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Our own awareness of our primary driving force is perhaps of greatest help when we need to make tough career decisions.

"My reputation in the eyes of the very people who could determine my future may be at stake, but we postdocs would be very foolish indeed if we only pursued one opportunity at a time."

Whilst I deliberate on my next move, the view from this narrow ledge is interesting.

Now is the time to make the most of getting published, even while unpaid.

I am using the time wisely and, right now, I feel like I'm the lucky one

Fancy having a Ph.D. and not being able to get a job!

Temporary unemployment presents an unparalleled chance for change and for wiping your slate clean.

We postdocs, all of us, live under the recurrent if not constant threat of a more or less major career meltdown; a run of bad luck can spell disaster.

This slimmed-down lab notebook means I don't have to waste hours every week neatly writing lengthy prose describing every detail of what I have done.

True, we might not have nice bonuses or many of the other benefits that more commercially employed citizens have, but we may have very some real - if not so obvious - fringe benefits.

In the game of science, we need to be calculated risk takers, consciously trying to get into scoring positions.

Don't be afraid to be your own advocate; aim your sales pitch at the right people and win their confidence.

The downtime between projects is a rare and precious momentary mental freedom.

We can look at things in a fresh way. ... Originality of thought is our greatest unsung quality.

My euphoria at being a scientist raises the disturbing question of how I might cope with, well, not being a scientist anymore.

I successfully figured out an incomprehensible map of the underground while wondering who would be in the audience and if they would subject me to a tough interrogation.

"Whatever means you choose to get ahead in the technology stakes you have one important barrier to overcome: the peer-review system."

A key indicator of your ‘lab cred’ is whether people you’ve never met know who you are when you first meet them.

"Push on to complete individual tasks rather than spinning plates, because task completion equals your stress level coming down a notch or two."

"There is always a local wave to catch (often with some money floating in it), and you need to get yourself and your surfboard right in there."