Interviewing for a post-doc position. it's easy as it sounds. or not.

So, it's that time of the graduate school where on one hand you try to finish up your experiments, trying to complete that puzzle called "thesis" and on the other hand you try to find a post-doc position so you can keep living a decent (and by decent I mean surviving, not having a decent life) life. Yep, I'm in that situation and hopefully will brave it through. 

So far, I have contacted two labs. One of them is in London, a cold and rainy place with cute brits and their cool accents. PI said he wants me (mind you, we had met during a 2 week long course and I had the chance to show him how awesome I am) but alas, he does not have the necessary funding to cover me. Well, sounds familiar? Seems like everyone is in the same situation nowadays with the current economic downfall. I really hope the NIH stimulus package helps a lot of PIs out there struggling to survive in these times, but that's another post. So, unless I can find a fellowship, that's not really going to work for me. 

Another one is in the US of A and a very nice place indeed. The school is one of finest schools and the PI does what I really want to do in terms of research. I met her during her visit to my gradschool for a seminar. We got along really well, and even though at first I wasn't thinking about doing a post-doc with her, her seminar was fantastic and well, we got along really well. I think, and I'm sure most of you do as well, it is very important to get along with your PI as you're gonna be working with that person for a very long time. 

So anyways, I will be going to the nice place next week for an interview. I've been working on my presentation for the last week and I think it's coming along nicely. I'm trying to make the story clear, concise and flowy as much as I can. I know the research from my heart and I'm sure I'll do a fine job in terms of presenting it (I spent couple of years on stage dancing, singing and acting so it really helps with standing in front of a crowd and bullshit your way through the presentation). 

Since, I've already met her and if I do a fine job with the presentation, I'm really hopeful that I can actually get the position. Cross your fingers people. I'll keep you posted. 

Oh and, a huge thank you is going to PiT for writing a post about interviewing for a post-doc position. Go read it here . It's insightful and the comments are also great to read as well.