25 - Recommendations for a Postdoctoral Fellowship

Summary

Scientists publish in academic journals, but the opportunity to significantly educate the public often comes from scientists’ interactions with the media directly. Unfortunately, students rarely are trained in how to handle media requests, or how to generate pieces for the media that can increase coverage of their work. This chapter, written by a former reporter, offers a helpful framework and specific tips for scientists’ successful interactions with the media

The dissertation or clinical internship is typically the final requirement fulfilled for the psychology doctorate, and its completion is certainly just cause for both celebration and relief. However, completing the doctorate does not necessarily denote the end of “trainee” status. In many of the settings in which psychologists work, a postdoctoral fellowship is increasingly recognized as a desirable, if not necessary, step in the educational pipeline prior to employment or licensure as a professional psychologist (2018). Academic institutions and university medical centers increasingly prefer job candidates with advanced postdoctoral training, and formal postdoctoral training at an approved program is a requirement for specialty certifications, such as neuropsychology.

The diversification of psychology and the growth of professional practice over the last 70 plus years have prompted ongoing debate about the necessity and definition of postdoctoral training. Supervised experience beyond the doctoral degree prior to psychology licensure was first recommended by the American Psychological Association (APA) in its model acts for licensure (APA Committee on Legislation, 1955, 1967), and today, most state licensing boards mandate some form of supervised postgraduate experience to be license-eligible. Beginning in the 1990s, the nature of postdoctoral training became the subject of several conferences, including the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers’ (APPIC) national conference on postdoctoral training in 1992 (Belar et al., 1993; Larsen et al., 1993) and the APA-sponsored National Conference on Postdoctoral Education and Training in Psychology (APA, 1995). Recent trends toward greater specialization have been accompanied by a growth in postdoctoral training programs as well as increase in the number of available postdoctoral positions (McQuaid &McCutcheon, 2018). Acknowledging this growth effort, APPIC formed a Postdoctoral Workgroup in 2012 (now referred to as the Postdoctoral Committee) and subsequently spearheaded a number of postdoctoral training resources and activities, including the Postdoctoral Psychology Training Summit in 2016 (Aosved, 2016; Bodin et al., 2018). Greater attention to postdoctoral training within psychology’s professional organizations has been important to reduce the educational pipeline “leakage” that most often occurs at transition points in training such as the one from internship to postdoc (Kaslow et al., 2018).

Over the past few decades, leaders in the field have sought to move toward more uniform requirements for postdoctoral training and to establish professional organizations, rather than state regulatory groups, as the arbiter of postdoctoral training standards. The APA Standards of Accreditation (SoA) for Health Service Psychology (APA, 2018) include within its scope of accreditation postdoctoral programs providing training in health service psychology (HSP) that provide “major areas of training in health service psychology that are recognized within the scope of accreditation (i.e., clinical counseling, school, and other developed practice areas).” Postdoctoral residency (i.e., those in postdoctoral training) programs meeting APA Commission on Accreditation (CoA) standards must “ … ensure that residents attain advanced competencies relevant to the program’s specialty or area of focus (p. 25).” Level 1 includes profession-wide core competencies required of all programs, including Integration of Science and Practice, Individual and Cultural Diversity, and Ethical and Legal competencies (APA, 2018). Level 2 competencies are Program-Specific, guided by the area of HSP emphasized within the fellowship (e.g., assessment, research, intervention, interdisciplinary skills). If a program falls within a recognized and APA-accredited specialty area, then Level 3 competencies are determined based on the education and training guidelines of the recognized specialty area (APA, 2018). Becoming an accredited postdoctoral training program requires a detailed self-study that includes information about the program’s training goals and objectives, program policies/procedures, expected student competencies, and outcome data demonstrating achievement of these competencies. Following initial approval of the self-study, a site visit team involving a group of professional colleagues conducts an on-site review of the program. Finally, the site visit team submits a report to the CoA, which makes final decisions regarding accreditation.

Over the last decade, the number of APA-accredited programs has grown. Whereas in 2010 there were only 59 APA-accredited postdoctoral programs, as of October 2019 the number of programs throughout the United States had grown to 164 APA-accredited programs (https://accreditation.apa.org/public-notice-programs-database; APA, 2021). Still, it is noteworthy that institutions offering postdoctoral training are not required to be accredited. The HSP CoA regulations would not apply for individuals pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship outside of HSP (e.g., cognitive psychology). In addition, as of 2015 the APA began no longer accrediting postdoctoral programs in Canada (APA, 2021). Although neither postdoctoral training nor the accreditation of postdoctoral training programs has been mandated, these issues remain actively debated by various professional organizations. Supporters of mandated postdoctoral training contend that postdoctoral training benefits not only new psychologists, but also the field as a whole and consumers of psychological services. Detractors assert that the field has unnecessarily expanded its definition of what students need to know to become competent psychologists. Whatever your position on this issue, it is important when planning your career path to recognize what we believe is a growing reality: the field of psychology, those employing psychologists, and state regulatory agencies maintain that graduate school and internship alone cannot provide the broad range of knowledge and skills required for the modern practice of psychology. Complicating matters is the current state of postdoctoral training, which exists in a variety of institutions offering a range of different experiences, varying in their duration, amount of supervision, and compensation. So, even if you are ready to pursue postdoctoral training, the lack of uniform training standards and variability in positions raise many questions about what kind of position to pursue.

The goal of this chapter is to clarify the issues described above and assist you with two basic tasks: determining whether postdoctoral training is right for you, and understanding how to obtain a fellowship that meets your personal and professional needs. With regard to the first task, we will explore advantages and disadvantages of postdoctoral training as well as other considerations in the decision to pursue a postdoctoral position. For those who might wish to seek such training, we will explicate the steps for locating, applying, evaluating, and securing a suitable fellowship. Finally, some thoughts and recommendations about the postdoctoral experience are offered.

1. Types of Postdoctoral Training

Before evaluating the potential benefits and costs of postdoctoral training, a brief introduction to the range of postdoctoral training opportunities seems warranted. As previously noted, with the exception of APA-approved fellowships, there are no established requirements to which institutions, mentors, or supervisors must adhere in the training of postdoctoral fellows. Consequently, postdoctoral positions, especially non-APA-approved fellowships, even within a particular domain (e.g., research vs. clinical/applied) or specialty area (e.g., health psychology, forensic psychology) are likely to vary greatly along a variety of dimensions, including funding, training focus, structure, and setting. While such variations should not be equated with a corresponding range in quality, understanding the differences will assist you in determining which, if any, type of postdoc will best meet your needs.

