PostBacc in Need of Suggestions on How to Find Research Assistant Jobs

[missmusically]

Hi All!
I graduated with a BA in psychology May 2016. Since August, I have volunteered as a "student" research assistant at UCLA for about 10 hours a week. (I also worked a few months as a behavior therapist for kids on the autism spectrum for some clinical experience). I also have an additional year of RA experience from my time in undergrad. I have been advised that even though I'd be able to continue in that lab another school year, it'd be more beneficial for my future psych PhD apps if I got paying job as a research assistant

I have spent weeks combing through job sites like indeed, monster, and various university hr sites.
i have applied to many of these openings and haven't heard back yet. I only applied a few weeks ago so I don't know if I should have heard back by now.

Are there better places I should be looking for these jobs? with my current experiences, what are the chances that I'd successfully land one of those jobs?
Many thanks

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[PsychPhDone]

Hi All!
I graduated with a BA in psychology May 2016. Since August, I have volunteered as a "student" research assistant at UCLA for about 10 hours a week. (I also worked a few months as a behavior therapist for kids on the autism spectrum for some clinical experience). I also have an additional year of RA experience from my time in undergrad. I have been advised that even though I'd be able to continue in that lab another school year, it'd be more beneficial for my future psych PhD apps if I got paying job as a research assistant

I have spent weeks combing through job sites like indeed, monster, and various university hr sites.
i have applied to many of these openings and haven't heard back yet. I only applied a few weeks ago so I don't know if I should have heard back by now.

Are there better places I should be looking for these jobs? with my current experiences, what are the chances that I'd successfully land one of those jobs?
Many thanks

Email faculty directly - anyone who looks interesting, and ask if they're planning on hiring a full time RA. Look for people in psychology and psychiatry departments.

By the time the jobs get posted, they often (not always!) have someone in mind.

You should probably hear back within a month of the job posting closing date, for the ones you applied to. You may not hear at all if you're rejected.

 

[missmusically]

By the time the jobs get posted, they often (not always!) have someone in mind..

That's what worries me most about applying for jobs through indeed or monster and the like.

 

[PsychPhDone]

That's why you have to reach out via email, too.

We were mandated by HR to interview a certain number of people. Sometimes, even if we had someone in mind already, a diamond in the rough got an interview and we'd keep them in mind for future openings. So all hope isn't lost!

That's what worries me most about applying for jobs through indeed or monster and the like.

 

[Ollie123]

Definitely a networking thing. Let the person you are working with right now know. They'll be among the first to hear about their colleagues new grant and let them know you are looking. They may have you go talk to some colleagues. If you have faculty you were close to from undergrad (even if that was across the country) reach out.

If you aren't currently in a clinical area, talking to those folks could help. Wayyy more grant money in the clinical than in most other areas.

It helps a lot if you have fairly unique skills (i.e. someone in my dept just put out an ad for a student with a strong computer science background and experience coding in Python and Matlab), but it isn't strictly necessary.

 

[WisNeuro]

I'll second the unique skills aspect. I landed a decent research lab gig partially due to being able to do some coding and had some intermediate electronics abilities to fix eeg equipment.

 

[beyondnervous]

+1 on networking and skills at the UG level. Having extensive research experience at the undergraduate level helped me land my first research assistant position with a VA. The subsequent paid positions I have been fortunate to work in are due to me networking/working for professors very well known in my field.

What PsychPHStudent said regarding advertised internet openings is also very true. A majority of postings online are placed with an internal and/or highly competitive candidate already in mind. I interviewed for a coordinator position a couple of weeks ago that had not been posted/advertised through the internet. I've kept in contact with this PI for ~2+ years, and after chatting through Skype, he informed me they had to "officially post" a job opening for at least 2 weeks before he could provide me with an offer through HR (Which I received the day after the posting was closed).

 

[Meteora]

I would reach out directly to labs/PIs, talk to any mentors in the field I'm close to and ask them if they're aware of any opportunities or to keep an eye out. Most of the research experience/opportunities I found out about were through my graduate program sending me information about openings/positions.

 

[deleted343839]

Clinical Psych Grad School - Post-Bacc. Positions