>>14365215We've hired people who got their PhD and did a postdoc for about 6 months before applying. It's all about how you carry yourself and why you left your postdoc. For the instance I'm thinking of it was someone who didn't have much of an interest in doing a postdoc and wanted to get into industry but accepted the postdoc position so they could apply for jobs. Not necessarily the best sign but they were clearly a good candidate. Best way to deal with it is to be open about it.
Our interviews (for masters and PhDs) have essentially two parts: A technical presentation and then a typical behavioral question portion.
Deal breakers we see are people who clearly don't 'get' their research. You'll have someone who had a PI that spoon fed them a project and it's obvious when they can't answer basic questions. Publications count isn't super critical since we aren't in academia but still having no publications is a red flag.
Don't have anything on your resume or CV you aren't prepared to talk about, even if it seems minor to you.
In terms of behavioral questions, I've never been great at feeling out a candidate based on them but you should have an anecdote for any situational question you're asked.
This is all from an industry perspective. If you're looking for a role in academia it's entirely different.