1.1 Stipends

Stipends considerations are critical, as most recent graduates cannot afford to accept a postdoctoral position that offers no monetary compensation. Although there are some informal supervisory arrangements to gather postdoctoral hours toward licensure that are unpaid, the large majority of formal postdoctoral positions are funded. As recently as 2020, there were a total of 224 APPIC-member postdoctoral programs, with a total of 1040 full-time positions (APPIC, 2021a). The three agency types offering the most positions included VA medical centers (386 positions), consortia (139), and medical schools (108). Among APPIC member postdocs, the median salary in 2020 for full-time funded slots was $50,200 (APPIC, 2021a). However, the range of salaries and benefits varies tremendously and often depends on factors particular to the institution, sector (academic vs. industry), geographical area, and funding source of a given position (Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, 2000). The highest paid full-time postdoctoral trainees, based on 2020 APPIC-member programs, were in military settings (mean salary $109,800). In contrast, the lowest paid postdoctoral trainees were in psychology department settings (mean $39,000; APPIC, 2021b). For individuals pursuing a research-focused postdoc, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sets stipend levels each year for its Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) that fund F32 and T32 fellows. At the time of this writing, the 2020 stipend level for a beginning F32 or a T32 fellow is $52,704 (NIH, 2020).

1.2 Training Emphasis

The training emphasis of a postdoctoral position is one of its most salient features and typically a primary criterion for choosing a particular position. Most postdoctoral programs emphasize either research or applied/clinical training. Fewer offer training in both domains and those that do tend to be more highly structured (see below). In evaluating programs, it will be important to examine the relative emphasis placed on research, academic, and applied/clinical training and the fit with your own training goals, as most positions will prioritize training in one of these areas more than another.

Although funding and training focus may be persuasive features of a postdoctoral position, other factors, including structure and setting, should also be considered. With respect to structure, postdoctoral training programs are frequently distinguished as providing either “formal” or “informal” training. “Informal” training usually occurs when supervision is provided within the context of a traditionally defined job. In contrast to this informal on-the-job training, “formal” postdoctoral training takes place in an organized educational program designed for the expressed purpose of developing advanced competencies and expertise (Belar et al., 1987). In defining formal requirements for postdocs related to professional practice, APPIC recognizes APA-accredited postdoctoral training programs as meeting its formal criteria for professional practice. For other programs, APPIC has designated 14 criteria necessary for meeting APPIC Postdoctoral Membership (see www.appic.org/About-APPIC/APPIC-Policies/Postdoc). Example criteria include: (1) the program is coordinated by a designated psychologist responsible for the integrity and quality of the training program; (2) the program (minimum 1500 hours) may be part-time or full-time but must be completed in no less than 9 months and no more than 24 months (2 years part-time); (3) the institution has two or more licensed psychologists on staff and a training faculty that includes at least one psychologist with expertise in each area of training offered; (4) at least 2 hours of regularly scheduled individual, face-to-face supervision of psychological services per week; (5) at least 2 hours of additional learning activities (e.g., case conference, seminars); and (6) professional psychological services account for a minimum of 25 percent of the fellow’s time.

Looking beyond the clinical focus of some of these characteristics, a more general contrast can be seen in the relative emphasis placed on education and training. This is perhaps the most defining feature of formal postdoctoral programs as compared to the informal, on-the-job, supervised training that may also be pursued to fulfill licensure or other experiential needs. In weighing the merits of formal versus informal training, the trade-off is typically financial. Formal training programs typically offer lower financial rewards, with an understanding that part of the trainee’s compensation is the education gained through structured mentoring and training experiences. Because informal postdoctoral training often happens in the context of supervised employment, these positions may offer more financial incentives, but fewer organized educational opportunities, such as seminars and dedicated time for mentoring, supervision, writing, and other professional development activities.

Although survey data suggest that new psychology graduates express a preference for informal over formal postdoctoral training, those who have completed formal programs might be more satisfied with the training they received (France & Wolfe, 2000). In a survey of 117 psychologists who completed formal postdoctoral training, France and Wolfe (2000) found that 68 percent rated their experience “very valuable,” 27 percent as “valuable,” and 5 percent as “somewhat valuable.” None of the psychologists who completed formal programs judged their experience to be “not valuable.” In contrast, only 38 percent of 189 psychologists surveyed who completed informal postdoctoral training rated their experience as “very valuable,” 34 percent judged their postdoctoral training as “valuable,” 21 percent as “somewhat valuable,” and 8 percent rated the experience as “not valuable.” Given the changes in professional training and practice since the 2000 publication of France and Wolfe’s survey, updated surveys are needed to evaluate more recent cohorts’ training preferences and experiences.

1.3 Setting

The primary settings offering postdoctoral training in psychology are freestanding hospitals, academic medical centers, and universities, although positions are also available through government agencies and private practice. Differences between the institutional missions of these settings and the type of work they support might affect whether a particular postdoctoral position is best suited for your training needs. For instance, hospitals and some academic medical centers might be more likely to focus on applied aspects of both research and clinical practice, given their primary mission of service delivery. Accordingly, trainees whose interests lie in the treatment of particular types of medical or psychiatric disorders might be better suited for this setting than those whose work focuses on basic theory or other issues whose implications for improving health, development, or quality of care may be less direct.

An informal postdoc within a private practice setting may offer the opportunity to acquire clinical hours toward licensure while potentially also learning about the business-related aspects of a private practice. These types of informal training arrangements are typically initiated by the postdoctoral fellow. Some may be employed positions within the practice that provide the supervision needed by the postdoc while others involve informal arrangements between postdocs and licensed clinicians. Regardless of the setting, the postdoctoral fellow in a private practice setting may need to pay for clinical supervision either through reduced salary or directly out of pocket. Further, in contrast to a hospital or consortium setting, there may be limited exposure to a range of supervisors/mentors and a limited range of client populations. It may also be difficult to integrate research experiences.

Indeed, it is important to keep in mind that the setting of one’s postdoc position will likely affect the types of training experiences available. Hospitals and academic medical centers might be more likely to offer hands-on and interdisciplinary training opportunities, such as treatment teams and grand rounds presentations. Although formal classroom-style teaching opportunities may not be included, there may be opportunities for mentoring or teaching in other formats (e.g., supervision or mentorship of predoctoral trainees or research assistants). It is common for more clinically oriented postdocs to be found at sites that provide predoctoral internships (i.e., VAs, private and state hospitals, etc.; Forand & Applebaum, 2011). In contrast, research-oriented postdoc positions (e.g., such as afforded through NIH T32 National Research Service Award institutional training grants) are typically offered in academic medical centers, universities, or VA medical centers (Forand & Applebaum, 2011). Academic medical centers and university psychology departments typically offer more opportunities to teach and mentor, which could be useful for obtaining a university or faculty position. Such institutions may also have greater opportunities for learning skills relating to academic jobs, such as grant writing, manuscript review, or presenting research results at conferences.

