I have to confess it has been over 6 months since I published my last original blog post. My day job and other commitments with various organizations and activities has kept me busy, plus, I tried to take a bit of time off this summer. I recognize my human limits may prevent me from writing as systematically as I would like to. I also struggle with the (unfounded) guilt that I am not being as "productive" as I should be. 

As human beings we all know objectively we have limits but some of us work very hard to convince ourselves that many of these limits can be overcome. And while there is certainly important personal satisfaction and societal impact that can arise from each of us seeking to push our limits, we need to acknowledge the need to rest and recharge.
​We (thankfully) aren't machines. ​

The human body itself is a fascinating piece of biological technology. Estimated to contain close to 30 trillion cells (the number will vary based on one's body size and mass) that perform a vast array of functions it is amazing that this complexity arises from a single cell at conception. Equally impressive is the fact that our bodies in all their complexity and scope can sustain our lives for over a 100 years. Most of our cells are replaced over time but some remain with us for our entire lives. The biochemistry that helps our cells survive and replicate as appropriate is impressive not only in its complexity but also in its consistency. Generating 300+ billion new cells a day that properly operate within our body and lack deadly mutations is truly an amazing feat. 

These cells don't just have to exist and fulfill their functions, they must also fight against a range of forces that seek to destroy them and impede their function. Our cellular defenses must fight against their destruction by pathogens and viruses on a daily basis and the fact we only rarely get sick from these daily assaults is pretty amazing when you stop and think about it. We are an amazing set of biological processes that allow us to not only survive and reproduce but also think critically, examine the world around us, and develop and use tools to advance our goals.  

In a way, most of the technology we develop seeks to overcome our many limitations. We aren't the fastest or most powerful animal on planet Earth. But we have invited machines that provide us the ability to travel faster than the speed of sound and developed technology that allowed us to harness the power of the atom to power thousands of home relatively cleanly...or destroy a city's worth of life in an instant. 

Humans are interesting creatures...capable of love, violence, incredible feats of skill and strength, amazing intellectual achievements, and more. We are also mortal beings and flawed in many ways. We are finite and limited, especially in relation to machines. Though machines also break and degrade, much like a human body, their parts can be replaced, which currently isn't possible with us. And as our technology gets more complex and powerful it shines an ever brighter light on our imperfections as individuals and makes starkly apparent to many that we have serious limits in our physical and cognitive abilities compared to the machines we have invented. 

For most of the 20th Century (and really since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution), societies have been focused on increasing productivity and output through various innovations and improvements. Motivated by a desire for continuous growth and advancement, expectations for workers and firms was for ever more production and output. Technological advancements allowed for more work to be accomplished in the same about of time and with less manpower. The evolution of this desire for increased efficiency has led to us reaching a point where more output, especially intellectual output, can be generated from from advances in neural networks, large language models, and machine learning that can quickly analyze and synthesize incredibly large amounts of data.

The incredible progress made in the development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has led many to become increasingly worried about our human limits and where our work fits in a future where these artificial systems become omnipresent. 

If hyper capitalism determines the "worth" of a person by the output and "value" they produce, one is left asking in a future where more of these outputs don't require many if any human beings to produce, is the value of a human worker lower? Maybe so but is the value of a "worker" the same as the value of a person? Clearly not but this mindset shift of what constituents a productive member of society will be challenging for many. 

What we must remember is that homo sapiens' competitive advantage did not come from our individual strength or physical abilities. And while our enlarged brains and ability to plan and reason were helpful what ultimately allowed us to occupy large portions of the world was our ability to cooperate with other homo sapiens. 

There are interesting models in use that seek to recognize the value humans have to contribute beyond traditional work. One approach, time banking, seeks to create a marketplace for people to share their skills and time with others. This could include a range of activities from childcare to lawn work and so much more. The time banking approach takes the position that every individual has something to contribute and acknowledges that we all have limited time. Furthermore, this approach leans into a strong human desire to connect with and be of use to other human beings. 

I recently heard about the work of Neil D. Lawrence, a computer science professor at the University of Cambridge and his book The Atomic Human. He made a comment in a recent podcast that I found intriguing. 
"We have a shared fragility/jeopardy with other humans."
We have shared weakness as mortal, fallible beings. 
This fact could account for why we are capable of creating pieces of writing, art, or creative expression that move others. By tapping into the human experience we are able to relate to and impact other humans. 

Given our shared fragility, human beings are very attuned to threat and danger, even displaying a negativity bias to information. This mindset leads us to worry about generative AI and all the harms it may do to us individually and collectively. And we are in some ways right to be concerned. 

Out of our fragility arose a need for cooperation as a species. A human on their own has limits while a society of hundreds or thousands or a million humans contributing different skills and expertise toward a collective effort is, effectively limitless. Working together, we are capable of so much and we also are able to be empathetic towards others due to our awareness of the human condition. If we see AI tools as partners in our efforts to improve society and human flourishing it is possible we have a bright future ahead of us. 

Conversely, human fragility can result in some individuals in powerful positions (executives at technology companies like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, or Meta) seeking to exert control. We must have serious conversations about the ethics of AI and new technological innovations, including how to deploy them responsibly. Furthermore, we as a society need to carefully evaluate the incentive structure that pushes many companies to feel they must accelerate new product rollouts so they don't get "left behind".

Should we even try if our efforts may often result in imperfect or even "sub-optimal" outcomes that fall short of our expectations? Should we perhaps lower our expectations? Decide our human effort is not worth the limited time we have on this Earth? 

Or, because our time is limited and the amount of energy we can devote to any pursuit finite, we might realize there is immerse value to human efforts and activities. Unlike a machine, we must rest and recharge. When we work we have limited bandwidth and capabilities to put towards are efforts. This makes our accomplishments even more remarkable, however. ​

First, I write this blog because I find it personally fulfilling to do it. Fulfillment is subtlety different from enjoyment. Difficult and tedious things can be fulfilling in the long run if somewhat unenjoyable in the short run. ​

That is often how writing these blog posts feels to me. And perhaps there are more efficient ways to do it but then it would be a less fulfilling task. Because it is hard and because it is not tied to my job or other tangible reward it would be easy to de-prioritize writing. In fact, this is what I did for this blog the past 6 months. But here I am trying to get back in the habit. 

