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[walkingtree]

I did a postdoc interview before and one of the interviewers asked me if I could bring in funding for the program. It sounded demanding for a two year job. Are postdocs expected to bring in grants and contributions? Is this often expected?

[ruralguy]

Well, the snarky answer would be "It sure seems so, if he asked you that!"

I would say that even for STEM its a little unusual to expect you to come into a position with experience obtaining grants.
However, in two of my post-docs, I did indeed end up writing grant proposals (I wasn't successful). That was about 10-15 years ago in a physical science. It didn't seem to be terribly unusual, though we weren't asking for big bucks---just a bit more money for computations,
data assistants, and a tad for own salaries, etc. I think he's telegraphing to you the sort of thing I ended up doing---in that position, if you intend to stay for a bit, you will have to write grant proposals. So, he just wants to see if you have already done it.

I think in bio fields, its even more common for post-docs to get this sort of experience.

[fayefaye]

I do think some STEM folks expect postdocs to be competitive for NIH awards, such as K99's and such. Knowing of course how probabilistic things are.

[sagit]

I think this depends a lot on the field.

[polly_mer]

I know lots of people who write grants as postdocs as part of the learning process.  I know very few who started their postdocs by bringing money with them.

[kron3007]

I helped write a few grant proposals during Grad school (biology), one of which was funded.  I have met grad students that were responsible for obtaining their own research funding by applying for grants.  I personally think this takes it too far and you end up with a lot of exceptionally long degrees, but it is a valuable experience for when your potential postdoc employer asks so that you can provide evidence grant writing. 

I am now about 1 year into my postdoc and have participated in writing three grants (one declined, two submitted), and applied for 2 fellowships (one declined, one in review).  It is a good experience for everyone, I am getting valuable experience and my boss gets help preparing grants, a lot of which is very tedious.

If you dont have grant writing experience you will need to show your potential.  If you have received competitive scholarships, these would be good examples to mention.

     

[mozman]

If you are not writing grants as a post-doc, you are wasting your post-doc. 

I wrote 90% of my advisers R01 as a post-doc.  Left the lab before it was funded and never saw a penny of it.  Still the best training I could have gotten.

[mleok]

If you're in a field where grantsmanship is expected, then learning how to write a successful grant is indeed an extremely valuable experience. In particular, this involves:

i. learning the mechanics of the process;
ii. reflecting on the long term direction of your research;
iii. translating that long term vision into a proposal that addresses the needs of the funding agency (important).

I was fortunate enough to be in a postdoc appointment wherein I was PI eligible, and was funded with a NSF grant towards the end of my first year, which helped tremendously in my tenure-track search the second year: 7 campus interviews, 3 offers.

When I write letters of recommendation for my postdocs, I always mention any grant writing experience they have had while working with me.