Postdoctoral positions in industry are usually geared toward creating marketable and profitable products. They typically offer stricter time limits on duration of training, well-equipped research facilities, exposure to industrial culture, and the opportunity for teamwork. Salaries in these positions may be above the average range. However, industry positions might also offer fewer teaching opportunities, less choice about one’s particular placement, and limited ability to take ownership of projects. The work during the fellowship may have an exclusive focus on marketable results as well as restrictions on information exchange for proprietary reasons.

Lastly, training positions in government facilities typically occur in the context of large national laboratories that may be unique in scope of research and size of research group. Like academic medical centers, they might offer more interdisciplinary training, more interactions with other divisions and researchers, and participation in joint decision-making. However, government facilities might offer fewer teaching/mentoring experiences as well as less flexibility in determining the direction of one’s work.

A summary of the pros and cons of the various training settings is presented in Table 25.1. It is important to again note that the variations presented above do not necessarily constitute differences in the quality of the training offered, but differences in the types of opportunities or training activities that may be available. In addition, because there is variability within each category of training setting, it is important to take time to learn about unique aspects of each postdoctoral opportunity one is considering. For example, some postdoctoral training experiences within university settings will offer the ability to accrue supervised professional practice hours for licensure whereas others may not. Such differences will arise again later in the chapter when we discuss how to evaluate potential postdoctoral training opportunities.

Table 25.1 Summary of likely differences across hospital, academic medical center, university, and industry settings for postdoctoral training

	Hospital	Academic Medical Center	University	Industry	Government
Professional practice or applied training	✓	✓	X	✓	X
Ability to accumulate supervised professional practice hours toward licensure	✓	✓	?	X	X
Participation in decisions regarding training activities	?	✓	✓	X	X
Cross-disciplinary training and collaboration	✓	✓	?	?	✓
Coursework or teaching opportunities	X	X	✓	X	X
Opportunities to mentor or supervise students	X	✓	✓	X	X
Opportunities to learn and practice grant writing	X	✓	✓	X	?
Opportunities to participate in peer review of papers submitted for publication	X	✓	?	?	✓
Opportunities to co-author publications	X	✓	✓	?	✓
Protected time for research activities (data collection, data analyses, writing)	X	✓	✓	X	?
Opportunities to pursue independent research	X	✓	✓	X	X
Ownership of projects or data	X	?	✓	X	X
Professional-level pay scale	X	X	X	✓	X
Benefits package (medical, paid vacation)	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

✓ = likely to be present; X = not likely to be present; ? = may or may not be present

2. Benefits and Pitfalls of Postdoctoral Training: Is it Right for You?

Both professional and personal factors are important to consider when deciding whether to pursue postdoctoral training. Needless to say, the relative import of these issues will vary from person to person, and it will be up to you to determine how much weight to give any one of these factors in your decision-making process. Trainees may find the review of postdoctoral training in HSP by Silberbogen and colleagues helpful as they weigh various considerations (e.g., employment versus postdoctoral training, personal considerations; Silberbogen et al., 2018).

3. Potential Benefits of Postdoctoral Training

The overarching benefit of postdoctoral training is the opportunity it provides to develop new or better skills that will advance one’s professional goals. This may be accomplished in a variety of ways, including acquiring specialty area training, logging the supervised hours necessary for obtaining licensure, or enhancing professional development as a scientist-practitioner. Although these agendas are not mutually exclusive, they may serve different career objectives. A summary of beneficial functions that postdoctoral training may potentially serve in advancing professional goals is presented in Table 25.2.

Table 25.2 Potential advantages of postdoctoral training

	Potential advantages of postdoctoral training
Professional practice issues	Gain specialty training in an area of psychology or with particular population Accumulate hours toward licensure Fulfill requirements for specialty area certification (if applicable) Increase job marketability Supervisors and advisors can facilitate job search
Professional development as clinical scientist	Learn new research skills (grant-writing, statistical analyses, paper review, etc.) Opportunities to integrate clinical and research skills in applied settings under guidance of experienced mentor Protected time for research activities enhances research productivity Publish papers Initiate program of independent research Teaching and mentoring experiences Broaden professional network/networking opportunities, aided by building a relationship with another mentor Increase job marketability Supervisors and advisors can facilitate job search

3.1 Specialty Training

Postdoctoral training can provide opportunities for advanced clinical or research training in a particular specialty area (e.g., pediatric psychology, neuropsychology, geropsychology, behavioral health, forensic psychology, etc.), with a particular population (e.g., patients with chronic schizophrenia, cancer, substance abuse, etc.), or a certain age group (e.g., infancy, adolescence, older adults, etc.). Such specialty training may render individuals more marketable for desired jobs. For example, a postdoctoral fellow with specialty training in inpatient pediatrics will likely be preferred over a recent graduate from a more general clinical child internship for a medical center position in pediatric oncology. Specialty training is considered mandatory within some areas of clinical practice: For example, in accordance with the Houston Conference Guidelines, a trainee must complete a two-year postdoctoral fellowship prior to independent practice in clinical neuropsychology. Similarly, academic institutions may perceive a candidate who utilized postdoctoral training to publish papers and begin an independent program of research to be a surer bet for a faculty position that requires obtaining external grant funding in order to sustain the position and advance academically.

