Hello! I have a career problem and need urgent advice from post doctorals. I was offered a position at one of the very good universities of UK to work on clinical trial but as research technician eventhought the salary is a bit higher than first time post doctoral. Some info about me i finished my phd 9 months ago, applied to a lot of post doctorals, had quite a few interviews, got pretty good feedback for those, not many publications (4), and on in preparation but not a job yet.
So, this position is quite good as there is the chance for a few publications in a year not only for the research for the position but from additional projects in the lab that I will be also working on and the prospect to write my own grant for a post doctoral position (they did told me). So, my problem is: should i take this position even though it is not a post doc or no and qontinue looking for post doctorals with the possibility that i wont be hired ever. By the way I want to stay in academia and try to get a lecturer career in the distant future. Would that be a problem on my CV when I will apply for a post doc? Would that affect my chances to get a post doc in the near future? In the lab that they offered me the position they know that I want a post doc and they told me that they are really encouraging me to write my own grant and help me. And from an unofficial talk that i had with a friend that knows the lab professor he told that they wont have a problem giving me a reference as research associate. what do you think? all advice and opinions welcome and much appreciated it. Thanks in advance.

Take the job, the job market at the moment is not the best. Plus from what I understand they are offering you, you will get the chance to write papers, and even a funding proposal. It will be the first step on the ladder as a lot of employers will prefer to take on someone with actual experience. If you take the job and do not like it you can even continue to look for other jobs whilst working. It is an opportunity that you should not pass up as there are a lot of others who have graduated from there PhD who will not think twice about saying yes.:-)

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