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[sgerm]

I got my PHD in experimental condensed matter physics last year from a reasonable US school, but I've been having problems finding postdoc work.   I had a bad advisor who ran out of funding midway through my time in school, making much of my professional education done on the cheap.  My advisor and I got along very well, but my advisor is one of those who should have probably retired instead of taking me on (and the poor student who came after me!), and as such really had been not *active* in the professional world aside from 2-3 papers/year.  Due to some of his peculiarities, I'm finding that many bridges seem to be burned ahead of me before I even get a chance to cross them--the only people he bothered with in our profession the last several years is people he wanted to pick arguments with, and surprise surprise that they seem to throw my resume away.  I don't mean he's a kook or a crank or anything, he's just kind of not very popular or well-known and hasn't been great at being a *professional* scientist in many years (he's a pretty good *scientist* though).
As such...I feel have a good skill set, my name is on papers, I've got plenty of intangibles, but my advisor has zero contacts besides those who *dislike* him, and our work (while valid and interesting) never really had revolutionary results that would really draw people's attention.  Due to our persistant funding shortage I was unable to attend conferences or really do much of the networking that most people do, and my advisor only has one collaborator who is of about the same age bracket and apparently is equally unpopular as he is.  The net result of this is that each of my few interviews have gone very well, but someone else with more credentials/connections always gets the job.  Most of the time, I never hear back from the people I apply to, which is not fun to say the least.  My former classmates (who are mostly all finding work) observe that it isn't really me that is the problem, but more that I am kind of a nobody due to the guy I worked for.  I wish I had known enough to foresee the career problems when I was picking advisors...I was a bit uninformed as to how things work.

It has not been fun struggling to find postdoc work. It is about to the point where despite my passion for and interest in academics and research, it is time to quit dreaming and find something else to do with my life.  The thing is, my fiscal situation changed right as I was graduating.  I have come into money enough to fund myself as a postdoc.  Is this even possible or professionally acceptable?  I'm not really interested in comments that say "hey, why don't you just enjoy your money instead" or things of that nature.  What I want to know is if someone who would be qualified, but doesn't have any connections, can get into some research group or find someone to work with by having their own private fellowship/private research money that they would bring to the table (i.e. enough to pay salary and contribute to research costs).  I've no intention (nor the money) to become a 'private scientist' the rest of my life, it's just that I could afford to swallow the costs of supporting myself as a postdoc in order to get my career started, and without a step like this I don't know that it will ever work out in academic research.  I would love any advice on this topic.

[totoro]

You said you got interviews. So not everyone is throwing your CV away. So it can't be your advisor is sabotaging your chances to that degree. i.e there is something you can improve or it's just bad luck. What you are looking for is to be a "research associate" or "visiting fellow" and have the institutional connection and facilities to apply for your own grants etc. I would probably put it that way. That said I'm not in a lab field so my advice doesn't count for much.

[mleok]

In my STEM field, it isn't uncommon to see people come with their own funding, but these tend to be personal fellowships or scholarships from their home countries, as opposed to personal funds. If the person looks like they have the relevant background and experience, and have competence in the experimental techniques employed in the group, then in all honesty, the bar to being accepted into the group is lower than if I had to fund their position fully.

Ultimately, it doesn't hurt to ask if someone is willing to take you on in the first year as an unpaid postdoc, but do make sure that you will work closely with the PI to put together a grant proposal that if funded would support you in subsequent years. The danger with unfunded positions is that the PI is less invested in ensuring that you develop professionally and are successful, so you need to keep your wits about you, and use the leverage of your personal funds to get into a postdoc that will serve your professional needs well, don't just settle for anything.

[offthemarket]

You're at the stage in your career where you need to build your own network and contacts.

If there is a lab you'd like to postdoc in, then you should chat with the PI and see if it's possible. If you're willing to work in the lab without a salary, and they think you'd make a contribution, I think most reasonable people would have you as long as you commit to taking it seriously. I'd phrase this more as starting out in the lab without funding, and that you'd plan to land a grant in the next year or two...

[aprilmay]

I cannot know all the details of your situation so it is hard to say, but a postdoc paid by personal funds seems a bad idea. Any postdoc advisor who really wants you, and is really good, will pay you. This will be very difficult to explain to a potential postdoc advisor or future employers. I would never take such a postdoc and would find it odd if one asked.

[sagit]

I cannot know all the details of your situation so it is hard to say, but a postdoc paid by personal funds seems a bad idea. Any postdoc advisor who really wants you, and is really good, will pay you.

I don't agree with this.  Just because a postdoc advisor really wants said candidate doesn't mean they have have the money to do so.  Maybe this hypothetical PI already has a post doc or two.  It doesn't me he or she wouldn't want another potential post doc.  There have been times that I've had more really good grad students that I would love to take on but I didn't have funding for that many.

This will be very difficult to explain to a potential postdoc advisor or future employers. I would never take such a postdoc and would find it odd if one asked.

I agree with this as trying to explain this to someone you don't know would be difficult.  It would better if the potential post-doc advisors were people that the OP already knew in some capacity. I'm not sure that it would be as much of a problem for future employers IF the OP can get some grant funding (and thus not really need to explain the odd initial time).  On the other hand, if the OP can get enough pubs and grants and good letters of rec, then having a year of self-funded post doc shouldn't make that much of a difference.

[aprilmay]

I cannot know all the details of your situation so it is hard to say, but a postdoc paid by personal funds seems a bad idea. Any postdoc advisor who really wants you, and is really good, will pay you.