Specialty areas of applied practice have been organized into formal specialties and subspecialties through a system developed by APA under the auspices of the Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Subspecialties in Professional Psychology. These specialty and subspecialty distinctions are particularly important for those who might seek postdoctoral training for the express purpose of training in a particular area of research or practice. As specialty areas define themselves, they have begun to require specific types of training experiences for new psychologists seeking recognition or certification in that area. As of January 2020, there were 18 specialty areas (e.g., clinical health psychology, behavioral and cognitive psychology) recognized by the Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Subspecialties in Professional Psychology (APA, 2020b). Table 25.3 lists the 18 specialty and 3 proficiency areas recognized by CRSSPP at the time of this writing. A listing of these areas and their related links may also be found at www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/recognized. The APA taxonomy for education and training in professional psychology health service specialties and subspecialties (APA, 2020a) provides a list of terminology that provides a structure with which to label the intensity and type of training in professional psychology programs (i.e., doctoral, internship, postdoctoral). These terms, in order of least to greatest intensity of training and education, include “exposure,” “experience,” “emphasis,” and “major area of study” (APA, 2020a). For example, according to this taxonomy, in order for a postdoctoral program to state that it offers “emphasis” training in a recognized specialty area, the program would need to follow the guidelines established by that specialty and at least 80 percent of the program’s time would need to fall within the specialty area of study (APA, 2020a). It should be noted that varied terminology has been utilized to describe depth of postdoctoral training in a particular area. For example, the term “focus area” training has been used to describe postdoctoral training experiences that do not fall within a recognized specialty area (APPIC, 2021b). In summary, obtaining formal postdoctoral training in a specialty or focus area is advised if a trainee plans to pursue a career path in which these skills are central (Silberbogen et al., 2018). This may be an important consideration for some trainees weighing the pros and cons of pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship.

Table 25.3 Specialty and proficiency areas currently recognized by the Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Subspecialties in Professional Practice (CRSSPP).

Specialties	Year of initial recognition
Clinical Neuropsychology	1996
Clinical Health Psychology	1997
Psychoanalysis	1998
School Psychology	1998
Clinical Psychology	1998
Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology	1998
Counseling Psychology	1998
Industrial-Organizational Psychology	1996
Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology	2000
Forensic Psychology	2001
Couple and Family Psychology	2002
Geropsychology	2010
Police and Public Safety Psychology	2013
Sleep Psychology	2013
Rehabilitation Psychology	2015
Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy	2018
Serious Mental Illness Psychology	2019
Clinical Psychopharmacology	2020
Proficiencies	Year of initial recognition
Addiction Psychology	2001
Sport Psychology	2003
Biofeedback and Applied Psychophysiology	2019

3.2 Professional Licensure

In addition to providing opportunities for specialized training, postdoctoral positions can provide an opportunity to obtain the supervised postdoctoral clinical hours needed to qualify for clinical licensure. In an informal survey of current and former postdocs, as well as postdoc mentors, acquiring supervised hours and experience for licensure was cited as the most common reason for pursuing a postdoctoral position (Forand & Applebaum, 2011). However, state requirements vary in the type of required experience and changes in licensing laws have shifted such that 14 states now permit entry into the profession following predoctoral internship (McQuaid & McCutcheon, 2018). In addition to the variability in requirement for postdoctoral clinical training, state requirements vary on the minimum number of supervised postdoctoral clinical hours (most programs require between 1500 and 2000 hours), the length of time allowed to complete training, the kinds of activities allowed during training, and the amount of supervision required (1–2 hours per week is typical). Clinicians seeking to work even part-time in professional practice or conduct research with patient populations will likely need to become licensed, and obtaining postdoctoral clinical hours within a formalized training system usually facilitates licensure in that state and may allow for greater flexibility if one wishes to later relocate and become licensed in another state. Those knowing the state(s) in which they ultimately might wish to practice will want to increase their familiarity with the licensure requirements for those states. Information about individual state requirements can be obtained by contacting a state’s psychology board or reviewing the board’s website, which will have copies of relevant statutes, rules, and regulations regarding psychology licensure. Alternatively, The Handbook for Licensure and Certification Requirements is published by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) and contains information about specific postdoctoral requirements, such as number of hours and supervision requirements. This and other information concerning professional licensure can be obtained at ASPPB website, http://psybook.asppb.org/.

3.3 Professional Development as a Clinical Scientist

For those interested in research or academic careers, the postdoc can be an important training ground for professional development as a scientist-practitioner. More formal programs may provide didactics relating to teaching, research, or grant-writing skills. There are often opportunities to work closely with a mentor in a variety of more advanced professional activities, such as writing research papers, developing professional presentations, assisting with the review of papers submitted to journals, and the development of one’s own research studies and grants. The majority of postdoctoral training programs listed in APPIC’s Universal Psychology Postdoctoral Directory (UPPD; www.appic.org/Postdocs/Universal-Psychology-Postdoctoral-Directory-UPPD) either make research training an available or required component of the postdoctoral experience. Based on an analysis from the first year of the UPPD in 2017, 43.7 percent of postdoctoral openings stated a research participation requirement and 31.5 percent stated research opportunities were available but not required (McQuaid et al., 2018). At this time, APPIC-member and APA-accredited programs were more likely to offer and require research (McQuaid et al., 2018). For those with applied interests, postdoctoral training can provide a level of in-depth training in applied settings that is often difficult to obtain in graduate school and internship. The guidance of an experienced mentor can provide invaluable opportunities for integrating research and clinical skills as well as for learning to negotiate the politics and hierarchies involved in doing research in interdisciplinary settings composed of individuals with divergent professional backgrounds and interests.

3.4 Potential Drawbacks of Postdoctoral Training

While there are many benefits of postdoctoral training, as part of the decision process it is also important to consider potential drawbacks. Table 25.4 summarizes some of the factors that might weigh against the decision to pursue postdoctoral training. One of the biggest struggles encountered in the decision to pursue postdoctoral training is the one between making the transition to becoming a full professional and prolonging one’s trainee status (Kaslow et al., 1992). Personal issues, such as finances and relocation, are often an important part of this decision. Postdoctoral training almost certainly entails a continuation of financial sacrifices for another one to two years. You may also need to relocate for a given type of training and then, perhaps, move again in order to obtain a professional position. Other personal issues such as cost of living, dual career demands, family goals, and relationship commitments need to be carefully factored into postdoctoral training decisions, as these matters can sometimes outweigh the professional advantages of, or perceived need for, additional training.