Hopefully what I shared here was helpful to some of you who read this, who chose to devote some of your limited time and bandwidth to this piece. I am grateful to you and hope some of points I shared can be of help as you grapple with the change and uncertainty that seems to be accelerating in our world. ​

We need to recognize and embrace our humanity in these times, to lean into our shared fragility and our empathy. If we do that our future will not be perfect but it will be a human-centered one that acknowledges we are stronger together and there is nothing we cannot eventually overcome through the collective knowledge, creativity, bravery, strength, and perseverance we possess as a species. ​

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has several definitions for the word "society" but I think this one is a pretty good starting place:
"a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests."

An alternative definition of society "an enduring and cooperating social group whose members have developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with one another" also seems appropriate for this post. ​

We are all embedded within and participants in a variety of societal systems that affect us everyday. These range from economic systems (Capitalism, Socialism, Communism) to governing systems (representative democracies, parliamentary democracies, autocracies) and employment sectors (higher education, healthcare, finance). The interesting thing about systems is that while they are ultimately constructed by choices made by people, many individuals don't feel like they have agency within them. It is as if past choices made by others in power or with influence set out the parameters and rules to which we must now operate within. 

There have been growing critiques of many of our modern systems over the past several years including shareholder capitalism. These critiques have come largely from the young who feel the systems of the past aren't serving them well (and they may have valid points there). 

Gallup's World Happiness Report 2024 reveals some striking findings: among those below the age of 30, the United States ranks 62nd and Canada 58th in global happiness while among those age 60 and above, the US ranks 10th and Canada 8th in global happiness. Put another way, older adults in the US & Canada fall in the top 7% of countries in their happiness ratings while youth are in the 40th percentile or lower. This dichotomy between the perception of youth and older adults is also present in other high-income democratic countries including Japan (gap between young and older adults of 37 places), Germany (gap of 26 places), Spain (gap of 26 places), and France (gap of 23 places) and to a lesser degree Australia (gap of 10 places) and the United Kingdom (gap of 12 places). 

One potential explanation for this unhappiness in the young is we are in a time of immense change and uncertainty and this has led to heightened anxiety and depression, most likely enhanced by social media platforms. 

Additionally, it is difficult to argue with the notion that older individuals took advantage of economic cycles that allowed for their wealth and prosperity to grow in most of the capitalistic, democratic, neoliberal world order that emerged post World War II and reached new heights in the 1980s & 1990s. In fact, according to data from the United State's Federal Reserve, US Baby Boomers and older adults now hold more wealth than the rest of the population (those aged 55+ hold ~69% of US wealth compared with ~9% of wealth held by those under age 40). The rise of globalism as a potential driver of the disconnect between happiness amongst older adults and youth may be best seen in the Gallup World Happiness Report's data from China (a large beneficiary of globalization during the 1990s and early 2000s) where the gap in happiness is on par with the US and Canada (gap of 49 places) with Chinese youth in the 55th percentile (just ahead of Libya) while older Chinese are in the top 25% of countries (just behind Spain) for happiness. The rise of the Chinese Gen Z trend of "lying flat" epitomizes the fact that this youth discontent ​is not limited to democracies but perhaps a wider trend of modern society. 

The data are clear that youth disillusionment is on the rise across the globe and in 2021 the World Economic Forum went as far as to name it one of the top global risks. The report defines youth disillusionment as "youth disengagement and lack of confidence and/or trust with existing economic, political, and societal structures at a global scale" and that the consequence of its rise is "negatively impacting social stability, individual well-being, and economic productivity".

What one defines as "youth" is somewhat subjective but a global study found that Millennials, the generation born between 1981 and 1996 - with some now entering their 40s, are the most dissatisfied with democracy and more dissatisfied than Generation X or Baby Boomers were at the same age. The work also found a generation gap in satisfaction with democracy where on average Baby Boomers were more satisfied than Generation X who were more satisfied than Millennials. The report referenced above did not look at the newest generation to enter the workforce - Generation Z - but data released by Gallup in Fall 2023 suggest their faith in a variety of institutions in the United States is exceedingly low (50% indicate very little trust in Congress, 46% in the Presidency). ​

The lack of confidence in our societal systems and overall disillusionment of younger generations is a big problem. The young people of today are the future workforce of tomorrow, ultimately paying taxes that help keep our countries and their various entitlement programs running. ​

I work in the interesting "system" that is higher education and a research-intensive university, specifically. While many in the general public may believe higher education is more morally pure in its motives than, say, a for-profit corporation, this does not mean these institutions don't possess various hierarchies and power dynamics. ​

One point to remember about most social systems is they are constructed by people, specifically by those who are actively engaged in a common ideal or area of work. So, the system of higher education was created by academics and their choices over many years. These led to a variety of norms and attitudes they may seem to many today as "assumed" or as "the way we have always done things" but often those embedded deep in a social system lack perspective on said system. They only know what they have experienced or learned vicariously through others (mentors or peers). Alternatives to the status quo can be hard to see from within a system. Additionally, most systems provide security and power to incumbents and established entities within them (tenured professors in the case of higher education) and these incumbents thus have many incentives present that make it difficult for them to be for change. 

Why change a system that is working for you? Well, one reason could be that if a system becomes too exploitive or unequal individuals will at a minimum not want to participate in it and in extreme cases decide the only solution is to completely destroy it in its current form (the "burn it all down" approach). Furthermore, unhappy individuals within a system can lead to poorer outcomes for everyone including coworkers, collaborators, and the individuals the system serves (in the case of higher education, undergraduate students). ​

Big challenges face one group in the academy whom I have worked to support the past 5+ years: postdoctoral associates (postdocs). For those unfamiliar, a postdoc is an individual with a doctoral degree (often a Ph.D.) who embarks on a continued period of growth and development (somewhat akin to a residency for those with MD degrees). Traditionally, this period served as an apprenticeship where a newly-minted Ph.D. would work "under" a more senior scholar/researcher to learn the skills required to become an effective faculty member. 

