How many research positions to apply to?

[jw123]

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Hey all, I'm not really sure where to post this but I am taking a year off after undergrad and I am planning on applying for some research positions for the year off. I'm trying to figure out about how many I should apply to and trying to see how many others have applied to who were successful in getting a research position because I really don't want to have to apply to like 30 places if I don't have to. I am getting my degrre in biochemistry and molecular biology this spring and I have done 1 summer research in neuroscience and 1 summer in clinical research and then of course the research for classes etc. in school so I think I have a decent research experience if that helps at all as well as other good EC's.

Thanks to anyone who can help

 

[kami333]

Depends on how badly you want a job😛 It's just like any job, unless you have some connections it is a numbers game getting your resume seriously looked at.

Just to give you some reference, I think my gf applied to about 30-40 before she got an interview (this was a couple years ago, and she was a similar major with similar research experiences and she was already working at a Fortune500 pharma but hated her job).
Last month I finished interviewing people to take over my position in my lab, the posting was up for about a week and I had about 50 applicant out of which I interviewed about 15 (had a large number of foreign MDs, PhDs, MSs, etc apply even though it was an entry level position, and we ended up hiring a foreign MD/PhD)

While your experience is good for a recent grad (I didn't have any research experience when I graduated, lol) you have to remember that you will now be competing with people who may have worked in similar positions for years. Plus going off to medical school in a year or two won't make you the most desirable of candidates. I would just plan on applying to a few positions everyday until you get an offer.

 

[luckyducky87]

Hey, I applied to med schools last year, and around April, I realized I didn't have a lot of hope left in getting in anywhere 🙁 So I started applying for research positions around then. Well. I procrastinated and started sending out cover letters and CVs around May/June/July.

I don't know about everyone else, but I kinda did mine in a rolling fashion. None of the labs actually had a "job posting," I just emailed them and asked if they were willing to hire a "lab tech." Most of them weren't looking for anyone at the time (thanks to the terrible economy and the tight grant funding...), so every time I heard back from the "no"'s (or sometimes, you don't hear back), I sent out some more CVs. I think I sent out a whole lot in early May (for labs in my undergrad institution's med school), and heard back with ONE "maybe; we can solidify things in July ish." This worked for me because I was on a bunch of med school waitlists at the time and wanted to leave that possibility open. But this guy fell through later and said no. In late June, I sent out a bunch of more CVs, this time to HHMI labs (lab tech positions posted on the HHMI employment website), and after 2 interviews, I got a position 🙂 So I've been working in this lab since September, and it's been a really great experience!!

If you want a number, I think I probably emailed ~20 individual labs + 3 HHMI positions I applied for. (and for me, I'd say only about 10 individual labs got back to me, all with a no, except for the 1 maybe... for the HHMI positions, I got 2 no's and 1 yes)

But one thing to keep in mind... at least for me, I wanted a position where I could actually do experiments, not just be a plain old lab tech who's always doing dishes, making media or growing cells for everyone to use. But this also meant that the PI wanted me to commit for 2-3 years because getting me trained to do experiments would take time, and having me there for only a year would be a waste of their money and time (especially if I was gonna spend that one year busy with applications/interviews).

PM me if you have more specific questions, but otherwise, good luck!