Table 25.4 Potential drawbacks of postdoctoral training

	Potential drawbacks of postdoctoral training
Personal development issues	Continued financial sacrifices for another one to two years Potential need to relocate for postdoctoral training and then again for a professional position Relationship and family obligations: dual career demands, children, childcare, ability of family to relocate, availability of suitable local training Social stressors of relocation
Professional development issues	Prolonging trainee status and delaying entry into professional position Balance of available training opportunities with clinical service or other professional demands

3.5 Postdoctoral Training Versus University Faculty Position?

Following completion of predoctoral internship, some trainees interested in pursuing research or academic careers may deliberate between pursuing postdoctoral training or applying for university-based faculty positions. This is often a difficult decision, again with pros and cons associated with each choice. In the increasingly competitive job market, one advantage of pursuing research-based postdoctoral training is the opportunity to advance one’s research career in a position that offers “protected” research time that may be used to write up the dissertation or other publications, develop a grant application, or make other types of progress in defining your research program. Another concrete advantage to pursuing postdoctoral training is that data collected on a new project during the fellowship will be available to analyze during the first few years in a junior faculty position. For individuals pursuing tenure-track positions, this can be helpful in maintaining a continuous stream of publications and providing new graduate student mentees with publication opportunities, as the first few years in a faculty position are often spent getting one’s laboratory up and running and beginning to collect data. This opportunity can greatly facilitate academic productivity by providing manuscripts that can be written up for publication while establishing one’s own research program at a new site. Postdoctoral training programs that offer formal or informal opportunities to develop grant-writing skills may also give the trainee a competitive edge when it comes time to apply for faculty positions, particularly if the trainee submitted their own extramural grant application during postdoctoral training.

While there are advantages to pursuing postdoctoral training, there may also be strong reasons to apply for faculty positions and forego postdoctoral training. One practical consideration is the yearly fluctuation in available faculty positions. Faculty jobs are often filled in the year they are advertised, and it may be worth pursuing an opportunity that is an excellent “fit” in terms of research focus, geographical location, or type of institution. Similarly, given that the market for tenure-track positions is competitive, many trainees give themselves two or more years to apply for academic faculty positions instead of waiting until the end of postdoctoral training. This may mean that the trainee applies for faculty positions in the middle of postdoctoral training. Finally, trainees who have a strong record of research productivity by the end of their predoctoral internship may not need the “boost” provided by additional research time within postdoctoral training. In this case, the financial and other personal benefits (e.g., not having to relocate for postdoc) of securing a faculty position may outweigh the potential benefits of further research training provided by postdoctoral training.

Ultimately, you must decide how each of these factors affects your personal and professional goals. Whatever path you take next will likely entail some level of personal or professional sacrifice. For example, some trainees may be unable to relocate for a postdoctoral specialty training position because of a variety of personal factors, such as limitations in the geographic flexibility of a partner’s job, the impact of losing extended family supports, financial obligations, or a need for an income that is consistent with their stage of adult development (e.g., purchasing a home). Yet other trainees may decide to pursue advanced training because their partner’s career is relatively mobile or they are less financially constrained. Potential variations of this scenario are endless, illustrating that the particular sacrifice that any one person is able or willing to make is highly idiosyncratic. Those considering postdoctoral training may wish to rate the relative importance and flexibility of their family, social, relocation, financial, and developmental needs/goals and compare these ratings to the perceived importance of postdoctoral training to their career goals, a subject we turn to next.

4. Is Postdoctoral Training Right for You?

The question of whether postdoctoral training is the right thing for any one person depends on their unique constellation of professional and personal goals, needs, and constraints. One strong reason to pursue a postdoc is to obtain specialized training that will make you more marketable in the future. Less ideal, but nonetheless compelling, reasons include the absence of other job offers or the need to obtain another year of supervised experience to qualify for the licensing exam. It is important to keep in mind how the postdoc fits with your overall training and career goals. Rather than accepting a position simply because of its availability, we suggest using Tables 25.2 and 25.4 to assist with ranking the relative importance of the potential benefits and pitfalls for your particular situation. At this point, you may feel uncertain about your particular motivations for considering postdoctoral training, and this may indicate some uncertainty about your goals. As part of professional development, it is appropriate for trainees to discuss the various pros and cons with mentors. Think broadly when considering possible mentors with whom to consult, as mentors may be available through graduate programs, internships, or professional organizations that offer opportunities to seek guidance from experts in the field. Silberbogen et al. (2018) provide a range of discussion topics and questions that trainees and educators can utilize to guide potential discussion.

5. Identifying the Right Postdoctoral Position for You

If you have made the decision to pursue postdoctoral training, you must next locate, apply for, and evaluate potential positions. Although there has been a movement toward coordination of the psychology postdoctoral application process (i.e., UPPD), there is still considerable heterogeneity in postdoctoral training options and variability in the recruitment and selection process (Bodin et al., 2018). For example, there is variability when announcements begin to appear for various types of postdoctoral training experiences (i.e., grant-funded research-focused positions may advertise earlier than clinically focused positions). It is typical that announcements for postdoctoral fellowship positions often begin in early fall, but they may continue into the early winter months. For applicants aiming to transition immediately from a predoctoral internship to postdoctoral fellowship, it is important to be thinking about postdoc applications shortly after beginning internship. By the time that postdoctoral fellowship advertisements are available, you should already have defined and prioritized your training goals as well as any geographical, institutional, structural, or financial needs and constraints. These considerations will allow you to eliminate positions that do not meet your “must-have” criteria. We advise you to first establish what issues you cannot compromise on, gather the information necessary to assess whether programs meet your most basic demands, and eliminate positions accordingly. Keep in mind that no single position is likely to meet all of your conditions. You may wish to consider investigating and even applying to a range of programs that vary in their fit to your other, less critical, goals to maximize your range of options. Although postdoc positions are posted throughout the year, the vast majority of applications are due between December and March, so it is important to begin the process early (Forand & Applebaum, 2011).

5.1 Locating Potential Positions

There are a variety of ways to locate potential postdoctoral positions. One good starting place may be talking with your predoctoral internship training director and graduate program director of clinical training. In addition, the UPPD, which was developed out of recommendations from the APPIC Postdoctoral Training Summit held in 2016, serves as an excellent resource. The UPPD includes all postdoctoral APPIC members; however, in order to be listed in the UPPD a postdoctoral fellowship site does not have to be APA-accredited or an APPIC member. Currently, the Directory includes over 1000 postdoctoral fellowships, with the ability to search according to a variety of preferences, including emphasis or focus area (e.g., assessment, health psychology) and amount of research time. Applicants should be aware the UPPD does not “vet” programs, so applicants should evaluate the quality of individual programs accordingly. Also, unlike predoctoral internship, the UPPD is not set up to facilitate a matching process. As mentioned previously, not all postdoctoral fellowship opportunities are listed within the UPPD. For example, applicants searching for heavily research-focused postdocs or university-based fellowships may find that some opportunities (e.g., investigator-funded postdocs) are not listed. Information about the UPPD can be found at: www.appic.org/Postdocs/Universal-Psychology-Postdoctoral-Directory-UPPD.

