Best time of year to look for a research position in Boston/Cambridge, MA?

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Gauss44

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Are there better and worse times of year to look for one's first research assistant position? I am willing to consider paid or unpaid work. Would like to get experience asap since I'm applying on June 1st, 2016.

Currently, I'm writing a publication for a professor who has NO lab or assistants and doing a bunch of other stuff. I am considering holding off for a month or so before looking for an actual research assistant position within an actual lab. Will it be much harder to find a position at the end of October?

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Well I mean if you go to Harvard I'm sure Mass General can hook you up. They have the MGH Research Asst program and everything.

You'll be paid like ****, if at all tho.
 
Agree with md-2020, if you're a Harvard student or affiliated with Harvard or any of its schools/hospitals, there should be some sort of internal process you can go through to find a position.

If you're not affiliated, then just start contacting people ASAP and see if anyone grabs you up. There's nothing lost by getting a "sorry, we can't take you".
 
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I didn't graduate from Harvard, but have taken classes there, at the actual Harvard, not just the extension school.
 
I didn't graduate from Harvard, but have taken classes there, at the actual Harvard, not just the extension school.
The only distinction that matters in this case is whether you have access to student resources.
 
The only distinction that matters in this case is whether you have access to student resources.

In that case, I will look into that. It would be terrific if that worked.

Let's say it doesn't. You think it would be much more difficult to get a paid or unpaid research assistant next month? (I'm thinking of student competition.)
 
Let's say it doesn't. You think it would be much more difficult to get a paid or unpaid research assistant next month? (I'm thinking of student competition.)
If you're willing to work for free I don't think you will struggle to find a position in a hospital rich environment like Beantown, regardless of when you apply.
 
If you are from the area, it should not be difficult to find an opening somewhere, but don't expect to be paid well.

If you bring your own funding, most people will take you on board, and you will be given a chance to prove your worth. Look out for external scholarships, institutional research grants, etc, and apply for them.
 
IF your open to unpaid work it's not hard at all to find a solid lab spot, even in an area as competitive as Boston.

If you are trying to get paid, it's still doable for sure, you just have to be willing to branch out and contact alot more people. In this case, if your old PI can put in a good word for you it'll really help your case.
 
I didn't graduate from Harvard, but have taken classes there, at the actual Harvard, not just the extension school.

The extension school is "the actual Harvard".

I am currently writing this email from a lab at "actual Harvard", a position in which was obtained via HES student services.
 
IF your open to unpaid work it's not hard at all to find a solid lab spot, even in an area as competitive as Boston.

If you are trying to get paid, it's still doable for sure, you just have to be willing to branch out and contact alot more people. In this case, if your old PI can put in a good word for you it'll really help your case.

I've never had a PI before. This will be a first.
 
If you are from the area, it should not be difficult to find an opening somewhere, but don't expect to be paid well.

If you bring your own funding, most people will take you on board, and you will be given a chance to prove your worth. Look out for external scholarships, institutional research grants, etc, and apply for them.

Where would you look for external scholarships? I have been trying with no success.
 
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