Ace Your Postdoctoral Job Interview: 78 Insightful Questions to Ask and Answer

Landing a postdoctoral position is a crucial stepping stone in your academic career, and the interview process can be a make-or-break moment. As a postdoctoral candidate, you need to be prepared to not only answer questions but also to pose insightful queries that demonstrate your knowledge, commitment, and compatibility with the role. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore 78 questions that you should be ready to address and ask during your postdoctoral job interview.

Questions You Might Be Asked

Starter Questions

1. How did you hear about this postdoc position?
2. What do you know about our work/research?
3. When did you complete your PhD? Or when do you plan to?

Questions About You

1. Tell us about yourself…
2. What is your best and worst quality?
3. What is your greatest strength and weakness?
4. How would your current PhD supervisor / coworkers / friends describe you?
5. What is your greatest accomplishment?

Questions About Your PhD

1. Tell us about your PhD…
2. Please tell us about your current position, your research background, and experience.
3. Describe your previous research project.
4. What did you particularly enjoy about this project?
5. What are the three main findings of your PhD? What are the top three accomplishments you had?
6. If you could do your PhD research again, what would you do differently?
7. We see you worked at ___ / in Dr. ___ laboratory, how was it? How did you contribute to their success?
8. How many first-author publications do you have?
9. Did you write your papers yourself? How much did you contribute to writing your papers?
10. What are the top journals you published in?

Questions About Your Motivations & Expectations

1. What is your favorite aspect about research? And your least favorite?
2. What particular areas of our research interest you most and why?
3. Why are you interested in this position? Why do you want to join our lab?
4. What do you hope to gain from a postdoc experience? Why did you decide to apply for a postdoc?
5. What are the top goals you hope to achieve during your postdoctoral experience?
6. What are your expectations for this postdoctoral position, if you are selected? What do you hope to learn?
7. Why did you decide to apply for this position?
8. What are you looking for in a job? What is important to you?
9. What motivates you?
10. Which technical skills do you hope to learn? What other professional skills?
11. Would you be open to applying for independent funding for your postdoc?
12. Why do(n’t) you want to continue your career in “academia/industry”?

Fit for the Postdoc Position

1. How does your research fit in with our work?
2. What collaborations/connections would you bring with you?
3. What do you think is the most important thing to make collaborations a success?
4. How do you see collaborations in your research/work?
5. What are the 2 or 3 most important things to you in a position?
6. You don’t really have much of a background in ___. How do you plan to fill in that gap? How do you feel about doing research outside your current area of expertise?
7. What do you understand about the description of the postdoctoral position we advertised?
8. Please describe research directions you would like to pursue if you were offered this postdoctoral position.
9. How will your PhD training help advance our research project on ___?
10. What do you think will be the most challenging part of this postdoctoral position?

Working Skills/Experience

1. Do you have any experience supervising students / technical staff?
2. Could you describe your leadership skills? Could you illustrate with a project in which you played a leadership role? What was the greatest challenge you encountered?
3. Could you describe a situation in which you had to motivate a student or coworker?
4. What specific techniques did you learn/use for your experiments to date?

Working Behavior/Reactions

1. How much time per week would you accept to spend in the lab?
2. How would you describe the pace at which you work?
3. How do you handle stress and pressure?
4. How quickly would you say you learn new techniques, concepts?
5. Please give an example of initiative.
6. Please describe a situation when your input made a difference.
7. Please describe a time when you had to set priorities to meet a deadline. How did you manage it?
8. Do you consider yourself organized?
9. Is your laboratory notebook carefully and clearly kept?
10. What is your working style? (team work, work hours, work ethic…)
11. Do you prefer to have a lot of supervision or to work independently?
12. What type of work environment do you prefer: working in a group or on your own? How do you feel about working independently?
13. Could you tell me about your problem-solving ability in the laboratory (with one example)?
14. Please tell us about a situation in which you were the only one to find a solution to a problem.
15. Tell me a situation when you had to disagree with a coworker or your supervisor. How did you proceed?
16. Please describe a situation where you had a conflict with another individual, and how you dealt with it.
17. Who is the worst person you’ve ever worked for/with, and what did you learn from the experience?

