How to get a research position at a major hospital post-undergrad

[fw5tape6kq]

I spoke with a medical resident today who's best advice for me was to try to find a one or two year research position at a major hospital (or with the NIH) - preferably, one that gives me the opportunity to publish a scientific paper in the future. I'm sure this type of activity would enhance anyone's application if given the chance. The question, instead, is one of how. How do I even find out if such positions are available? Should I literally cold-call a hospital of interest and see if anything is available? Write letters? I mean, these positions aren't exactly advertised out in the open. Let's say I wanted to do research at U Penn hospital or Jefferson: how would you even go about pursuing that possibility?

I do not possess a Doctorate or Masters degree. I am merely a college senior looking for rewarding and substantive activities to engage in for a potential gap year of two. And yes, I am aware of the extreme dearth and competitiveness of these research position for inexperiences college graduates, such as myself. My question is merely how to put yourself out there - to get into the game, so to speak. How do I find out if they even have research positions available. Any help is greatly appreciated!

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[plumhill]

Well, the NIH has post bacc research opportunities, and you can contact PIs to see if anyone will take you in. As for hospitals, some will post job opportunities while others will advertise opportunities via word of mouth. Your best bet is to email people extensively and try and get your foot in the door. Send your resume with every email, and if appropriate, follow up your email with a call.

 

[Reckoner]

I spoke with a medical resident today who's best advice for me was to try to find a one or two year research position at a major hospital (or with the NIH) - preferably, one that gives me the opportunity to publish a scientific paper in the future. I'm sure this type of activity would enhance anyone's application if given the chance. The question, instead, is one of how. How do I even find out if such positions are available? Should I literally cold-call a hospital of interest and see if anything is available? Write letters? I mean, these positions aren't exactly advertised out in the open. Let's say I wanted to do research at U Penn hospital or Jefferson: how would you even go about pursuing that possibility?

I do not possess a Doctorate or Masters degree. I am merely a college senior looking for rewarding and substantive activities to engage in for a potential gap year of two. And yes, I am aware of the extreme dearth and competitiveness of these research position for inexperiences college graduates, such as myself. My question is merely how to put yourself out there - to get into the game, so to speak. How do I find out if they even have research positions available. Any help is greatly appreciated!

The bolded is untrue. Most universities have websites where PIs can list openings. Try searching for positions with names like Research Associate or something similar. For example, here is UPenn's: https://jobs.hr.upenn.edu/

These sites are not always effective, and I agree with Plumhill that emailing potential PIs asking about positions (with an attached CV) is a decent strategy.

If you're interested in the Posbac IRTA at the NIH, check out this site: https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/postbac_irta

 

[SN12357]

I spoke with a medical resident today who's best advice for me was to try to find a one or two year research position at a major hospital (or with the NIH) - preferably, one that gives me the opportunity to publish a scientific paper in the future. I'm sure this type of activity would enhance anyone's application if given the chance. The question, instead, is one of how. How do I even find out if such positions are available? Should I literally cold-call a hospital of interest and see if anything is available? Write letters? I mean, these positions aren't exactly advertised out in the open. Let's say I wanted to do research at U Penn hospital or Jefferson: how would you even go about pursuing that possibility?

I do not possess a Doctorate or Masters degree. I am merely a college senior looking for rewarding and substantive activities to engage in for a potential gap year of two. And yes, I am aware of the extreme dearth and competitiveness of these research position for inexperiences college graduates, such as myself. My question is merely how to put yourself out there - to get into the game, so to speak. How do I find out if they even have research positions available. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Um. They are advertised in the open. Go to the major teaching hospital websites and look for Research Assistant positions. They'll be there. I have absolutely no idea where you got the idea these positions are some kind of trade secret. Many of them are explicitly meant for premeds doing gap years.

 

[terp720]

Um. They are advertised in the open. Go to the major teaching hospital websites and look for Research Assistant positions. They'll be there. I have absolutely no idea where you got the idea these positions are some kind of trade secret. Many of them are explicitly meant for premeds doing gap years.

They are there, but at least at the hospital I work at, they are only there as a formality. Not saying it's true everywhere, but often the position is already filled and the posting is just for HR purposes. I contacted PIs where I work now directly.

 

[fw5tape6kq]

The bolded is untrue. Most universities have websites where PIs can list openings. Try searching for positions with names like Research Associate or something similar. For example, here is UPenn's: https://jobs.hr.upenn.edu/

These sites are not always effective, and I agree with Plumhill that emailing potential PIs asking about positions (with an attached CV) is a decent strategy.

If you're interested in the Posbac IRTA at the NIH, check out this site: https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/postbac_irta

Wow. Thanks!

 

[SN12357]

They are there, but at least at the hospital I work at, they are only there as a formality. Not saying it's true everywhere, but often the position is already filled and the posting is just for HR purposes. I contacted PIs where I work now directly.

I work for research group that has hired 6+ RAs in the time I have been there. Our posted positions are always real and I know many people who have gotten their research jobs through cold applications.

I've screened resumes and cover letters for these positions myself and I can confidently say if you have a good resume and (customized to each job) cover letter you have very solid chances of landing a job if you apply broadly. 90% of the resumes and cover letters we get are crap.

 

[Microglia]

They are there, but at least at the hospital I work at, they are only there as a formality. Not saying it's true everywhere, but often the position is already filled and the posting is just for HR purposes. I contacted PIs where I work now directly.

I work for research group that has hired 6+ RAs in the time I have been there. Our posted positions are always real and I know many people who have gotten their research jobs through cold applications.

I've screened resumes and cover letters for these positions myself and I can confidently say if you have a good resume and (customized to each job) cover letter you have very solid chances of landing a job if you apply broadly. 90% of the resumes and cover letters we get are crap.

