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I have been accepted for postdoc position. According the detail of postdoc

the successful candidate will begin in January 2019

What does it mean? Can I start my work at any time of January? Am I right?

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    We have no idea what your contract says and what does your employer expect. So you have the ask the employer instead of overthinking it. It's a straightforward and valid question that does not cause any harm to ask.
    – user68958
    Dec 15, 2018 at 19:49
  • It may be flexible, esp. given the phrasing, but the best course of action is I think to ask whoever is your point of contact in the institution.
    – Clement C.
    Dec 15, 2018 at 19:49

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I would presume that you have to inquire with the lab/director/hiring manager/program manager to fix the actual start date by mutual agreement. You can't normally just choose unilaterally, and they may have a fixed date in mind. In general, the hiring entity decides on the employee's start date.

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In my experience (Western Europe), this means "on the first working day in January". You could try to discuss with the professor if you can start at a later day — this may or may not be possible. (In my experience, some professors also give you the first days "unofficially" off — for relocation, which is sadly often necessary for postdoc positions.)

Good luck!

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  • It could be "first eligible working day" too. Some places have mandatory onboarding/safety training, which isn't necessarily offered every week.
    – Anyon
    Dec 15, 2018 at 20:51
  • Interesting, I've never heard about this in the context of university employees. Thank you for the comment!
    – Hatschu
    Dec 15, 2018 at 20:53

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