Postdoc dilemma: Top department vs. top researcher I'm a mathematics PhD student looking for a postdoc position in the US, and I currently have two job offers:


Offer A is from a top department, but while they have some good researchers working in my field, they're certainly not the top researchers in that field.
Offer B is from a good but lesser ranked department, BUT they have one of the top researchers in my field (I would rank him among the top 3).


I tend to believe that I'll be equally productive in both places. Given this information, I have the following questions:


Which is going to be more helpful when I'll start looking for a tenure-track position: Having that top department being mentioned on my CV or having a good reference letter from that top researcher in the lesser ranked department?
Are there any other factors that I should consider when I choose between the offers?
Would you be publishing with that top researcher? If yes, you will probably produce more cited publications in better journals with better impact. Nobody cares about departments when it comes to publications, if there is a person whose name they recognize. Otherwise it is all about department, because as an average researcher you do not deserve a personal slot in anyone's mind. You will be assumed to be the mean of that department.

The effect is actually really small because academia is meritocracy. After you have merits you will be evaluated based on those. If I feel busy or lazy, I may skip a paper that does not look good after a quick eyeing if I do not see any seals of quality, such as a researcher I recognize or a department that has the good stuff on average. Also the top journals matter. So the point is that when you are under a rigorous evaluation for your future positions in Tenure Track, they will read you papers and make the decisions based on those. But you will have a slightly better metrics on those papers if you publish with a top researcher or you are from a top department, you might have a small advantage because people are slightly more likely to read your paper. But if you make it to the top journals or produce high quality publications it does not really matter.