Information about various types of postdocs, including investigator-funded positions, is frequently distributed through relevant professional organizations, such as the American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society, and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, or their specialty divisions. Organizations may also advertise for postdoctoral positions in their professional publications, such as the APA Monitor, APS Observer, and the Behavior Therapist, and can be accessed on the organizations’ websites (www.apa.org, www.psychologicalscience.org, and www.abct.org). Neuropsychology focused trainees are advised to utilize the Society of Clinical Neuropsychology (APA Div. 40) website (https://scn40.org/) as well as the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (https://appcn.org/). Positions may also be posted on job sites such as the Chronicle of Higher Education website (http://chronicle.com) or psychcareers.org. There are also other structured and formal training programs that, while not listed in the APPIC directory, may offer comparable experiences. Similarly, professional societies and organizations may be a good resource for postdoc opportunity announcements in your desired area of specialty training. For instance, the Society for Pediatric Psychology or other APA division listservs frequently offer such announcements. Silberbogen and colleagues’ 2018 publication also provides advice on searching for postdoctoral positions.

Although published announcements are an excellent reference, many opportunities are never advertised and are made known through word of mouth or email on professional list serves. For this reason, direct emails to specific persons with whom you might like to work can be a profitable means of identifying potential postdoctoral mentors. This type of networking might include contacting members of your graduate dissertation committee to see if they can recommend (and potentially even put you in touch with) potential postdoc mentors who would be a good fit for your interests and goals. Don’t be timid about using your professional relationships to network! In addition to email, setting up a meeting via videoconference (e.g., Zoom) may be a helpful way to connect with a potential postdoctoral mentor. Similarly, communicating with internship advisers about who they know might also yield additional leads. Several internet groups have also formed for new or soon-to-be new graduates. Some of these member groups offer forums for discussions about professional development and even share announcements for postdoctoral and professional positions. The APPIC “Postdoc-News” e-mail list serves as a source of information about postdoctoral programs listed in the Universal Psychology Postdoctoral Directory and can be joined by sending a blank email to: subscribe-postdoc-news@lyris.appic.org. If looking for an investigator-funded research postdoc, you can search the NIH Reporter website (http://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm) for researchers who have recently received funding in your research areas and then email these individuals to see if there may be open postdoc positions (Forand & Applebaum, 2011).

Finally, particularly for those applicants interested in a research-oriented position, it may be worthwhile to look into funding your own postdoctoral fellowship through training grants offered by NIH or other professional organization. Information about NIH fellowships, such as the NIH F32 National Research Service Award training fellowships can be found at the following website: https://researchtraining.nih.gov/programs/fellowships. Private foundations also serve as a potential source of independent funding. As an example, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) offers a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship Research Innovation Grant (see https://afsp.org/research-grant-information). Independently funded fellowships require that you write a grant application and be competitively reviewed in order to receive funding. A critical step in this process is to identify a mentor who can assist you in the application process. Further, it is essential to set aside several months to complete the application process and be aware of the individual grant timeline. For example, the AFSP Postdoctoral Fellowship application is due mid-November, which would require identifying a potential mentor and beginning the application process well in advance of this deadline. Additionally, some grant applications may need to go through several review cycles (i.e., revised and resubmitted) before a final decision is made about funding.

6. Diversity-Related Considerations

Trainees who have an interest in working with a diverse clinical or research population or are themselves from a diverse or underrepresented background may also want to consider these factors when applying for and selecting a postdoc position. Broadly defined, diversity in a clinical or research population could include such factors as racial/ethnic minority status, age, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or gender. Thus, an individual who is interested in conducting health disparities research with a particular population (e.g., American Indian and Alaska Native populations) may want to consider applying for postdoc positions in an area where this population can be recruited. Trainees from diverse backgrounds and/or those who are interested in working with diverse populations may be able to locate unique postdoctoral opportunities through the APA Minority Fellowship Program. For example, the Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is geared toward trainees committed to a career in behavioral health services or policy related to the psychological well-being of communities of color. Applicants are not required to come from a community of color; however, trainees from ethnic/racial minority applicants are “especially encouraged” to apply www.apa.org/pi/mfp/psychology/postdoc/index. In addition, the NIH funds competitive Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research. These Research Supplements are designed to enhance the diversity of the research workforce by recruiting and supporting trainees from groups that have been underrepresented in health-related research (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-21-071.html).

7. Application Procedures and Guidelines

Application requirements will vary. Some positions may require only your curriculum vitae and letters of recommendation, while others might also ask for a written statement of purpose or job talk. Likewise, interviews can range from informal email and phone correspondence to virtual, videoconference-style interviews to extensive multi-day in-person interviews. For some of the more research-oriented positions, you may be asked to give a presentation (“job talk”) to showcase the progression of your research. This can be an excellent opportunity to begin building your presentation skills, especially if you plan to go on the academic job market. We advise you not to make any assumptions about these matters and to ask each institution about specific application procedures early in the process.

Clinical psychologists should note that the application for postdoctoral fellowships is somewhat different than that for predoctoral clinical internships. Postdoc applications, more than internship applications, should be tailored to specific positions and mentors and should emphasize your most relevant experiences. Those reviewing your application will want to know that you understand how the experiences they offer fit with your career goals, are prepared for this next level of specialization, and have valuable skills to offer. These points should be clearly conveyed in your cover letter and you should tailor your curriculum vitae accordingly. For instance, those applying for a postdoctoral position emphasizing clinical research might want to elaborate on their research experiences (including publications), including their clinical work as experiences that have informed a research agenda. However, those applying for specialty training in particular areas of clinical practice might want to elaborate on the nature of their clinical experiences and list relevant research training and publications toward the end of the curriculum vitae.

Similarly, personal references should be able to speak to the skills that are most relevant for the type of position to which you are applying. You should prepare to have at least three people submit letters of recommendation on your behalf for any position to which you apply. Clinical supervisors and research professors are often asked to write such letters. Although your choice of letter-writers will partly depend on the type of postdoctoral training positions to which you apply, you should be sure that whomever you ask will write a very positive recommendation. If you are uncertain, you should reconsider your choice of writers or, in the absence of other alternatives, discuss this concern with your writer directly. Wherever possible, find writers who not only know you, but who are known and trusted to those reviewing your application, as such letters may carry extra weight. It may also be helpful to ask writers to personally address the director or agency in your letter instead of the generic salutation of “to whom it may concern.” Letter-writers might also be asked to address any circumstances in your application that may be looked upon unfavorably. For example, a letter writer may address a low number of first-author publications by speaking to the applicant’s success in carrying out research independently or contributing heavily to co-author publications. Of course, some potential signals may not be correctable (e.g., incompletes), in which case, you may wish to address these matters directly in your application letter or during an interview. For those applying to APPIC-sponsored programs, there is an online applicant portal that provides coordinated review (APPIC Psychology Postdoctoral Application Centralized Application System, or APPA CAS).

