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Before entering certain fields, a post-doc appointment may be a necessary step in order to gain greater knowledge and experience, make connections, and build a name for oneself in research circles. It may also be seen as a valuable tool to distinguish oneself from other candidates when entering the job market. Such appointments are often the "stepping stone" whereby a graduate student can improve his or her publication record and hence progress to a permanent academic post.
In many academic fields, post-doctoral appointments-- traditionally optional-- have become mandatory as tenure-track positions are simply unavailable for those who have not completed post-doctoral or adjunct positions. Without post-doctoral experience, most fresh doctorates lack the connections and prominence needed to secure a better academic job.
As the doctorate degree is, by definition, the highest awarded in a field, no degree is given at the completion of a post-doctorate position. At any rate, postdoctorate positions share more in common with low-paid adjunct jobs than continuing education. The recent bust of the academic job market has not only made post-doctoral work almost necessary, rather than optional, but has also required many academics to take second and third post-doctoral positions, some of whom bitterly remark that they have been relegated to a "permanent post-doc" status. This is not surprising, given that universities' exploitative intentions result in a dearth of tenure-track jobs; postdoctorates work for much lower wages than full professors, despite pressure to work as hard if not harder than tenured faculty.