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I am Canadian, and I had a postdoc interview in a Canadian university on-site late May. It was two days long. I gave two presentations and a 6 hour long hands-on lab demonstration. Prof. seemed satisfied with the results and said "thank you for the successful demonstration." During the interview, the professor also explained that she doesn't have a money problem but a people problem, as in finding the right people for the job.

Fast-forward to a month later, no news. So I send a follow up and get this reply "yes, we are positive on you for a position and we are still checking for some internal part for further official process." prof also send some questions about when is the earliest I could start and if I can abide by this and that lab rules, etc...

This was almost two months ago. Still no news. Did I get it, did I not? What's the hold up? I am very confused.

Update: I emailed the prof based on comments here and relayed my concerns over the lengthy process with no updates. The professor responded with a "conduct document" that I had to sign, which I did, but it seemed like I was being strung along. I decided to write off the position and continue searching for other jobs. Long story short, I have got the job after all. I am informed that an official job offer is being prepared for me right now. I will likely accept it, as I really like this research group and what they hope to achieve in their field. I would like to thank everyone for their replies. I believe it actually helped. I really think if I didn't follow some of the advice here (particularly about being patient and respectful), I wouldn't have gotten the job.

cag51
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Stdoggy
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  • "6 hour lab demonstration"!? Did you gave away in that and presentations and discussions a lot of experimental/methodological secrets? – user48953094 Aug 18 '19 at 16:53
  • In lab demo, certainly not. It was a routine synthesis but the prof and her team's background is very narrow while mine is very multi disciplinary. So what I did was still impressive for them. I did one presentation to the department and that was your routine expected stuff talking about what you have been doing. But they also asked for a mockup research proposal presentation, that one had original ideas. They don't strike me as idea thiefs tho. – Stdoggy Aug 18 '19 at 16:57

3 Answers3

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One possible scenario is that they have a preferred candidate, who has not yet accepted or rejected their offer.

Another possible scenario is that there is an uncertainty about funding. For example, they may be trying to hire you using some complicated scheme in which your position is co-funded by a third body. It takes time to organize such things. Or they may be waiting for an announcement of the outcome of their grant application submitted long ago. They may have decided to hire you anyway, but may not yet know which grant to fund your position from. Or they may have been unable to hire you in the intended way and may be looking for an alternative method to hire you.

It is rather a bad sign that they did not take the initiative to contact you and keep you updated, and such a delay seems to be too long to be caused by any official process unless this process is related to an application for some funding.

If I were you, I would be rather pessimistic and would send a frank email expressing my concern. I would ask them to frankly explain what is going on and to tell me the probability of me getting an official offer. I would also ask them when I should expect to receive an official offer. If I did not receive a convincing and credible response, I would immediately start looking for another position.

Sandra
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  • I am inclined to agree that official process shouldn't take this long. I will send the prof an email when I get the chance and ask about the status of my application. I have already started applying around. – Stdoggy Aug 17 '19 at 20:54
  • My advice is: Assume the worst and make a strong impression in your email that you consider yourself not to have gotten the position. Make an impression that you are giving them a chance to prove the opposite. I think this is the best way to find out the truth. – Sandra Aug 17 '19 at 20:57
  • That's a good advice. I will formulate my email in way. – Stdoggy Aug 17 '19 at 20:58
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    I've never heard of a preferred candidate being given two months to decide: if you allow your first choice that long, and they say no, there's a good chance that your second choice is no longer available. For comparison, I was recently offered a job and, on the same day, had a preliminary Skype interview for another position. The first position wanted a decision within two weeks; the second was going to take at least a month. While I could probably have negotiated a small extension to the two weeks, I'm not convinced about one month, and certainly not two. – David Richerby Aug 18 '19 at 09:27
  • @DavidRicherby Yes, it is unlikely that they gave someone two months to decide, but it is possible that they, for example, accidentally found a better candidate just one-and-a-half month ago. The candidate might be sending them positive signals, but be unsure about when he can start. Overall, the professor may be uncertain about two different things: the candidate choice and funding. I tried to make my answer exhaustive by mentioning both possibilities. – Sandra Aug 18 '19 at 09:48
  • That seems even less likely: finding a better candidate 1.5 months ago would require them to have (a) basically done nothing for two weeks after the asker's interview, for no reason; (b) be prepared to give the new candidate six-plus weeks to decide, even though they have a candidate that they like. – David Richerby Aug 18 '19 at 14:11
  • @DavidRicherby I agree, but the whole situation is pretty weird and abnormal. Any possible explanation assumes something that is not normally done (e.g., giving a preferred candidate too much time to decide, or not having enough funds, etc.). I cannot even exclude that the professor is still unsure whether he needs a postdoc at all. – Sandra Aug 18 '19 at 14:16
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The PI told you that you got the job, so you should contact them again. I'd suggest you start being more pressing, something along the lines of "I would like to know when the contract will start, since I have to make arrangements..."

It's quite common for the internal hiring process to take a long time so there's no reason to be alarmed, but you've been quite patient already. In case you have other opportunities available you can mention it, it might speed things up if they worry that they might lose you.