The challenge to the current state of the postdoc is that it is a relatively tenuous position with limited job security, relatively low pay, and little institutional support. Many in academia are concerned that conditions for postdocs are gotten to a point where less recent Ph.D.s pursue them and recent data suggest the number of postdocs is declining in the United States. 

This has led to calls for change including the formation of a working group on Re-envisioning  NIH-supported Postdoctoral Training, who submitted a set of recommendations to the NIH (National Institutes of Health) in December 2023. The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) also recently released a new set of Recommended Postdoc Policies and Practices at its Annual Conference in mid-March 2024. Both documents call for a range of improvements to postdoc salaries, benefits, training environments, and processes to deal with and respond to problematic environments and working conditions.  

It is great to see these calls for change but institutions will be slow to adapt. 

Many postdocs (and graduate students) have taken matters into their own hands by banding together to pursue the formation of unions to help them more effectively advocate for their interests with institutional leadership. Given most postdocs are in the Millennial generation with Generation Z just now entering postdocs and making up a large portion of the graduate student ranks we might not be surprised by their activism and discontentment, given the points raised earlier from Gallup and the World Economic Forum on youth unhappiness and disillusionment. The topic of graduate student and postdoc unionization a complex one and not something I will get further into here. I will say, though, that certainly improved collective bargaining power can help with making conditions better for a group. The presence of union contracts and procedures could also lead to more adversarial relationships between parties or make academic relationships between students, postdocs, and faculty mentors more transactional and "employment-like" (though some might argue they have been this way anyway). Regardless of where one comes down on the topic of academic unionization, it is hard to argue that the push for it signals a growing discontent in key members of the ecosystem who feel unsupported and underappreciated. We must do better. 

For more on graduate student and postdoc labor movements see:

• Webinar panel hosted by the National Academies Roundtable on Mentorship, Well-being, and Professional Development in January 2024

The panelists shared a variety of readings and resources which I highlight and add to, below:

• Organize the Lab: Theory and Practice
• Postdoc Identity, Jurisdictional Issues, Ideologies, and Unions: Considerations in Organizing Professionals
• Analyzing the Upward Trend in Academic Unionization: Drivers and Influences
• Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy
• An Analysis of Academic Hiring Research and Practice and a Lens for the Future: How Labor Justice Can Make a Better Academy
  

In the end systems can be unjust and hard to change. This does not mean we shouldn't work to make our systems and society better. The challenge will be in convincing enough people that change will lead to improved outcomes for more stakeholders than the status quo. 

While anger at the state of our unequal societies and potentially unjust systems may be warranted, I am not for the "burn it all down" approach. Rather, I think we need to realize that the many individuals we could see as adversarial to our cause are, themselves, products of these systems. Sometimes they would like to see change but have been embedded so long in the status quo that they may be unable to see what could change about the environment. We also need to provide increased oversight and the ability for bad actors to be punished for activities that are clearly exploitative and egregious. ​

Change is hard but needed in higher education and beyond. We must work to restore faith in our societal institutions as they are critical to the functioning of a complex, interdependent nation and world. I surely don't have the answers but believe if enough voices are heard and we commit to collective action to improve our institutions, things can improve. This requires more active involvement in civic life, our communities, government, and non-profit organizations (which can also benefit you professionally while helping others) and doing the hard work that comes with volunteering in these areas, or even taking on causes outside your job description at your employer. And I would argue it requires young people to get more involved in these efforts to make sure their concerns and viewpoints are heard.  

To return to the definitions of society I started this post with: we must work to find common and collective activities and interests amongst diverse groups of stakeholders and generations AND realize that our society endures through cooperation. We each must do our part while also being willing to admit that all actions and approaches may not benefit us directly but that does not mean they aren't what is best for the greater good.  ​

An earlier version of this piece was published in Inside Higher Ed's Carpe Careers column on May 15, 2023. 

​Let’s start off with a statement that may read a bit alarming to the science and engineering graduate students and postdocs who are reading this: there is no “formula” for career success. No combination of your skills plus talent plus hard work definitively guarantees success in your career or life. This is partly a fact of the world not being predictable or “fair” but also acknowledges something that seems obvious when examined deeply and holistically but shocking when first encountered by an individual socialized in a modern, capitalist economy: your success isn’t up to you.  

“Greatness is in the agency of others” is a phrase often used by Scott Galloway, a faculty member at New York University’s Stern School of Business and influential blogger/podcaster.   

​The crux of this argument is that no one succeeds alone. Rather, we live in societies where collectively we produce success and opportunity, even if it is only evident to have been realized by a subset of the population. In fact, the only reason our modern economies function is through the collective and specialized actions of many individuals contributing, yes, their unique skills and abilities to the world. 

​The key word there is collective…we succeed together even if many of us don’t realize or acknowledge it. A central example is childcare and education. Even the most naturally gifted individual must be cared for as a baby and young child to reach an age where their potential can be realized. Furthermore, they need schooling and access to information that was created by others to understand the world and how they can build off the foundation of countless individuals to create new “breakthroughs” and potentially make money doing it. And this action may lead that individual to be rewarded financially and touted as a genius, a disrupter, or successful entrepreneur but their success is not 100% theirs. 

In an increasingly complex world with technology advancing at a blistering pace, no one can know it all or be 100% self-made. For many decades leveraging one’s technical skills and abilities to produce value was paramount to having a successful career. You needed to offer skills that were in demand in the current economy to be recognized as providing value in a purely economical sense. While this seemed to be rational and efficient it was not necessarily good for human flourishing. We are more than our skills and physical outputs and the acceleration in generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology has left many wondering what are we “good for” in a future where AI can produce similar creative and practical outputs to our own more efficiently and effectively? 

