"In reviewing our survey materials, a number of people raised the concern that 'there is no standard definition of a postdoc'. Our findings: (1) a close look at existing definitions shows that they are all basically equivalent, and (2) fewer than 1 in 4 postdocs surveyed satisfy all of the criteria, so the existing postdoc definition is of more theoretical than practical significance. We propose a useful alternative class of individuals for data gathering purposes."