Advertising for science/engineering postdocs

[PI]

What are some of the best places you have found to advertise for science/engineering postdocs? I have not had great results from places like linkedin so far compared to some other sites. Perhaps I need to pay more on linkedin to reach suitable candidates directly (never tried that). I am not a fan of how the funds deplete with the number of applicants (most of them not a good match)  that view your ad. 

Are there any sites that you know of where you can reach a wider range of candidates (both local and international)? For example, I rarely had candidates from places like Japan with my usual announcement sites. For clarity, I am in the US.

[mamselle]

Having not ever been in a position to seek a postdoc in the field, but a) Having done a lot of temping and casting my own CV wide for adjuncting, at various points, and b) Having advertised for same for labs where an international hire needed to be supported with a brief search to be sure no-one else could qualify for the position, I'd say:

1) Linked-In never worked for me as an aspiring EA--nor, in fact, for any of my other work (teaching, arts, history, etc.). I got a few nibbles but nothing substantial. Others I know say the same. It's ok as a "Twitter-lite" sharing platform and "toot-your-own-horn" site, but I rarely get an email from them about anything I'd seriously consider, even now.

And we never used them when advertising lab positions. I see a lot of former co-employees from labs I worked at on the site, but I never heard them say it was useful either.

2) The sites I do see activity from that is more reliable and useful include:

Monster
Indeed
Your own school's HR/employment site
Focused agencies that deal with lab-related, science-y topics (Kelly Scientific is the oldest, there are others)
Your local newspaper (might be moot, this was the go-to site we used when doing international hires, but we did get applicants)
The honorary society/ies active in your field often maintain a website with postings
Word of mouth (tell ten friends at a conference)
Some annual conferences maintain a jobs board
A few journals used to have an online website from which they tried to develop a following by creating a jobs board
    --- (I don't know if they worked or not, I'd left that line of work as they were getting started)
Some journals just had a listings section in the print edition, don't know if that's continued after the online migration and the above efforts

There are probably more focused ones now, these are just brainstorming suggestions, some of which might be outdated by now.

A good problem to have, at least.

M.

[doc700]

My postdoc advisor directly emailed me and asked me if I was interested.  He was a close collaborator of my PhD advisor.

Personally I've only hired one postdoc, but I made a position description and emailed it to people I know in the field.  I asked them to share it with students in their group about to graduate or others they might know looking for a position.  I get a lot of these emails from colleagues as well.  In addition, when presenting at a conference, I added a little "postdoc openings contact XX" with my email address at the end of my talk. 

I have also tried hard to make connections with senior grad students in my area.  COVID makes it harder since there are not in person conferences but I've certainly kept in touch with students from my PhD group etc.  Presumably you only need to hire 1 - a few postdocs total so you don't need a huge number of applicants, you need a few very qualified interested applicants. 

What are some of the best places you have found to advertise for science/engineering postdocs? I have not had great results from places like linkedin so far compared to some other sites. Perhaps I need to pay more on linkedin to reach suitable candidates directly (never tried that). I am not a fan of how the funds deplete with the number of applicants (most of them not a good match)  that view your ad. 

Are there any sites that you know of where you can reach a wider range of candidates (both local and international)? For example, I rarely had candidates from places like Japan with my usual announcement sites. For clarity, I am in the US.

[Vkw10]

You need to post somewhere on a job board or association mailing list to meet HR requirements, but I'd also email your job posting to 6-12 relevant Ph.D. program departments and ask them to forward to faculty or graduate student mailing list. Send it to the graduate coordinator in department or the administrative assistant. If you maintain a social media presence, a quick comment like, "Help me recruit a great post-doc in ..... See posting at ...." will alert your professional contacts who may have students looking for post docs.

[mamselle]

An agency I forgot about, and just remembered because they sent me a local lab posting like those you describe, is Axelon:

   www.axelon.com

Although I agree the word-of-mouth process is more likely to net a better-known quantity with less filtering needed in most cases.

M.

[Hibush]

Emailing people in your network is probably the most conventional way. Everyone does it, and it has benefits for both sides.

Society newsletters and job boards can be good as well.

Back to the professional societies. Look at grad student and postdocs presentations that seem really strong. Email the student or postdoc who presented.

[Durchlässigkeitsbeiwert]

Currently I see student/post-doc positions filled using the following algorithm:
1) post position description on the university / research group's site
2) tweet the link
3) ask people in your network to re-tweet it or add to the link to the department / group / association's newsletter