Career Objectives

1. How do you see your career in the future? What are your long-term career goals?
2. Do you hope to become a faculty member or work in industry?
3. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
4. How do you think this postdoctoral position will allow you to reach your professional goals?
5. What does success mean for you in your life?
6. Please describe one of the most significant goals you’ve set during your PhD and how you achieved it.
7. What are the top 3 goals you would like to achieve during your postdoc?

Questions for International Applicants

1. Are you authorized to work in the United States? How long?
2. Do you need to apply for a visa to work in the United States?

Questions Frequently Asked at the End of the Interview

1. When would you be able to start if you were offered this postdoc position?
2. Do you have any other questions about the postdoc position?
3. Do you have any questions for us?
4. What else should I know about you?
5. What other laboratories/universities/companies are you interviewing with?
6. What makes you think you are the best candidate for this postdoctoral position?

Other Random Questions

1. Please tell us about your extracurricular activities or volunteer work. Why did you choose those activities/work?
2. What is your current salary/compensation?

Questions You Should Ask

Interviewing is a two-way process, and you should be prepared to ask thoughtful questions that demonstrate your interest and compatibility with the position. Here are 35 questions you should consider asking during your postdoctoral job interview:

Questions About the Postdoctoral Position

1. What are the primary (and secondary) responsibilities of this postdoctoral position?
2. Do you have a specific project from your ongoing work, or should/could I design my own?
3. What are the main challenges associated with this position?
4. If I am selected for this postdoctoral position, what are the key objectives to be achieved in the first 6-12 months?
5. Does the position require teaching?

Questions About Lab Work Environment

1. How is work organized between lab members / other postdocs?
2. Do postdocs have their own project?
3. Does the lab work collaboratively or more independently on projects?
4. How long do postdocs generally stay in the lab?
5. What other labs / institutions would I be able to interact with/collaborate with?

Questions About PI Management Style

1. Please describe your management style with postdocs.
2. Are you easily available? How often are you in the lab?
3. Do you help postdocs in troubleshooting experiments?
4. How do you contribute to postdoc career development?
5. How do you evaluate postdoc performance?

Questions About Lab Organization

1. What is the size of the lab? How many lab members / postdocs / PhD students are in the lab?
2. Will I have research support from a lab manager / technician / student?
3. Do you hold regular lab meetings / institute presentations / individual meetings?

Questions About Funding Situation

1. Please describe the funding situation of the lab.
2. How many grants does the lab currently have? When are they due for renewal?
3. Do you have funding to cover this postdoctoral position? How long?
4. Do you have a fellowship available for this postdoc position?
5. Do you expect postdocs to get their own funding?
6. Would you help me apply for small grants or fellowships?
7. Do you currently have all resources/equipment for the postdoctoral work to be performed?
8. Do you have funds for attending scientific meetings, learning new techniques?

Questions About Former Postdocs in the Lab

1. Could you provide me with contact information from lab members / former postdocs?
2. Where did former postdocs from your lab move on to do? Faculty positions, independent research positions…?
3. How many papers did former postdocs publish?

Other Questions

1. If not done during a lab visit, ask to meet lab members and current postdocs?
2. Would you be open to the possibility for me to take my research project with me to start my own lab?
3. Would you help me with paying for moving expenses?
4. Could you send me a recent grant proposal so I can have further details of your research directions for the next 5 years?
5. Does the university / institution have a postdoc office / association?

Final Questions

1. When will you make a decision?

Remember, the key to a successful postdoctoral job interview is preparation. By thoroughly reviewing these questions, considering your responses, and formulating insightful queries of your own, you’ll demonstrate your enthusiasm, expertise, and dedication to the role. Good luck!