On my CV, what will be the best way to present the 5 months gap since defending my PhD and the official start of the postdoc appointment? I defended my Ph.D. in December last year. I was supposed to start my Postdoc position (with my Ph.D. supervisor) from March but the immigration documents got delayed by over 3 months because of the lockdowns. Earlier my appointment was decided for a year from March 2020 to February 2021. But after receiving the immigration documents last month, my appointment officially starts on June 1st, 2020.
I have been working on my Ph.D. Manuscripts since February and also worked on some new collaborative projects since.
Should I put postdoctoral researcher as my designation in CV since February 2020 or is it illegal to put the designation before the official appointment begins? If not the former one, what can I put in my CV to show the time from February to May? Casual researcher? Research scholar?
I was not paid during the period (January to May). My now Postdoc advisor (earlier PhD advisor) has told me that she can write in my recommendation letters that I was a postdoc since February, if needed.
I doubt that five months needs any explanation at all, especially at the present time. But, unless you are in an unusual legal system, &quot;postdoctoral&quot; is a descriptive not a legal term. &quot;Independent researcher&quot; also works.
But a line in the CV suggesting &quot;Independent collaborative research&quot; would seem to me to cover it well and also be positive.
In interviews and discussions you can go in to the visa and pandemic issues.