As the Genomic Repairman tells it, his move from writing his thesis to defending it and starting his postdoc was a blur.
He writes at his blog that he was able to get his "thesibeast" done in about a month and a half of full-time writing, followed by rounds of editing by adhering to an outline and a writing schedule. He didn't though spend quite as much time polishing his presentation for his public seminar, but he notes that he'd given versions of the talk during multiple interviews for postdoc positions — because as he was tying up loose ends, he was also searching for his next position.
"For me I knew I wanted to do a postdoc in order to expand my knowledge base and skill sets," he says.
He recounts sending out numerous inquiries and attributes his success in getting responses, even those of the 'sorry-I'm-out-of-funding' variety, to sending personalized emails to everyone and having an application packet that included a personalized cover letter, CV, and a copy of his in-press manuscript. "I had all kinds of interviews...less than 24 hours on site, three days there, Skype interviews, phone interviews, you name it, I did it," he says. "Dinner with the PI, dinner with the grad students, nice PIs, standoffish PIs that try to elicit a response from you, it was like Patty Hearst in the bank video...all a blur. But I was there."
And now, he says, he's ensconced in a new lab, adjusting, but learning new techniques.