Interviews vary in format, formality, and length, so you should inquire about each position in advance so that you can sufficiently prepare. Whatever the format, interviews provide additional opportunities to convince potential supervisors that you are the person they want to hire. Most sites do not reimburse applicants for travel expenses associated with in-person interviews. However, the experience of remote (i.e., videoconferencing) interviewing that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic will make remote interviews increasingly common. Consider consulting material which explains how to present yourself optimally when you take part in virtual interviews.

The following suggestions may assist you in presenting yourself as a competent, interested candidate who matches well with the position and program.

• Read the materials sent to you and consider the fit between the position and your career goals so that you may demonstrate your knowledge of the program.

• Be prepared to discuss your work to date in the context of the position you are seeking. For example, if you are seeking training in a new or specialty area, be prepared to discuss ways in which this area is either an extension of your previous work or taught you relevant skills for this new area.

• Prepare a couple of questions that you can ask about the program that were not addressed in the materials sent to you.

• Listen closely to the interviewer and avoid overly personal disclosures.

• As the interview closes, ask whether there are any questions about your application.

• Write a thank you email note summarizing your interest in the program and its fit with your training goals, and include a paragraph that corrects any misconceptions or potential shortcomings that may have arisen during the interview.

7.1 Evaluating Potential Postdoctoral Opportunities

As previously stated, the needs and goals of various postdoctoral training positions may range from well-funded programs at institutions committed to training and high-quality services to sites where postdoctoral fellows are little more than inexpensive labor and clinical service is prioritized over training needs. It is your job as the applicant to assess where on this spectrum a potential position falls. The following considerations may be helpful in making this determination:

• Is the position organized around the trainee’s or institution’s needs?

• What are the clinical demands in terms of billable hours or direct patient care required?

• What is the supervisory structure?

• How satisfied are current postdocs?

• Are there formal didactics in place?

• How many hours are dedicated to individual and group supervision?

• Are there a sufficient number of clinical hours built in to meet licensure requirements?

• How much time is protected for research activities? (One-year postdocs are not ideal for individuals interested in improving their research portfolios, as there is a relatively small amount of time to collect data and publish prior to beginning a job search.)

• How many licensed psychologists are available for training and supervision?

• What is the stipend?

• Is medical insurance offered and at what charge to the postdoc? Are spouses and children eligible for coverage?

• How much time is allowed for vacation, sick leave, parental leave, and professional leave?

• Is there a possibility of being hired within the institution after completion of postdoctoral training?

• Does the site offer access to your specific population of research/clinical interest? For example, if you are interested in studying/treating mental health sequelae of trauma/immigration, it would be helpful if the institution is connected to a refugee center.

Information relevant to these questions may be obtained in a variety of ways. Read all program descriptions on the website carefully, attending to the stated training goals and agency mission (Koocher, 1997). Take note of whether the program and agency promote themselves as a training site or talk about their educational mission. Review all listings of supervisory staff, their interests and career paths to assess their fit to your particular training interests and needs. For example, a program staffed by well-published, faculty-appointed psychologists will probably offer different training than a staff of experienced direct-service providers. Although one is not necessarily better than the other, one may provide a better fit to your training needs.

7.2 Evaluating Potential Postdoctoral Mentors

Most postdoctoral fellows work with a mentor who takes primary responsibility for the postdoc’s training program and with whom the postdoc works most closely. Choosing a mentor can be an important part of the decision process. For applicants interested in further developing their scholarly skills, it is especially important to seek out a postdoctoral fellowship that includes identification of a research mentor and structured mentorship plan, as this has been shown to increase the likelihood of success in outcomes, such as submission of peer-revised manuscripts (Williams et al., 2018). Both the mentor’s prestige and mentoring abilities should be considered in balance. Ideally, you should select a mentor who is an expert and productive in your area of interest. It is desirable to arrange a personal meeting with a prospective mentor, or at least a series of phone/virtual conversations. It is important to consider the potential mentor’s management style and how this style may fit with your own needs and preferences. Talking with current or former postdocs who have worked with that person and organization can also be quite helpful. Your communications with potential mentors and other informants should answer most, if not all, of the following questions.

• What are the mentor’s expectations of the postdoc?

• Will the mentor or the postdoc determine the content of the training program?

• How many postdocs has this mentor had? What positions did they obtain after the postdoc?

• What do former and current trainees of this mentor think about their experience?

• Will the mentor have sufficient time for mentoring or will it be necessary to seek out other mentors?

• How many others (grad students, staff, postdocs) now work for this mentor?

• How many papers are being published? Where are they being published?

• What are the mentor and institution’s policies on travel to professional meetings? (e.g., Is the trip only paid for by the institution if you present a paper? If so, how many trips are covered?)

• What is the mentor’s policy on authorship and ownership of ideas?

• If you value a collaborative approach to research, does the mentor share this view? Does the mentor have lasting productive collaborations with other faculties? Will the mentor support you in developing new collaborations within the department?

• Is there time and opportunity to develop skills in grant writing, teaching, oral presentations, manuscript preparation, manuscript review?

• Can you expect to collect data or be a part of data analyses or manuscript preparation after completion of the postdoc?

• How are issues of authorship negotiated for projects where data collection extends beyond the postdoc’s tenure?

• How long is financial support guaranteed? On what does renewal depend?

• Can you count on assistance with locating and obtaining your next position?

Finally, it is important to acknowledge that there are numerous ways that mentors can provide guidance. In addition to primary research or clinical content areas, these domains may include: scientific methods and publication, professional development, funding, identification and development of goals, work/life balance, specific skills (e.g., how to give a talk), prioritizing and time management, strategizing for promotion and advice on relevant departmental/institutional policies. Another important role of mentors, senior mentors in particular, is sponsorship (i.e., using one’s position to intentionally influence the advancement of mentees). For example, contacting other professionals to advance the research ideas of mentees or connecting them with a nationally known researcher to advance their research. It is likely that no one mentor will be able to provide guidance in all of these potential areas. Thus, there may be advantages to postdoctoral training structures that provide opportunities to work with more than one mentor, even when a primary mentor is clearly identified.

