Is a Postdoc Worth it?

Jim_Austin writes "In a very funny column, Adam Ruben reviews the disadvantages and, well, the disadvantages of doing a postdoc, noting that 'The term "postdoc" refers both to the position and to the person who occupies it. (In this sense, it's much like the term "bar mitzvah.") So you can be a postdoc, but you can also do a postdoc.'"

Comments

Horse already left the barn

[xtal]

If grad school has at best a questionable return, how could a postdoc - indentured servitude, slavery - be any better an idea?

The exceptional at anything will do fine, including academics. By definition, odds are you're not exceptional in a given talent pool, even one that's two or three deviations out.

Have a concrete plan to feed yourself. Or save the schooling for retirement, after you've saved up enough to live on. Digging yourself a hundred thousand dollar hole isn't a great idea right out of the gate.

Academics used to be the playground of the elite (and the exceptional, with a patron). That's been forgotten..