Hello! If you're reading this, you're probably interested in applying for postdoctoral positions, or possibly just checking out my website, which is also cool. This is a collection of advice I sought out and found helpful as I applied for postdoctoral positions in the US and Europe during the fall of 2021. While I'm not an authority on navigating the job market, I hope sharing this overview and a few practical organizational tools will be helpful. Two things to keep in mind while going through this process: (1) it's highly individual - figure out and prioritize what's most important to you, and (2) the job market fluctuates a lot, it's not personal.
Article under construction...
Rough suggested timelines
I found these suggestions by Chelsea Walton immensely helpful
Where to look for job postings
mathjobs.org - almost all US postdocs are posted here, a good number of non-US positions are also listed (note: depending on institution, the position posting may ask you to submit your application at another website)
Ask your advisor and/or other people in your subfield where additional jobs are advertised. Not every non-US position will be on mathjobs.org. For example, in algebraic topology, subscribing to the ALGTOP listserv is helpful as a number of non-US positions are advertised there
Ask your advisor and/or other people in your subfield if there are specific research institutes or postdoctoral fellowships to which you should apply
Useful questions to ask your advisor
Organizational tools for keeping track of job postings:
Comb through mathjobs.org once to find all relevant postings on a single day. Warning: some postdoc positions are labeled as visiting assistant professor and not neccesarily found under the postdoc label - you don't want to miss out on these!
Set up an RSS feed like feedly to keep track of new postings. I checked my feedly notifications once each day for new postings of interest
Keep track of relevant postings in an excel sheet. Some suggested columns: Application Due Date, Early Application Preferred?, Department Contact/Sponsor, Institution, Position ID, Country, Topic, Contact Person, Email, Contacted?
How to navigate mathjobs.org
Recruiting reference letter writers
Begin thinking about this early - ideally halfway through your program
Give talks and attend conferences. Talk to as many people as possible
Consider who might know your specific research well. Well enough to comment on it's significance
Ask your advisor for advice in choosing three to four letter of recommendation writers who can speak to your research potential
Ask one or two professors for letters of recommendation concerning your teaching. One letter is typically needed for research postdocs in the US. Many teaching postdocs require two letters of recommendation concerning teaching. European postdocs often have no teaching component and hence zero letters of recommendation are required
Rough timeline of application deadlines
There are typically a few deadlines mid-October with the bulk of them being November 1, November 15, December 1, and December 15.
Rough timeline for postdoctoral offers
This can be very spread out for European postdoc offers. It's totally possible to hear back even before December 1
Many US Math Departments coordinate their first round of offers with the AMS and NSF postdoc announcement. This means offers are usually made late January through to the end of the semester
Evaluating postdoctoral offers
Some categories to consider: mathematical opportunity, connections, seminars, salary vs cost of living, benefits package, geographical location, access to important hobbies
Negotiating postdoc offers
Think about and ask for exactly what you want, before accepting an offer. Keep in mind that the decision turn around time may be as little as a few days since there are often many applicants on the waitlist behind you
Application materials