Having just graduated from college and going through the same process of you of looking for jobs for gap years before med school I applied to both. I ended up finding a research assistant position. Having been through this gigantic pain in the ass process here are the things I can give in terms of insight.
1) Applying through online job postings isn't particularly fruitful:
a) Unless you live in a small area there aren't going to be too many research assistant jobs that don't get AT LEAST 30 applications for each position(can easily be over 100 in cases).
b) Many of these positions are already basically filled and just posted officially online out of formality so the PI's dont get in trouble and follow regulations.
c)A couple PI's who I met in the process of trying to find a job gave me some good insight here. Out of 50 applications a typical lab might get online about half of them will be from overqualified lab techs who have been doing this for 5-6 years. Depending on what the lab wants, if they simply want someone who will do the best job possible and know all the technicalities you are out of luck right there no matter what. If a lab is willing to look past that or wants an aspiring student or doesn't want to deal with experienced lab techs(who some of these PIs think have attitude and drama attached to them and command higher salaries) that is where you can come into play. That leaves about 25 applicants. About half of these or so it seems from my talks with different labs are just from completely underqualified people who have no idea what they are doing applying or what they want the job. That leaves the final 12-15 spots available for people like you. Amongst those 12-15 spots you can be all but guranteed some of them will have significant and quality research experience. Unless you have that level of high research quality experience, its going to be uber competitive trying to find a job in alot of instances. You can be a very good candidate for these positions; but as long as there is someone better you are going to be out of luck.
Sooooooo what can you do to get a research asssitant position?
2) What really worked for me was cold emailing PI after PI. I must have gone through close to 150 of them(and I was prepared to go through another 200-300 before really starting to question myself and give up). At least half the PIs you email wont respond. Another 30-40% or so will respond saying they have nothing available. That leaves about 10-15% of PIs you email who respond who will show some kind of interest. That can mean a variety of things
a) They are interested in taking you but can't pay you
b) They want to meet you talk and take things from there. Maybe they'll like you and give you more info and have you meet people in the lab. Maybe they won't and will give you hints you should look elsewhere.
c) Some have just posted a position online and will tell you to apply. They'll probably look out for your name and potentially even meet with you on their own time if you ask which can give you a leg up.
d) The other possibility and this is really where your best shot is for PIs to meet with you and discuss their research with you and any open position/funding they might have available. Some PIs(and I found this to really be true with MD types like surgeons) are just too busy and don't have an interest in going through the hassle of posting a job online and interviewing alot of people. If someone shows an interest in their research and reaches out to them and comes across well and has relevant prior experience, if they have funding available and need another RA are open to the idea of having them meet the lab, shadow for a little bit and if everything goes well potentially hiring them. They'll have you apply online and technically post the position but you can be that guy I talked about earlier for whom the position is filled for and for whom the PI has to technically post the job online for out of formality. PI's have different standards for this of course. Some might be interested but still want to examine you for a couple weeks and contact some prior references from your past research experience. In my case, the PI was interested in me, was far too busy to go about a formal hiring process, liked me and just decided to hire me. He had some references fill out some quick questionnaires of me just to keep for HR purposes. It was really that simple.
3)
@WedgeDawg hit on the head here. There's no reason to make your resume more than 1 page. Look, this isn't a Goldman Sachs application, most PIs wont just throw away your resume if it is over 1 page like they would in the business world but your making things easier and better for yourself just making it one page.
I applied to scribe positions online through official sites. Didn't really hear back from them outside of 1 interview. I don't really know if cold emailing administrative staff of hospitals or random physicians is going to do anything for you there.
Bottom line this is all very variable and different PIs and different areas things will work far differently. But the bottom line here is to be very proactive. Don't just apply online through some website and think you'll just magically get calls back. That's what everybody does. If you really want a job you have to seek them out. Talk to PIs and show your interest. This is so simple and basic yet you'll be surprised by how few people do it. While it won't work for alot of PIs there are definitely some who will be impressed by this and show an inclination to hiring you if you are up to snuff and impress them(while I officially only took one RA job out of the 150 I emailed at least 5-6 showed a strong interest and willingness to hire someone like me).
Good luck. The whole process is tedious, frustrating and unpredictable. Start as soon as possible; even if you magically run into a PI who loves you in the next few weeks it'll take a lot longer due to paper work type issues for you to start.
