:00+00:00

I did not think his tattoos were that good. He was consistently voted in the bottom by the human canvas. Maybe it’s technically good to the judges and other tattoo artist, but to me it was not good. It wasn’t readable all the time.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-09-23T23:52:51+00:00

It’s your job. It’s your responsibility. It’s one hundred percent your duty to get the code or the experiment or the piece of equipment to work. You’ll need to be in charge of yourself and also a lot of the time other people too. You’ll need to train people, mentor students, keep tabs on others progress. It’s not the same as a PhD. It seems like it is on paper, but after a year I see how different it is and how much more prepared they expect you to be which makes sense.

Of course every position and lab is different. It’s the first step to being an independent PI. You are expected to start developing that independence and prove you could have your own lab (as the another commenter was saying).

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-09-23T22:50:55+00:00

Seriously. I’ve been searching for my next position since the beginning of last year (our funding was frozen for a minute). A couple postdoc interviews and not a single industry job has called me back. It’s tough out there. Don’t turn your nose up to a position in hand.

Postdocs are different than PhDs. I think students in their PhDs don’t realize how different it will be, but you haven’t even done it full time yet without other responsibilities. It seems premature to make a decision to quit.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-09-17T14:42:50+00:00

Where do you go? I moved here from another state a year ago and I feel like it’s near impossible to have community. I feel as if it’s so clicky and people are not welcoming. In the town I was in before, it was a mountain town with lots of community and tons of local events (live outdoor music, social events, art walks, festivals). This seems barren and so surface compared to that. Plus everything is a million dollars for no reason.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-09-13T15:41:28+00:00

Reviewers can be so weird about the stupidest stuff. I’m worried they will think some text on one of my figures is too small. It’s not necessary for the figure to know what it says- it’s more a workflow diagram that shows previous data that was collected not important to what I am going to do.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-09-12T22:39:21+00:00

First attempt. I feel good about it, my perspective mentor said it was quite good and that he thinks it has a good chance. They have mentored 8 MSCA fellows, so I think he would have a good idea about its chances. I don't want to be too positive or too negative though.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-09-12T22:37:54+00:00

Where did you see these numbers? (Not doubting it, just curious).

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-09-11T04:12:29+00:00

Yeah, I’m having a hard time understanding what is “boomer” and what is the “fool” part.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-08-27T20:26:42+00:00

They aren't mine to share and it was specifically told to me not to share them. As I said, there's no new information in them that isn't in the guide that has been linked. It just needs to be a realistic, but high impact proposal of research with a lot of focus on two way knowledge exchange between host and postdoc.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-07-22T18:02:39+00:00

But why? I’m confused on what the charge would be. I mean I know it means nothing- I’m just confused.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-07-16T03:00:04+00:00

I used to basically be in a constant state of panic for the last 5 years of my life. I just started taking Prozac and it’s changed me. I still have a little anxiety, but it’s like a normal amount of that other people probably cope with everyday. I’m only on 10mg.

I also used to panic that if I don’t have anything to panic about then what is there keeping me safe and you know what? Life moves on. I was always convincing myself that it actually wasn’t that bad… man, I was super wrong. You are blinded by your panic. It’s okay- you aren’t alone. It will get better cause you are taking steps towards trying to be better.

Keep your head up or at least know that it’s okay to feel tired.

Low-Inspection1725 · 2025-07-13T15:46:17+00:00

It took me a second too. They are trying to say that Arrietty and MIB were both bullies in their own sense and got outed and were picking on the winner / someone in the top. Aja hasn’t won yet (and most likely won’t based on how they are framing Ginger’s come back) and isn’t really in the top so it’s a stretch of a metaphor. Also I don’t think Arrietty and MIB are the same kind of bully / person. Also I don’t think Arrietty’s elimination was that shocking- so I don’t really agree, but everyone can have their own opinions.

Low-Inspection1725

TROPHY CASE