The famous American poet, writer, and activist Maya Angelou has a quote that nicely embodies what we all should strive for as human beings today and always:
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

​The enduring skills of the future of “work” are human skills…making others feel something: feel valued, feel heard, feel understood, feel important.  

Human skills or interpersonal skills include a variety of skills that help us work effectively with other human beings. Communication, empathy, emotional intelligence and other attributes fall under this larger umbrella. 

• Communication is critical to so many professional roles and ultimately facilitates (or hinders) teamwork and progress toward institutional goals. 
  
• Leadership and management center around how we understand the people who report to us enough to know how to motivate them and facilitate their success. 
  
• Compassion and empathy are critical to dealing with setbacks and challenges that are inevitable in life and demonstrate to others that we care and value them.  

​These human skills are essential to succeeding and enduring professionally. The fact of the matter is that while one’s skills and abilities can land you a job interview or often an entry level job, your interpersonal skills and other attributes of your personality will make someone want to have you as a colleague or work for you.

​Unfortunately, many individuals pursuing their graduate degrees or postdoctoral research dismiss the importance of these skills. They will often discuss a frustrating job search process with statements like “don’t my skills and abilities speak for themselves?” or “my work speaks for itself”. And while skills and abilities are surely important, they are often being assessed on more than their work. I think this is a good thing because we are all more than the skills, abilities, and accomplishments listed on a resume. 

​Even in research-focused roles at companies, someone with PhD-level training will often be hired with the intention that the company considers them to be a future project or program leader. Being placed in a leadership role might not occur right away but many employers will be looking for glimpses of these skills when interviewing candidates. 

More value is placed on transferable and interpersonal skills when a Ph.D. is transitioning into a non-research role. At that point, an employer doesn’t often care as much about your specific technical skills or research accomplishments but rather that by completing a graduate degree you showed the ability to think critically, problem solve, extract insight from data, and communicate your findings. Your Ph.D. experience provides a breadth of these transferable skills valued by employers.

How does one work to build interpersonal skills? 
Through putting yourself out there and practicing.

This is best accomplished when the stakes are low and could start out as simply as attending a graduate student or postdoctoral association event and chatting with a few people in attendance. Making “small talk” can seem trivial but it works to build connection with others. In fact, it may seem trivial to you to attend an event and listen to a fellow grad student or postdoc vent about their day or talk about their new dog but that doesn’t mean it is trivial to them. Sometimes people just need to be heard, to believe that what they have to say or share is worthy of another human being’s time and attention. For the introverts reading this (of which I count myself), I think we can all acknowledge we would most often rather listen than talk. The good news is you can go to one of these community events and mostly listen and affirm what you hear from others. 

​Busy graduate students, postdocs, and professionals will often cite the lack of time as a hurdle to making connections with others or engaging in organizations or activities that would benefit them professionally and personally. They see these social and community engagement activities as a combination of a luxury and distraction. Time is indeed a finite resource and while there will always be more work to be done than time to do it, time with others is time well spent. In addition, science shows you will feel better from having engaged in these “prosocial” behaviors. It feels good to engage with and help others. Importantly, by building these informal networks you can begin to have people you can rely on for help. This is essential as sometimes we are the helpers and sometimes we are the ones needing help. 

Human skills are more than just valuable to you professionally but also personally. This may go without saying but sometimes we can forget how important it can be to be a caring, compassionate human when interacting with others. Saying thank you and showing other signs of appreciation, remembering relevant personal information and milestones of your coworkers, and being willing to be helpful even if an ask is “outside your job description” go a long way. And our national loneliness epidemic could benefit from more human connection and compassion. Many people want more opportunities to socialize and bond with others but it often takes someone to be brave enough to initiate the process. Will that be you? 

​Embracing your humanity and honing your interpersonal skills through practice will allow you to better relate to and understand other human beings’ needs, hopes, and desires. This will in turn pay dividends in your work, life, and society as a whole. 

​No one succeeds alone and no one (consistently) succeeds on their skills and abilities alone. Rather, greatness is in the agency of others: engaging with others, listening to others, empathizing with others, and working collectively with others is essential not only for our own personal and professional fulfillment but for a functional and prosperous society for all. 

A version of this post originally ran in Inside Higher Ed's Carpe Careers column in October 2023

​Doctoral students nearing the end of their degree program must anticipate transitioning from graduate work—finalizing data analysis, writing and completing a dissertation—to searching for postgraduate opportunities. For many of you, especially those in the sciences, the next step is often an academic postdoctoral position to bolster your skills and research experiences as part of your career and professional advancement.

A previous Carpe Careers post in Inside Higher Ed by Tina Solvik provided expert advice for finding academic postdoctoral positions and what you should consider during the process. We will highlight in this piece additional resources and programs that you may want to leverage for identifying and transitioning into a postdoctoral opportunity, whether your career goal is a faculty position or employment in the for-profit sector or government. While there are several different types of postdoc experiences, you should always concentrate on developing new technical capabilities beyond graduate training; seeking opportunities for more independence in research; and gaining skills in leadership, project and people management, and mentoring. ​

​For many doctoral students nearing the completion of their degree, the question often becomes: to postdoc or not to postdoc…and where? Like all complex questions, the answer is: it depends. To determine what a postdoc would mean for your career, you should consider the costs and benefits of the time spent in such a position as well as explore other possible paths. 

​Here are two ways to begin that reflection process. 
1. Find job advertisements for career positions that are of interest. Do they require postdoc experience? Is it a preferred criterion? If so, then you should probably consider a postdoc. 
2. Seek advice from your network and engage in informational interviews with professionals in positions similar to what you want to obtain to determine if postdoc experience is necessary to get the jobs they have. 

​While few positions outside faculty roles require or prefer postdoctoral experience, leveraging a postdoc to build skills and crystalize your career plans can still be worthwhile.  

Historically, postdoc positions have been mainly available in STEM fields, but they have become more common recently in the humanities and social sciences. The graph below shows the steady growth of recent Ph.D.s in the humanities and arts, education, and psychology and social sciences pursuing a postdoc after graduation. From 2010 to 2022, the number of people seeking a postdoc grew 62 percent in the humanities and arts, 60 percent in education, and 26 percent in psychology and the social sciences. 

