To some people, the journey from school to post-doc must seem like a ridiculously long one. Looking back, I realise that the only thing I ever really disliked during all those years was that ‘perpetual student’ tag. But eventually I gained the respect of my nearest and dearest. ‘You mean, you've actually got people working for you!’, my brother once exclaimed, clearly impressed. I had just mentioned one of the undergraduate project students I was supervising in the lab. It suddenly dawned on me that, yes, I now have my own people: a couple of students and a part-time technician. But, if the idea of an extra pair of hands or two is appealing, it nonetheless needs careful consideration. You need to recruit someone worthwhile – so how can you improve your chances of attracting the golden candidates from amongst the undergraduate and Masters student population? And, when you've got them, how do you make best use of their time?

During your Ph.D. you probably showed undergraduate students or fellow post-grads how to use equipment or learn a new technique, but directing what research someone else does is a different kind of challenge. As a post-doc and fully paid-up researcher, you should be in the business of collecting growing lists of possible experiments. But, with the prospect of an extra pair of hands, how do you decide what on your list is worth ‘putting up’ for an undergraduate or master's degree project?