Postdocs are really weird and random. I mean, I probed a little and think it might have been a little hard to get a quantum computing one circa 1998 -- it might have been a little early but I think it would have been easy to establish a career in that if you got at the right time. [1] I wound up getting one where I had a lot of latitude to work on "complex systems" and "quantum chaos" and wound up accomplishing little at a brand new institute in Germany which had a lot of startup funding.
About ten years later I got offered (but didn't take) a postdoc at one of the most prestigious centers for the semantic web on the strength of a good, if popular, talk and a single conversation and I wasn't even looking.
That is, if you find the right personal connection you can get a postdoc without having to have the right formal qualifications or run the gauntlet of a selection process. If your viewpoint is a stable and safe academic career you might be just setting yourself for exploitation but if you have a passion for something and are looking for a fulcrum with which you can move you world that might be your path.
[1] ... good timing may be the royal road to academic careers
About ten years later I got offered (but didn't take) a postdoc at one of the most prestigious centers for the semantic web on the strength of a good, if popular, talk and a single conversation and I wasn't even looking.
That is, if you find the right personal connection you can get a postdoc without having to have the right formal qualifications or run the gauntlet of a selection process. If your viewpoint is a stable and safe academic career you might be just setting yourself for exploitation but if you have a passion for something and are looking for a fulcrum with which you can move you world that might be your path.
[1] ... good timing may be the royal road to academic careers