I’m less that a year into my postdoc, and all along I’ve been telling myself that I was not going to worry about getting a job, yet, unless the *perfect* job came up.. Then I saw the posting for a genomics job at REDACTED.  This job is in the perfect city, a great department, great schools for the kids, kinda near the beach.. etc..

So, here I go, updating my CV, which thankfully was already pretty good, and writing a teaching and research statement, and a cover letter.. You know what, aside from the pressure of actually trying to make this good (which, BTW, it is), the research statement is really fun to write. It’s kinda like highlighting all the cool stuff I’ve already done, then talking about all the cool stuff I want to do, given enough $$.

I have had several people read the document, and have learned a few things:

1. Numbers.. preferably big ones.. Be specific about how much money you’ve brought in via grants
2. Be specific about how the grants you will apply for– not just that you’ll apply.
3. What will you accomplish in the 1st 5 years, 10 years
4. Introduce your research program early in the cover letter.

I think I’ll plan to keep these posts coming, as information comes in.