Some people take one look at a menu and know exactly what they want. But at every table there's one person who looks at the menu and freezes. They make lists of possibilities, including back-ups in case a dish has run out. They come up with formulas that take into account their affinity for each ingredient and when they last ate a similar dish. Invariably they have a few food allergies too.

When you're a grad student, picking a postdoc is like choosing dinner at a particularly huge restaurant. The menu is daunting, and factoring in each ingredient just makes it worse. Should you try the new field you keep reading about (read: Chilean sea bass) or one you've tried before (read: salmon)? Should you choose the lab that addresses interesting questions with novel techniques (read: sous vide) or familiar favourites (read: roast)? Is now the time to see whether that allergy to cnidarians was just a phase?

Choosing a postdoc has one notable advantage over restaurant dilemmas: you can apply to more than one place — like taking a taste of all the dishes that intrigue you. Graduate school has made me better at making informed decisions, but deciding on a postdoc isn't going to come down to a magic formula. Still, having sent out application letters for positions this week, I will interact with each lab before committing to my future scientific sustenance.