Gotta back up Terp on this one, the majority of those positions are positions that have already been filled but that the hospital requires to be posted and have "interviews" for. I've been at a couple major research centers and that is definitely the case there. However, I'm sure some of the positions exist for real, just not sure what percentage.

 

[SN12357]

Gotta back up Terp on this one, the majority of those positions are positions that have already been filled but that the hospital requires to be posted and have "interviews" for. I've been at a couple major research centers and that is definitely the case there. However, I'm sure some of the positions exist for real, just not sure what percentage.

I'm well aware that SOME job positions sometimes get posted just to be posted because of inane HR rules, but that doesn't mean it's not worth it to apply to the publicly listed RA jobs. At least the ones listed actually have money backing them. If you start cold-emailing PIs you might strike someone who is willing to bring in a volunteer, but you're less likely to get someone who actually has money to spend.

 

[terp720]

I work for research group that has hired 6+ RAs in the time I have been there. Our posted positions are always real and I know many people who have gotten their research jobs through cold applications.

I've screened resumes and cover letters for these positions myself and I can confidently say if you have a good resume and (customized to each job) cover letter you have very solid chances of landing a job if you apply broadly. 90% of the resumes and cover letters we get are crap.

Ok... i definitely said "Not saying it's true everywhere, but often". Just was providing an additional experience to let OP know that applying is possible but not always the case everywhere. And I have worked at my job for 2 years and haven't seen anyone directly get a job from applying online. Not sure why you took such offense to my post.

It does help to contact PIs to express interest, especially if you don't hear back at all.

 

[SN12357]

Ok... i definitely said "Not saying it's true everywhere, but often". Just was providing an additional experience to let OP know that applying is possible but not always the case everywhere. And I have worked at my job for 2 years and haven't seen anyone directly get a job from applying online. Not sure why you took such offense to my post.

It does help to contact PIs to express interest, especially if you don't hear back at all.

Disagreeing by providing personal experience with relevant counter examples is taking offense? Er, ok.

Your post gives the impression that it's not worth it to apply to online postings, which is definitely not true even if many of them are dead ends.

 

[terp720]

Disagreeing by providing personal experience with relevant counter examples is taking offense? Er, ok.

Your post gives the impression that it's not worth it to apply to online postings, which is definitely not true even if many of them are dead ends.

Actually, i was providing an alternative for OP to consider because I have had tons of friends apply to things and never hear back. I did not say it's not worth applying to online postings.
Whereas you just provided personal experience to negate my personal experience, implying it is not true at all, when clearly it happens at other places.
But anyway, pointless argument that doesn't help OP.

 

[SN12357]

Actually, i was providing an alternative for OP to consider because I have had tons of friends apply to things and never hear back. I did not say it's not worth applying to online postings.
Whereas you just provided personal experience to negate my personal experience, implying it is not true at all, when clearly it happens at other places.
But anyway, pointless argument that doesn't help OP.

And I said in another post that yes, some of the online postings are dead ends. This is true in every industry, not unique to research positions. My apologies for apparently failing to specifically validate your opinion in my post which was simply meant as a counter example from someone with experience in the process.

 

[Microglia]

Lol. I can feel the love up in here

Yea OP I think the conclusion is bark up every tree, leave no stone unturned, and eventually something will come through. Best of luck!!

 

[CarlosDanger]

In my current position, my job was only listed on the HR website as a formality after I was hired. But, I'm aware of plenty of other positions at my hospital that are filled through the HR website, so its definitely possible. The way I found my job was through Craigslist, it was WAAY easier than going to each individual hospital's HR website. Just search science/biotech jobs in your city. I'm in a major city though, so I dunno if there would be enough interesting positions listed in smaller cities. Many PIs in my city will post on Craigslist, that way you can respond to them directly and speed up the process. It makes it easier for them, so they don't have some unknown HR person screening resumes and taking forever. Obviously, not all labs do this though.

I did not have any connections to my current lab, and moved from a different city so you don't have to be some kind of insider to get these jobs. I just had a lot of experience in the techniques my PI wanted. If you have relevant experience, that's probably the biggest plus as most recent grads won't.

If you're currently working in a lab, you can ask your PI if they know anyone where you want to be, there may be a connection you could use.

 

[Mad Jack]

There's probably 50 openings for research assistants at my medical center, and none of them are formalities. I considered working my clinical job on weekends and doing a year of M-F research, but after talking to some of the people that have done it in the past, it is pretty much slave labor wages and the professors and doctors take the vast majority of credit for the work (rightly so, it's their idea) so it ends up looking not all that impressive for you even if something does get published.

 

[DrCharlemagne]

Every tech job I've received I got by applying directly to a university's website. I've also been on many interviews, so it must depend on the institution/department how many of the listings are "formalities."

 

[CarlosDanger]

I should clarify that I think the majority of positions are listed and filled through the HR website, Craigslist is just another tool to make your job search easier. It saved a lot of headaches for me.

 

[SN12357]

There's probably 50 openings for research assistants at my medical center, and none of them are formalities. I considered working my clinical job on weekends and doing a year of M-F research, but after talking to some of the people that have done it in the past, it is pretty much slave labor wages and the professors and doctors take the vast majority of credit for the work (rightly so, it's their idea) so it ends up looking not all that impressive for you even if something does get published.

The degree to which this is true varies not just institution to institution but department to department and PI to PI. My research group pays all our entry level staff a fair, livable salary for our city. I do know of other research groups who pay pennies because they know that they can get away with it. Similarly some groups make more of an effort to involve their RAs on publications and the intellectual parts of research than others; the PI's personality is ultimately going to dictate the environment on that one.