Experience description advice?

[100chickadees]

Hey guys, I know this might be being overly cautious, but I'm filling out my experiences on AACOMAS and wanted to know if this sounded alright for a description of my experience in a research lab, as it will be the sort of tone that all of my other experience descriptions will likely take! Could you guys give me any suggestions or let me know if this sounds alright?

"Working as a student research assistant for the XXXX psychiatric genetics lab, I have gained experience with DNA extraction from blood and saliva, RT-PCR, gel electrophoresis, preparation of reagents, DNA dilution and plating, measurement of DNA concentration, and general lab maintenance. I have trained 4 students in many of these skills and between 3/2017 and 3/2018, I acted as the undergraduate research assistant coordinator, charged with student training, shift coordination, and basic problem solving of any issues that arose in the lab. I am currently working on an independent project."

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[Cardboard101]

I think you're describing too much about the techniques you used. Maybe focus more on your responsibilities?

 

[curbsideconsult]

Personally, I think you've set the tone just right. The only thing I would change is to leave out the dates since that's redundant. If you don't want people's eyes to glaze over with lab details, you can start with a short sentence about your responsibilities, then the technique details, then end with more responsibilities. This way, the reader can skip over the "boring" parts. But I do think it's important to leave those techniques in because just saying you worked in a lab and supervised students isn't enough. They won't know what you did in that lab unless you tell them.

 

[100chickadees]

Personally, I think you've set the tone just right. The only thing I would change is to leave out the dates since that's redundant. If you don't want people's eyes to glaze over with lab details, you can start with a short sentence about your responsibilities, then the technique details, then end with more responsibilities. This way, the reader can skip over the "boring" parts. But I do think it's important to leave those techniques in because just saying you worked in a lab and supervised students isn't enough. They won't know what you did in that lab unless you tell them.

Okay, thanks for the advice! The reason I added those dates is because I'm lumping all of my research into one experience and nowhere in the general description does it mention my coordinator position. Should I still remove the dates?

 

[curbsideconsult]

Okay, thanks for the advice! The reason I added those dates is because I'm lumping all of my research into one experience and nowhere in the general description does it mention my coordinator position. Should I still remove the dates?

Hmmm, good question. That I don't know. But I suppose if you're going to be lumping things together it wouldn't hurt to be a little redundant with dates. Hopefully AACOMAS experts will jump in.

 

[deleted600623]

I would take out the description of your lab techniques and add more about what challenges you faced/how you overcame them. They know you’re a lab assistant and what you do as an assistant. What they don’t know is why this is relevant and how did you grow as a person from this experience?

 

[Osminog]

I would take out the description of your lab techniques and add more about what challenges you faced/how you overcame them. They know you’re a lab assistant and what you do as an assistant. What they don’t know is why this is relevant and how did you grow as a person from this experience?

I've just been adding plain, old descriptions about my duties and responsibilities... I didn't know they were supposed to be heart-warming stories about personal growth and whatnot.

 

[Coltuna]

"I assisted Professor XXX in psychiatric genetic research pertaining to DNA extraction from saliva and blood using a variety of laboratory techniques. Additional duties included training new students for work in the laboratory and shift coordination among those students."

I may actually have a separate entry for the independent research project. Is it being overseen by the aforementioned professor? An independent research project is pretty impressive and shows initiative; you don't want to just throw that in at the end like an aside.

 

[100chickadees]

"I assisted Professor XXX in psychiatric genetic research pertaining to DNA extraction from saliva and blood using a variety of laboratory techniques. Additional duties included training new students for work in the laboratory and shift coordination among those students."

I may actually have a separate entry for the independent research project. Is it being overseen by the aforementioned professor? An independent research project is pretty impressive and shows initiative; you don't want to just throw that in at the end like an aside.

It is being overseen by the aforementioned professor! If I decide to separate the two experiences, do you think I should go into the technical details of what the project is about?

 

[_StevoFlurane_]

Not trying to hijack this thread OP but for the description how long shoukd each entry REALISTICALLY be? Im sure their eyes begin glazing over sooner or later

 

[Coltuna]

It is being overseen by the aforementioned professor! If I decide to separate the two experiences, do you think I should go into the technical details of what the project is about?

I would definitely mention what the research is but not necessarily highlight every method used if that make sense.

 

[100chickadees]

Not trying to hijack this thread OP but for the description how long shoukd each entry REALISTICALLY be? Im sure their eyes begin glazing over sooner or later

I'm wondering too! I've filled up all of mine to the 600 character cap but is that really what I should be aiming for?

 

[curbsideconsult]

I'm wondering too! I've filled up all of mine to the 600 character cap but is that really what I should be aiming for?

Definitely not. There are some activities/jobs that need the full character allotment because they might be activities that many people haven't heard of or not what people might think it is. If the title of one of your activities/jobs is "senior space optimization designer" (totally made up, I have no idea what this is) then you probably want all the characters to describe what it is. If it's something like "pharmacy tech" you don't need all 600 characters, or even close, to describe it. BUT when you do have activities that are pretty well known like pharmacy tech, don't just say something like "assisted pharmacist" and leave it at that. You want at least a couple of sentences.

 

[100chickadees]

Definitely not. There are some activities/jobs that need the full character allotment because they might be activities that many people haven't heard of or not what people might think it is. If the title of one of your activities/jobs is "senior space optimization designer" (totally made up, I have no idea what this is) then you probably want all the characters to describe what it is. If it's something like "pharmacy tech" you don't need all 600 characters, or even close, to describe it. BUT when you do have activities that are pretty well known like pharmacy tech, don't just say something like "assisted pharmacist" and leave it at that. You want at least a couple of sentences.

Oh, wow! Okay.. it might be kind of tough carving some of these down haha but I will try!

 

[deleted600623]

How are people describing shadowing? I’ve shadowed multiple physicians for a total of like 100 hours. Should I list every shadowing experience or just list the different physicians in the description?

 

[100chickadees]

How are people describing shadowing? I’ve shadowed multiple physicians for a total of like 100 hours. Should I list every shadowing experience or just list the different physicians in the description?

What I did, and I what I've heard a lot of people have done, is to just have one experience and list the name of each physician, their speciality, their location, and how many hours you spent together. Unless you've had a super meaningful and excellent experience shadowing someone, I don't think there's any need to have a separate experience for each person you shadowed with.

 

[deleted600623]

What I did, and I what I've heard a lot of people have done, is to just have one experience and list the name of each physician, their speciality, their location, and how many hours you spent together. Unless you've had a super meaningful and excellent experience shadowing someone, I don't think there's any need to have a separate experience for each person you shadowed with.

What do you put for the name/location and supervisor?

 

[100chickadees]

What do you put for the name/location and supervisor?

I left it blank since there are like 5 locations and 5 references for my particular shadowing experiences and two of the people I shadowed wrote me letters of recommendation.