I have couple of offers for a visiting assistant professor (VAP) and for post-doc positions. I'm debating which to choose. I'm finalizing my PhD now at a top 50 R1 school in engineering. The VAP positions are at top 20 private liberal arts colleges. The two post-docs positions are one at my current university and another one at a top 30 R1 university. To be honest, I started applying for tenure track (TT) positions two months ago in February (I know it was already late! But I had some serious change of plans). I'm debating whether to go for a VAP or post-doc (at my school, since my research area is very new) position. I feel that I will get a better chance of getting some interviews during the next cycle of applying to TT positions (when I start applying in Aug/Sep.).
Here are few facts that might be useful;
- My goal is to go for a TT position (R1 university).
- Publication record is high (about 3 times higher than the average number of publications for a fresh PhD graduate in my field)
- My current advisor is famous (he started my research area), basically I feel that my recommendation letters are good!
- I'm not worried about salary/benefits (since both positions are not TT)
- Received multiple awards/fellowships during my PhD
- Proposal/Grant funding writing abilities - average (not very experienced)
- I have heard from multiple people that getting a VAP for 1-2 years might look bad/questionable on a CV on the contrary to having a post-doc.
Any help/comments/experiences/suggestions shared will be much appreciated.