I don't agree with this.  Just because a postdoc advisor really wants said candidate doesn't mean they have have the money to do so.  Maybe this hypothetical PI already has a post doc or two.  It doesn't me he or she wouldn't want another potential post doc.  There have been times that I've had more really good grad students that I would love to take on but I didn't have funding for that many.

I just meant that a good advisor in a good lab is going to try to pay you, and that a good postdoc position is paid.

[threefive]

I'm a condensed matter physicist, and I would jump at the chance to grab a post-doc with their own funding. I could care less where it came from.

That said, funding your own post-doc in the sciences would be highly unusual, and I'm not sure how my University would even handle such a thing. But as far as explaining it to a hiring committee in the future, or what it would look like on your CV, it shouldn't look any different than a normal post-doc. We'd probably create an unfunded position with the title "Postdoctoral Research Scholar" or something. You'd have a formal position for which we just wouldn't pay you. In that case, you would never have to mention where the funding for your post-doc came from. You'd just state on your CV "Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Condensed Matter Physics, Random University (2012-2013)."

Your problem is that you haven't built up much of a network, and asking random strangers for non-paying jobs would be initially weird. But like I said, after being kind of confused for a minute, I'd actually see if it would even be possible at my University. I would then try to advise you against it.

[aprilmay]

I'm a condensed matter physicist, and I would jump at the chance to grab a post-doc with their own funding. I could care less where it came from.

That said, funding your own post-doc in the sciences would be highly unusual, and I'm not sure how my University would even handle such a thing. But as far as explaining it to a hiring committee in the future, or what it would look like on your CV, it shouldn't look any different than a normal post-doc. We'd probably create an unfunded position with the title "Postdoctoral Research Scholar" or something. You'd have a formal position for which we just wouldn't pay you. In that case, you would never have to mention where the funding for your post-doc came from. You'd just state on your CV "Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Condensed Matter Physics, Random University (2012-2013)."

Your problem is that you haven't built up much of a network, and asking random strangers for non-paying jobs would be initially weird. But like I said, after being kind of confused for a minute, I'd actually see if it would even be possible at my University. I would then try to advise you against it.

I would wonder why they could not get a fellowship or paid position.

[threefive]

I would wonder why they could not get a fellowship or paid position.

I would wonder that, as well. Postdocs in condensed matter aren't that hard to find. But a decent CV and an explanation like that posted by the OP, and I might consider it, since it costs me very little. But, sometimes you do get what you pay for.

It is a way better proposition than the dozens of random emails I get per year from complete strangers asking if they can postdoc in my lab, when I have yet to land that kind of funding.

[sgerm]

Thank you all for the interesting opinions you have provided. 

It is hard to get a fellowship or a paid postdoc position when you have zero professional network aside from your advisor.  My advisor told me last week he hasn't had *voicemail* in ~three months due to some obscure technical problem...that's the kind of situation I'm dealing with.  I still am very fond of my advisor, but he can't be leaned on for anything besides a letter of recommendation, and sometimes not even that (god knows how many people may have tried calling him this fall only to never get in touch...he doesn't spend a lot of time in his the office anymore).  His name isn't big, and he cannot introduce me to anyone and certainly doesn't know anyone in CM well enough to know they are looking for a postdoc.  I got a good technical education with him, but the situation is exactly as threefive said, I haven't got much of a network.  I have a degree, but so does everyone else at this level, and I've got my name on some papers, but so does everyone else, and my papers never contained results interesting enough to make other people notice me.  One of the main reasons I need to do a postdoc is to get experience on projects *besides* what I did as a graduate student...

threefive, you say you would advise *against* such an idea even though you would be interested in taking on such a position....could you offer more advice?

I'm currently doing the teaching-position application circuit, and I'm sure that I will get one of them.  Not having done a postdoc though makes it very difficult to get better teaching positions.

[totoro]

My advisor told me last week he hasn't had *voicemail* in ~three months due to some obscure technical problem...

I don't know how to get voicemail from my phone in the office and my phone number is wrong on our department website (it is correct in the university directory). This forces people to e-mail me, which I like.

[greyscale]

That sounds very frustrating, sgerm. It also sounds like the frustration might be affecting how you present yourself. Are your results actually "not interesting enough to make other people notice you"? Any chance that negative perspective is sneaking its way into your interview talks?

Anyway, that's not really what you asked.

My grad school lab had a self-funded scientist. His official status was "visiting researcher." He made a pile of money in finance after he got his PhD, then wanted to come back to science. He published some very influential methods while he was in our lab.

My current university prohibits self-funded postdocs, but it might be possible to be an self-paid visiting scholar without the official postdoc status and benefits. They do also have formal rules about visiting scholar appointments, which include:
-you must be visiting from another institution
-you must have funding equal to the minimum postdoc salary

I know good scientists who will only take fellowship-funded postdocs into their labs. That is in part because they are already funding too many people, but also because if someone won a competitive fellowship, they're a good bet. If you do want to fund yourself, you could probably find a way to present it succinctly when you apply, and it might get you through the first filter, but you'll have to be careful about how you describe it.

But, where are your other letter-writers in all this? Your thesis committee members? If your advisor won't make phone calls on your behalf, will someone else do it instead?

[aprilmay]

It is hard to get a fellowship or a paid postdoc position when you have zero professional network aside from your advisor. 

The idea that it is your advisor's job to get you a postdoc is only part of the picture. I do work hard to get my students positions, but I expect them to also work on their own as well. Get networking. Talk to other professors. I have hired many postdocs who contacted me directly, not through their advisors. If you have "zero professional network aside from your advisor" that is something that you need to fix. Research which labs you would like to join and email the professors. At conferences, talk to professors and also other students. Good luck.