That said, one major disadvantage is that postdoctoral training decreases earnings and delays retirement savings, according to a study by Shulamit Kahn and Donna K. Ginther. So, while a postdoc can help you build skills and expand scholarly experiences that help you advance your career, you may pay a short-term financial cost.

​Choosing the proper postdoctoral training environment will be vital to your success. We highly recommend The Postdoc Academy, a free, online series of courses and resources, for anyone planning to transition from graduate work to a postdoc position. Its content focused on succeeding as a postdoc and creating productive conversations with a potential postdoc mentor may be especially relevant. 

​You should consider a variety of environments for your postdoctoral training. Learning about postdoc opportunities is part of networking. So it’s best to reach out to other researchers in the field you’re interested in and anticipate when open postdoc opportunities might occur. Many people who pursue a postdoc are ultimately seeking faculty careers and, as such, working at an academic institution as a postdoc can help you better prepare for succeeding in that space. 

​The vast majority of postdoctoral positions in academia are funded via external grant awards. Therefore, it can be helpful to use tools like NIH Reporter, NSF Awards Search, USDA NIFA Awards Search, and National Endowment for the Humanities to identify faculty working in your area of interest who may also have funding available to support you as a postdoc. While you may be primarily hoping to find faculty members with pending funding to support you in the future, if someone already has funding in an area, it usually a good predictor that more funds may be available. Proactive outreach to faculty who are doing work that interests you can help you explore a potential alignment of a pending grant with the timeline of your postdoc search. 

​The number of opportunities for commercialization or technology transfer postdoc positions at U.S. universities is also growing. Those programs either focus on training Ph.D.s for careers in the technology transfer space or assist in learning how to commercialize technology or other innovations coming from research work. 

If you are in the humanities, consider postdoc opportunities at universities, centers, libraries and institutes—especially if your interests are interdisciplinary and applied. Humanities Ph.D.s can find postdoc opportunities in fields such as digital humanities, public humanities, and science and humanities by searching this academic jobs wiki. These opportunities can give you the chance to work on cutting-edge research and develop new skills in different contexts.

​Keep in mind that you can also find a variety of opportunities to build skills and experiences in a mentored training position in environments other than academic institutions. If you are interested in a more research-focused career path or one where your research deals with applied questions, postdoc positions at U.S. Department of Energy’s National Laboratories and similar organizations could be worth exploring. The platform Zintellect, managed by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, allows you to search for postdoc fellowship positions (and other roles) at multiple national labs and federal agencies. The NRC Research Associateship Programs are another great way to gain postdoc training in a U.S. government research lab or agency. In addition, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Park Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, and companies like GlaxoSmithKline and the American Association for the Advancement of Science offer a variety of postdoc opportunities in nonacademic contexts.

​As we become a more global society, it’s worth considering positions at academic and research institutions across the world. Collaborating across different contexts and cultures can be an enriching experience as part of your career trajectory. EURAXESS is a comprehensive platform for connecting talented researchers with postdocs and research opportunities in the European Union while also providing a range of online career development resources. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship program also supports postdoctoral training in Europe or globally for nationals and residents of European Union member states.

​For foreign scholars considering postdoc opportunities in the United States, it’s important to learn as much as possible about the transition process. Moving to the United States for a postdoc can be a big adjustment. When deciding whether or not to do so, be sure to factor in the cost of living, the climate and the cultural differences. The National Postdoctoral Association provides a range of resources for international scholars, including quick guides to visas and income taxes. It also offers an Onboarding for International Postdocs guide that can be helpful for scholars moving to the U.S. for their postdoc and for the offices at U.S. institutions that support postdocs. 

​In conclusion, whether you decide to pursue a postdoc in academia, industry or government—or forgo one entirely—I hope you approach your post-Ph.D. career with intention. The postdoc training period can help you advance in many career paths that are satisfying and exciting, and that lead to new opportunities in the future. 

It is common for causal observers to see a big breakthrough, amazing creative achievement, or other big professional accomplishment from another and think to themselves "wow, that person must be super talented" or "they are so lucky!". And while talent and luck play a part in "success", what often gets less attention is the amount of work that goes into an "overnight success". 

Complex and ambitious achievements usually take even more time and effort to come to fruition. A particularly interesting set of stories comes from the Walt Disney Company's Pixar division (before they become part of Disney) and Disney's venerable Imagineering unit. 

Perhaps the name most synonymous with "magic" is Disney. The Walt Disney Company is dedicated to making magical experiences for its customers via its movies, shows, and, perhaps most prominently, its theme parks. The first park at Walt Disney World in Florida was literally named the Magic Kingdom when it opened in 1971. And having been to the park as a child, I can attest that it is, indeed, a magical place. Disney Parks are full of state-of-the-art attractions that can leave you speechless and wondering how they accomplished such feats.

Often, the Disney "Imagineers" must invent new technology to bring a ride to life. For example, the Indiana Jones Adventure ride at Disneyland in California relied on an entirely new ride vehicle invented by the Imagineers to simulate the motion of an off-road jeep. In fact, the Imagineering team at Disney holds over 500 patents for new technologies they have developed to create the unique rides and attractions at the parks. 

At Disney they firmly believe that the story and experience should drive the design and execution of all they do and that they can iron out technical details to bring an idea to life. Disney rarely sacrifices practicality for the sake of creative quality and experiential impact on their customers. ​

Disney's Pixar Animations Studios (which was an independent company from 1986 until 2006 when it was acquired by the Walt Disney Company) perhaps best illustrates how dedication and commitment to one's craft combined with a passion for creating memorable experiences can produce amazing results. 