7.3 The Final Decision

If you are considering several postdoctoral options, your final decision may not be an easy one. The APPIC Postdoctoral Committee’s Postdoctoral Selection Guidelines (APPIC, 2021b) serves as a helpful guide for both programs and applicants by setting forth a timeline for the notification/selection process, including a Uniform Notification Date (UND). In addition, the APPIC Postdoctoral Committee has made available several resources, including graphic timelines for postdoctoral selection with different timelines for clinically focused, neuropsychology, and research-focused programs (www.appic.org/Postdocs/Selection-Resources/Timelines-for-Postdoctoral-Selection). A growing number of clinically focused programs appear to be adhering to the UND. As recently as 2019, 85 percent of clinically focused programs within the UPPD said they would adhere to the guidelines (APPIC, 2021a). However, it is important to be aware that not all programs adhere to the APPIC UND for postdoctoral positions. For example, research-focused positions may be less likely to adhere to the UND. This may occur for a variety of reasons (e.g., the postdoc may be grant funded and the grant cycle may not align with the UND). It is also is important to keep in mind that although the UPPD is meant to be a “go-to” place to find psychology postdoctoral fellowships, many postdoctoral training opportunities are not listed in the UPPD and thus may not follow the UPPD UND guideline. In addition, within neuropsychology, many but not all postdoctoral training fellowships participate in the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology match. The variation in notification dates may lead to applicants feeling that they should accept an expiring offer from a lower-choice program when they are waiting to hear back from a more preferred program. APPIC has recently provided guidance to applicants who receive an offer, before the UND, from a postdoctoral training program that is not their first choice. In this situation, APPIC’s (2021c) Reciprocal Offers: Dos and Don’ts for Applicants and Postdoctoral Training Directors document advises applicants that they can “Request to hold the offer from the program that made the early offer until the UND or a shorter hold period” and “Request a reciprocal offer from (their) top ranked program.” Applicants may find it useful to review the APPIC website (www.appic.org/Postdocs) for additional guidance on the subject of navigating the reciprocal offer process (APPIC, 2021b).

When making a final decision, it may be helpful to revisit your prioritized list of benefits and drawbacks in light of the specific positions you are considering, although you may find that some of your priorities have changed. Be sure to gather enough information to adequately assess what you and your potential mentor(s) each expect from one another and the experience of working together. You should have a rough “roadmap” of expectations and goals that seem appropriate to your position and overall career objectives. Once you accept a position, use this roadmap as the basis for outlining a more specific training and work program with your new mentor/supervisor.

7.4 Accepting a Position

Although it is typically difficult to negotiate aspects of a postdoctoral fellowship, such as salary and benefits, there may be aspects to the fellowship that can be modified. For example, a trainee accepting a research-focused position may desire to accrue clinical hours toward licensure and may wish to clarify whether this opportunity exists. Before accepting a position, many applicants also wish to ask about factors, such as sick/vacation time and parental leave. Information about these can sometimes be found on the human resources website. After accepting a position, you should expect to receive an appointment letter stating the basic contractual framework for your appointment, including your title, the sponsoring institution or department, the beginning and ending dates, stipend level, and benefits received.

8. What to Expect During your Postdoctoral Fellowship

Postdoctoral positions vary widely along a number of different dimensions; however, there are some underlying similarities in the experiences encountered and the responsibilities taken on. The primary intention of the postdoctoral experience should be to provide a period of apprenticeship for the purpose of gaining professional skills that advance one’s professional career. Because the primary function of the postdoctoral fellowship is educational, you have the right to expect mentoring that includes oversight, feedback, consultation, and periodic evaluations. Ideally, you will have ample opportunity to learn relevant skills that will further your career. The mentoring relationship can be important to helping you understand the context of your work and the requirements of your chosen career path. However, both the postdoc and mentor share the responsibility for making this relationship work through frequent and clear communication.

In order to maximize the training experience, new postdocs should arrange to meet with their mentors early on to further clarify the “training roadmap” discussed during the application and interview process. The postdoc and mentor should come to some agreement about the work products or experiences that will further your training goals, the timeline for these accomplishments, the extent of collaboration between fellow and mentor, the form that collaboration will take, and the type and frequency of supervision. You and your mentor should jointly appraise this roadmap, especially your professional goals, once or twice yearly for the purpose of evaluating your performance and updating your goals as you develop in your position.

For many, the postdoctoral training period serves as a developmental transition period from “professional adolescence” to “professional young adulthood” in which the developmental task is to create a more coherent and integrated sense of professional self that is separate from one’s mentors and supervisors (Kaslow et al., 1992; Talmi et al., 2015). Early in this process, postdoctoral trainees must create and define their roles within their new position and fulfill their new responsibilities with increased autonomy. Those in more structured programs may focus more on their responsibilities while those in less-structured programs may expend more effort in defining their experience. According to Kaslow et al. (1992), the most common difficulties encountered by postdocs at this early stage are associated with role functioning in multidisciplinary settings and negotiating autonomy and status issues. Training practices that help obviate or overcome such difficulties include the creation of individualized training plans that outline key professional competencies to be fostered in training. Working with mentors to track professional development across multiple domains and promote developmental progression within domains allow postdocs to develop, evaluate/course-correct, and internalize the necessary confidence and skills to become increasingly autonomous in their roles (Drotar et al., 2015; Palermo et al., 2014; Talmi et al., 2015).

In the middle phases of postdoctoral training, professional identity solidifies and commitment to one’s work deepens. Having resolved concerns about where they fit in, postdocs at this phase begin to carve out their own unique role in their setting. More aware of their professional strengths and weaknesses, postdocs often begin to pursue their professional goals more actively and with greater commitment. The end of postdoctoral training signals a move toward greater independence and the termination associated with both the postdoc and the end of one’s formal training may give rise to a new set of professional concerns. Concerned mentors can be helpful not only by supporting the postdoc find the next position but also by supporting the postdoc through this termination process.

9. Final Words

The goal of this chapter was to provide information on the various issues related to determining whether postdoctoral training is right for you and understanding how to obtain a fellowship that meets your personal and professional needs. Toward this end, we reviewed advantages and disadvantages of pursuing postdoctoral training as well as other considerations in the decision-making process on whether to pursue a postdoctoral position. For those who might wish to seek such training, we articulated steps for locating, applying for, evaluating, and securing a suitable fellowship. Navigating the postdoctoral search and decision-making process is complex, and we hope that this chapter provided a sufficient overview of postdoctoral training such that readers will be able to better weigh personal and professional considerations and arrive at the best decision for their situation.