Erwan
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  • I am planning on sending an email and ask about status of my application. – Stdoggy Aug 17 '19 at 20:55
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    From the material in the question, it's not clear that the PI has offered a job. The phrase "we are positive on you" (Stdoggy -- is that a quote?) could mean either "We are certain about you" ("Are you sure?" "Positive.") or "We view you favourably" ("We have a positive opinion"). – David Richerby Aug 18 '19 at 09:24
  • Yeah, it was a direct quote. I am not interpreting her reply as a job offer but more like an intention or desire to hire. But something is holding back the process. I will still email to find out. 3 months is a long time to wait. – Stdoggy Aug 18 '19 at 11:27
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    In my experience it's unlikely that they would organize 2 days on-site interviews (expenses paid I guess?) without being 99% sure about the funding. And I interpret "we are positive on you" as a job offer: I agree that it's a bit ambiguous but I would expect an honest PI to be more careful if they are not sure or haven't decided yet. My guess is that the contract is simply stuck somewhere in the administration pipeline, it happens a lot. – Erwan Aug 18 '19 at 13:18
  • @Erwan "...an honest PI..." - Here's the catch. The PI in OP's case might be overly opportunistic. – lighthouse keeper Aug 18 '19 at 13:52
  • @erwan yeah, expenses paid. I just dont want to jump to a positive conclusion without seeing an official job offer. That's why I interpret that way. – Stdoggy Aug 18 '19 at 14:02
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    @lighthousekeeper Or might not be a native speaker. Or might be a native speaker who didn't notice that "we are positive on you" could be taken two different ways. – David Richerby Aug 18 '19 at 14:12
  • Prof is not a native speaker, but should have good enough English. Because.. Let's just say she is graduate of one of the top 5 universities in the world and lived in states for a long time. – Stdoggy Aug 18 '19 at 14:17
  • I interpret "we are positive on you" as a job offer Maybe, but it could also be a strained attempt at letting them down gently. Especially since this is Canada, where attempts at politeness sometimes get in the way of clear communication, I think it's possible the intended message was "We liked you, but not enough to offer you a job". – iayork Aug 19 '19 at 16:41
  • My money is still on the job offer interpretation because experienced academics are usually straightfoward if not blunt; it's a necessity when you're busy and deal with many people all the time. In any case it's very easy to clarify any potential ambiguity with an email. – Erwan Aug 19 '19 at 20:35
  • I have posted an update about this. Ambiguity is still there even after email communication. The prof basically refuses to give out information. – Stdoggy Aug 20 '19 at 01:31
  • @Stdoggy sorry I didn't see before I posted my comment, and sorry to hear that it turned out this way. I think you're right to look elsewhere then, it's not honest of them and in this case I would be wary to work with them even if turns out to be possible. – Erwan Aug 20 '19 at 10:06
  • @erwan no need to apologize. I posted update after your comment. I am just new on the website, I wasn't sure if commenters would see the update. So I mentioned it in a comment as well. – Stdoggy Aug 20 '19 at 12:27
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I am in a weird situation that I don't really know what this means.

Weird, perhaps, but not entirely uncommon. Something similar happened to me (for well over 3 months actually).

I had a postdoc interview on-site late May. It was two days long. I gave two presentations and a 6 hour long hands-on lab demonstration. Prof. seemed satisfied with the results and said "thank you for the successful demonstration."

If that was the peak of his/her reaction and engagement following your visit - s/he wasn't very impressed, or had some issues with you, or is kind of a cold fish (the latter is quite possible).

"yes, we are positive on you for a position and we are still checking for some internal part for further official process."

That sounds like "we're trying to get somebody else but we want to keep you on stand-by", honestly.

prof also send some questions about when is the earliest I could start and if I can abide by this and that lab rules, etc...

So, this sounds more positive, but then:

This was almost two months ago. Still no news. Did I get it, did I not?

Looks like you haven't gotten it. But - it's not certain. Sometimes academics, and academic institutions, act weirdly. So, you need to pester the Professor and/or the relevant administrator. Don't worry about the impression of you checking - it's perfectly acceptable. Be polite, of course. Also, when you ask for an update, ask more specific questions, either already on the first email or as a reply to their vague update.

einpoklum
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  • I appreciate you answer. But, was she supposed to do a backflip as an appreciation of my demonstration? I have synthesized two different kinds of piezoelectric nanomaterials and showed that they function as intended in a 6 hour span. Thanks for a successful demo is pretty important as it could very easily fail when you are synthesizing in a rush. – Stdoggy Aug 18 '19 at 16:46
  • @Stdoggy: I would expect something like a follow up like "why did you do X?" and "have you tried Y?" "does this also work when Z?" Also, note there was no praise in the feedback - no "impressive", no "I think the team really liked it" or anything like that. – einpoklum Aug 18 '19 at 19:09
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    I had got such questions, comments like "impressive", "wow" and etc... But I didn't mention it here as her declaring the demo "successful" feels more important to me. – Stdoggy Aug 19 '19 at 01:47