Pixar invented new computer animated techniques and approaches beginning with its founding but its journey from start-up to box office hit maker took time. In some ways the technology had to catch up with the company's ambitions and its employees had to become more familiar and confident in the use of said technology. Pixar initially struggled with a business case focusing mostly on producing animated commercials in the 1980s and early 1990s to pay the bills. In 1991 the company numbered 42 employees (nearly the same size it was at its founding) as it removed hardware and software sales from its operations to focus on the core creative business. In that same year, Pixar signed an agreement with Disney to develop at least one computer-animated movie that Disney would market and distribute. That movie become Toy Story, which was released in November 1995 to critical acclaim and sensational audience reviewers on its way to ​earning nearly $400 million at the global box office (~$823 million in 2024 dollars). ​

The lesson to take from this is, I think, is to not innovate just to innovate but to think about how a new technology or idea serves others. Does it help solve a critical problem? Does it make peoples' lives or society better in some way? Does it bring joy to the world? Does it provide entertainment and life lessons (in the case of many movies)? Innovation without impact will fall flat. If the technologies or innovative ideas you are leveraging aren't in service of something that improves peoples' lives, they rarely resonate. In Pixar's case, they leveraged technology to create characters and stories audiences cared about and that spoke to human challenges, struggles, and ultimately triumphs (even if many of their characters weren't human, they amazingly made us care about bugs and fish!).  

"What most people call overnight success is actually the market suddenly realizing the value of a great product or service that had been kept in obscurity for too long while its creators refused to give up." - Entrepreneur and author Luis E. Romero, from Forbes

Another lesson from the Pixar story is the commitment and perseverance often required to see a novel concept "breakthrough". The conviction of Pixar's founders to stick to their core business over the first 5+ years as it gained its footing allowed it to be in a position to make Toy Story and what looked like an overnight success in 1995 after Toy Story's release was many years in the making. Pixar's animators developed their expertise on commercials and short films in the company's early years and realized producing a full-length computer animated film​ at its core is still an exercise in constructing a compelling and moving story. The combination of compelling narrative, endless storyboarding and editing (story development for a Pixar film can take YEARS), a committed and technically gifted team, and innovative technology allowed Pixar to create movie magic. The company and its employees gave audiences something they had never seen before and, in the process, left a lasting impact on the entertainment industry.   ​

Learn more about the animation innovations Pixar pioneered in the video from Business Insider, below (and the follow-up video here):

None of the work Disney does is easy, especially when it comes to building actual rides and landscapes people interact with in their parks. Imagineers blend creativity with modern technology and an understanding of human perception to create amazing experiences. And the more you learn about how they build attractions the more you appreciate how Imagineers not only invent new technologies to bring an attraction to life but often build on previous designs and take lessons from the design of past attractions to make new ones. There are so many examples including leveraging the technology from Test Track in Epcot (opened in 1999) for Cars Land's Radiator Springs Racers (opened in 2012) to improving on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with new projection mapping technology and revolutionizing the classic Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride for the 21st Century with the installation of Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure (and use of technology to guide the boats through immersive sets) at Shanghai Disneyland. These examples highlight that Disney never stops innovating and improving, realizing that creating magical experiences requires learning from the past while constantly pushing the boundaries of technology and storytelling.     

As mentioned earlier when discussing Pixar films, storytelling at its heart requires the need to make the recipient feel something, to care about the characters, relate to their challenges, and celebrate in their triumphs. To be an effective story it must relate to our human experiences including struggle, loss, love, friendship, and family and the realization that happily ever after is often the result of overcoming adversity in our lives. 

In my last post, I reflected on our human relationship to time. Recently, while watching the Behind the Attraction series on Disney+ that I mentioned above I learned about this amazing "nighttime spectacular" at Hong Kong Disneyland titled "Momentous". Learning about the history of creating this show we discover that when Hong Kong Disneyland was renovating and updating their castle, the technology for Momentous was literally built into the castle's redesign. The show has been described as "a love letter to the memories we make throughout our lives" and if you watch the video of it below you can see that the creators of this spectacular incorporate Disney and Pixar characters, stories, and songs over the past 30+ years from The Little Mermaid and The Lion King to Aladdin, Moana, and Up. Featured songs include classics like "Kiss the Girl", "You'll Be in My Heart", "A Whole New World" and lesser-known but appropriate songs like "Friends on the Other Side" from the Princess and the Frog and "Remember Me" from Coco. 

The feelings the show generates are tied up in the audience's memories of Disney movies and it can only achieve the effect of moving onlookers due to the fact that it builds on the creative efforts of the thousands or animators, artists, and musicians who contributed to the creation of the content. In addition, the spectacular itself relies on a variety of technological advancements from the Disney Company including projection mapping technology, water screen projections, and sophistically timed pyrotechnics and fireworks that can be positioned with pinpoint accuracy via compressed air. The result of all these efforts is magical. 

The show's "theme song", Love the Memory, that unites its various chapters has a super catchy and impactful chorus:
Time's always moving, we can't slow the hands
Won't last forever, so take every chance
To learn and to love and to dream and to dance
Live the moment and love the memory

Momentous's songs and storytelling remind us that life is a journey and ultimately consists of the impact we have on others and them on us. It is filled with highs and lows, love and loss, but through all these things we learn and grow, hopefully becoming better versions of ourselves in the process. A powerful notion, for sure.  

While most of this post has contained reflections on the Walt Disney Company's and Pixar Animation Studios' quest to create memorable experiences through creativity, technology, and hard work, I think the lessons from their efforts can apply to everyone's work and life. 

We often seek the "magical solution" to our problems or want a quick fix to the challenges we encounter. We want to lose weight NOW, we want to earn more NOW, we want to be more productive NOW, we want to be recognized for our achievements NOW. But these things are most often the result of consistent work and incremental improvements that slowly and steadily build on themselves to achieve the desired result. And sometimes, maybe even often, the end result of our efforts is more impactful than we could imagine when we begin on our journey. I don't think the creators of The Little Mermaid when it was released in 1989 would have ever imagined its scenes and songs would be projected on a water "screen" and physical castle at a Disney theme park in Hong Kong purpose built for these projections but that is what ultimately occurred. 

