Grace Said:

would a CFA help me in building my real estate development career?

We Answered:

Honestly I don't think so, but it couldn't hurt and having the knowledge from the courses may help. As you mentioned, hard work and on the job training are best. Hey if you really want some experience go buy a place, fix it up and rent it out. You'll get experience and (hopefully) make some money to boot.

Doris Said:

Postdoc training in "Undergrad Curriculum development & assessment", is it easier to...?

We Answered:

Before you read the below, I'd like to say that if you believe the opportunity will allow for intellectual growth or is in an area sufficiently interesting to you, it may be worthwhile even if it doesn't help you in landing a job in the future. But if you have doubts as to the quality of the position, and from your question it sounds like you do, then I'd steer clear:

About half of Ph.D.s choose this route of career progression, often in order to obtain a faculty position; however, a very large percentage of post-docs never achieve this. In the USA, about one-third of post-doctorates go on to be a member of the faculty at a university.

In the UK 93% of research-only staff in universities are on fixed term contracts - the second highest proportion for any industry after catering.

The common 'lore' is that before entering certain fields, a post-doc appointment may be a necessary step in order to gain greater knowledge and experience, make connections, and build a name for oneself in research circles.

However the conditions of employment for many post-docs are often very poor. Some typical problems raised are:

1. There are no job duties or job descriptions given for a postdoctoral fellow.
2. The employment of the fellow is salaried and 'at will' well below industry salaries.
3. Fellows can be expected to work very long hours (although the same may be expected of many recent graduates working in industry).
4. A postdoctoral fellow is not typically given the status and benefits of institutional employees, even though they often perform the same functions at a severely reduced rate.
5. Postdoctoral appointments last from 1-5 years on average with a decreasing yield of between 17-20% of postdoctoral fellows obtaining a permanent faculty position.
6. The valued currency of a postdoctoral fellow is often the prestige of publication, which is often at the whim and control of their employer. Cases occur where the lecturer in charge of the project will publish the research done by their post-doc without acknowledging the person who did the work.
7. The fixed term nature of the employment means post-docs are particularly vulnerable to bullying and unreasonable demands.

To quote the President of the University of Southern California, “One of the reasons postdocs have become increasingly popular is because a postdoc is less expensive than a PhD student--you have to pay the PhD students' tuition plus a $15,000 stipend. And the postdoc spends 80 hours a week or more on research while the PhD has to go to class. That makes postdocs very, very attractive.”

In traditional lore a postdoctoral fellowship may also be seen as a valuable tool to distinguish oneself from other candidates when entering the job market. Such appointments are often the "stepping stone" whereby a graduate student can improve their publication record and hence progress to a permanent position.

In many academic fields, post-doctoral appointments — traditionally optional — have become mandatory as tenure-track positions are simply unavailable for those who have not completed post-doctoral or adjunct positions. Without post-doctoral experience, most fresh doctorates lack the connections and prominence needed to secure a better academic job.

As the doctorate degree is, by definition, the highest awarded in a field, no degree is given at the completion of a post-doctorate position. Some postdoctorate positions share more in common with low-paid adjunct jobs than continuing education. In some fields (especially life sciences) in some countries, like the United States of America, there are so many graduates that post-doctoral work is almost necessary.

Often academics will take a succession of post-doctoral positions before achieving a faculty position or leaving academia.