It is also worth mentioning here that we often cannot fully predict how our work and actions now will impact our (and others) future. And we shouldn't necessarily try to map all our actions to some future state because the future is always in flux. Rather, we should work to do good and important work now and realize that the positive impacts of this will resonate over time. This work may also be built on and improved upon by others to produce further innovation and impact, as is often the case with the Disney attractions and experiences mentioned above. 

So, what's my story? How do I see my gifts and talents contributing to the world? ​

Well, I have always been interested in helping others, even from a young age. I am fairly empathetic and find a lot of joy in teaching and mentoring others. I do this to some extent in my day job helping support postdoctoral researchers at Virginia Tech. I also use this blog and platforms like LinkedIn to share resources, programs, and opportunities with a wide audience. My hope is by doing this I can help others realize how their skills, interests, and values can be applied productively to activities and careers that benefit the world in distinct and important ways. I firmly believe we all have something to contribute. Personally, I have been working on building my platform and finding my voice so I can reach and impact more people, including those of you reading this post or leveraging the information shared on my blog and website. 

And the statistics show I am slowly making progress in these areas. ​

In a blog post from January 2021 I spoke to the fact that returns on our efforts to build skills, invest in our networks, and growth our brand often compound. Seeing measurable growth in these metrics can be slow at first but many online activities result in network effects where knowledge accumulation and impact can increase over time non-linearly. For example, building one skill early on helps you develop a related one more easily next time or one connection can lead to another. Similarly, the publication of one piece of creative or scholarly work can lead to citations by or engagement with others who then amplify your work to their networks and, in the process, help your ideas and content spread more rapidly than you could manage alone. 

I figured now, three years from when I spoke to the compounding returns I was seeing from my creative and scholarly works, would be good time to revisit the stats. For context, I launched this personal website in August 2014 as I began my postdoc position at Vanderbilt University. I figured I need to work on building my professional brand as a neuroscientist at the time and later launched this blog in April 2019 after having written pieces on my postdoc experience for the NIH BEST website (see those archived here). The blog launch was an attempt to build up a writing portfolio for potential future use in my career. I also enjoyed the process of sharing resources, advice, and research focused on a variety of topics from career and professional development to Ph.D. career pathways, the job search, and neuroscience findings with others.  

As you can see from the chart above that only reports my personal website traffic data over full calendar years, for 5 YEARS yearly unique visits to my website were under 2,000 and from 2015 to 2017 struggled to cross 1,000 (in 2017 the number of unique site visits for the year was 1,068 or an average of 89 per month). Beginning in 2020, however, visitors to the site began to rapidly grow (rising 243% from 2019 to 2020 and another 117% from 2020 to 2021). Essentially, unique visits to my site more than tripled from 2019 to 2020 and then more than doubled from that level from 2020 to 2021. Growth has slowed since then but now I average more unique site visits per month than I did in all of any year from 2015 to 2017: average monthly visits August - December 2023: 753 versus unique visits compared to 341, 476, and 626 unique visits in the years 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively.  

​In the case of my website, growth in visits is most likely the result of several factors:
1) In 2021 I launched a newsletter (now with 181 subscribers) to share resources and readings with interested individuals, where I also highlight my new blog posts as well as a few select posts from my blog archive 
2) As I create more content there is more for a visitor to my website to engage with
3) I have added content beyond the blog over the years including job search resources, funding resources, and a growing list of career and professional development research studies
4) I often point to past content in new posts so individuals can "rediscover" older posts/content and this may, in turn lead to the growth in overall views of my content
5) As I grow my network and professional brand outside my website, when I point to blog pieces or resources on LinkedIn or X/Twitter more individuals see my posts on these platforms

I also believe well-written and useful content ultimately resonates with people and hopefully I am providing that via this platform. 

But my own journey to greater reach and impact has not happened overnight. It requires commitment and dedication. I have written 55 blog posts over the 57 months from April 2019 (when I launched my blog) to now, January 2024, or nearly one post per month. I try to consistently share something interesting and thought provoking here. Mostly I do it for myself, to keep my writing skills sharp. But I also do it for those who read these posts and in the process hopefully learn something or are made to think more introspectively about their lives and the impact they can have on the world. Sometimes this is accomplished through a resource or process I share to aid readers in their career and professional development but other times it is through sharing an insight into neuroscience research, like findings illustrating the power of our mindsets and beliefs. In a way, I seek to inspire others to take steps to improve their lives, whether that be spending more time with loved ones or realizing that finding fulfilling work is a process. I plan to keep doing this hard work (this post alone is probably the culmination of at least 30 hours of research, writing, and revision) because I think I have something important to say and I hope it helps my readers live better, more fulfilled, and more impactful lives.  

In my blog post on network effects from January 2021 I also mentioned LinkedIn as a powerful tool for professional networking and how one's reach on the platform can grow with both a commitment to engaging on it and time to allow for growth. For a superb guide to leveraging the platform for career success, including building your network and engaging in career exploration, see the 2022 book Linked: Conquer LinkedIn. Get Your Dream Job. Own Your Future. by Garriott and Schifeling. 

Over the years the number of my LinkedIn connections continues to grow as I interact with new colleagues and coworkers, meet people at professional conferences, or work with new leaders and volunteers in organizations I am involved in. Additionally, individuals will reach out to me to connect and I almost never turn down a personalized LinkedIn connection request.  

I joined LinkedIn in April 2013 and by the end of that year had 43 connections. I really worked to expand my network on the platform during my postdoc position, which began in August 2014. In the graph below you can see the steady rise in my cumulative LinkedIn connections for calendar year 2014 to 2023. Steady investments in leveraging the platform have resulted in my total connections increasing 36-fold over 10 years. 

Big things can come from small beginnings and consistent effort. ​

Over the past few years I have leveraged LinkedIn's "Creator Mode" to better broadcast the content and resources I share and have moved away from gathering connections (Creator Mode replaces the default network option on LinkedIn from "Connect" to "Follow"). In 2023, my follower count grew by 19.5% and now allows the content and resources I share on career development, the job search, networking, mentorship, and more to reach thousands of people. Through the technological platform that is LinkedIn I am able to amplify my impact, helping more people learn of opportunities and resources to assist them in their career development and professional journeys. 

I firmly believe LinkedIn is a powerful multiplier for networking and brand building that you simply cannot ignore as a professional in the 21st Century. So, start investing in that platform today.​

As an administrator who supports early career researchers (graduate students and postdocs in particular), I understand that growing one's scholarly profile is essential to academic success. One of the most important metrics for a scholar is one's citation count as it indicates other researchers acknowledge your work in theirs. By definition, citations of your work take time to accumulate as your work must be disseminated first (passing through an often lengthy and grueling peer review process to get published), others must read and cite it, and then they must also publish their work before your citation is registered in various systems (Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science). So, it can take years for citations to accumulate on your work. This can sometimes discourage early career researchers as they don't feel they are gaining traction at the beginning. Patience and persistence is required in one's academic scholarship. If you are putting out work that contributes to your field by asking important questions and addressing critical topics, it will eventually be cited. It also takes time and some promotion to help get your work discovered.  

My first peer-reviewed publication was in February 2012 and I did not start seeing citations of it until 2013. Over the years I published more publications in neuroscience from 2012 until 2019 (and to a lesser extent now as a researcher interested in mentorship and the faculty job search) and slowly the citations of this work grew along with the number of my peer-reviewed publications. So, the chart above is the result of continuing to publish, even as an academic administrator, and letting time work for my prior work's visibility. 

You can certainly see in the Google Scholar stats the effect of me transitioning from postdoctoral researcher to postdoctoral affairs administrator in January 2019 and a stunting in my citation momentum in 2020 but in June 2020 I was listed as an author on my first non-neuroscience paper, focused on a survey-based analysis of the academic job market which led to new connections and research directions for me. Recently, I was involved in important work on mentorship of which our analysis of faculty mentoring experiences was published in December 2023. I expect to continue to work in these areas as a postdoctoral affairs administrator as these topics relate to my work supporting this population and, as a result, my scholarly output may increase in the coming years. And while it is nice to put out work that gets recognized and cited, that isn't really ​why I do it. Rather, I try to be part of teams contributing important insights into processes that need improvement in higher education including the hiring of faculty members and providing increased support and training for aspiring and new faculty members. 

And though I don't actively publish in the neuroscience area anymore, my past research is still being cited and contributing to new knowledge in reward processing, decision making, and substance abuse risk. That prior work is, in effect, still having an impact. When you publish scientific findings, you are leaving a legacy and contributing to the broad, upward trajectory of human knowledge and progress. When you are in the thick of the scholarly work, though, you can sometimes forget this but know that "good work" can have an impact and though it might not immediately be recognized that does not mean it won't be of value to future researchers.    ​

Before wrapping up this piece I want to emphasize that the personal metrics presented above reflect my priorities in brand building (personal website, LinkedIn followers) and networking (LinkedIn connections). Growing one's scholarly metrics is mostly out of your direct control but ultimately does partially depend on producing good work consistently that others value. The activities and platforms you leverage to measure your "success" could look very different. The metrics you care about may also differ from those I shared. 

Everyone's goals are unique and the pathway to achieving them distinct. I hope seeing how my metrics and impact grew from small beginnings with time drives home the point that if you invest in activities important to you, their reach and impact can expand through consistent effort and commitment over many years. The key is to decide what you value in terms of your personal and professional growth and invest your time in those areas. Success won't come overnight but I believe you can increase the odds of making an impact through dedicated action that is genuine, internally motivated by your values, and leverages your unique skills and gifts. ​

In today's post, hopefully you can see that to have an impact you have to start by taking action to share your knowledge and gifts with the world. That looks different for each of us. It might be putting out creative works or thought pieces on the internet, it could be publishing scientific and scholarly papers, or making YouTube videos explaining complex research topics to the public. It could be as simple (and important) as showing a student in your research group how to perform a new experiment or analysis (ie, mentoring them). Whatever you are doing and sharing, the process requires engaging with others in some way. You can also take advantage of network effects to ensure your message is being amplified by reaching others you don't know but who could benefit (ie, your connections shares it with their connections or the student you teach shares the knowledge with another and then another and so on and so forth). Only by sharing our skills, talents, and ideas with others can we truly spread them. Similarly, others can only build off your ideas if they know about them. So put your thoughts out there in the world! 

Magical outcomes, which we might rightfully call innovation, begin with novel ideas that through collaboration with others and the combination of hard work, creativity, and technical know-how result in real-world impact. The impact might be creative, scholarly, or entrepreneurial. To achieve these results, though, requires a person to reach and impact others and in the process make their lives better - more informed, more efficient, more joyous, more fun, or more meaningful. The final result can often to an outsider seem like magic or overnight success but it rarely is that. Rather, consistent effort, belief in your craft, and the right group of people in your network combined with, yes, some luck, is essential.

Furthermore, the impact from one's creative or innovative efforts will only endure if you and those who come after you build off prior work and knowledge to make it even more impactful, allowing it to compound to a level of scope and reach its original creator could never have imagined. In the process these efforts hopefully move others to contribute to making the world a happier, healthier, safer, and more prosperous place through the deployment of their own gifts, skills, and actions. That's when the magic happens. ​

More from the Blog

• Career Exploration 101
• Compounded Returns: Growing Your Network and Personal Brand
• Past, Present, Future: Reflections on Time
• Mind Over Matter
• To Be Rather Than to Seem
• Giving Thanks: Finding Personal Fulfillment
• Find Your Passion? Finding Meaning and Purpose in Your Work & Life

Additional Readings & Content

• Disney & Technology: A History of Standard-Setting Innovation
• The Imagineering Story documentary series on Disney+
• Pixar Animation Studios - Our Story Timeline
• The 22 Rules of Storytelling, According to Pixar
• Pixar follows 5 storytelling rules to make every movie feel so perfect (video)
• Pixar in a Box - The Art of Storytelling (Online Learning from Khan Academy)