Where to find full time research jobs?

[whatever5]

So I'm currently sitting on a couple wait-lists for med school, and in the event I don't get off either, I'm looking to set up a job for next year, but I'm having a really hard time finding opportunities in research- all the ones I've applied to from school websites don't seem to lead anywhere. Do you guys have any suggestions?

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[aspirantmed]

Have you tried LinkedIn? Your school's career center? Cold emails to labs asking if they or others in their research groups are looking for someone? Search broadly ..

 

[Laureatebarrel]

Going to your undergrad professors is probably your best bet.

 

[Goro]

Look in the back pages of Science or classified in Science Online

So I'm currently sitting on a couple wait-lists for med school, and in the event I don't get off either, I'm looking to set up a job for next year, but I'm having a really hard time finding opportunities in research- all the ones I've applied to from school websites don't seem to lead anywhere. Do you guys have any suggestions?

 

[Patros]

Here are somethings you can do:
1) Go to career websites for every research institution near you and submit apps. In big cities there are many positions, but many applicants too, so carpet-bomb them with applications. Personalized apps to jobs you qualify for should get you a few interviews.
Edit: Yeah you will get a very low response rate. I submitted over a 100 apps to a dozen different medical schools and only got 2 interviews.
2) Go to institutions you are familiar with and look up researcher profiles/websites. Sometimes they advertise open positions, so directly email them with cover letters and CVs.
3) Contact your old PI and see if they have a paid position, or if they know if any of their colleagues do.
4) It might be too late now, but have you considered the NIH IRTA? Applications are taken all year round. Most new postbacs start June-August., so you should submit an app pronto.

For all of these things, you should start doing 6 months ahead of anticipated start date. So if you submit now, except to start in August-September if you get a job offer.

 

[Remy LeBeau]

Here are somethings you can do:
1) Go to career websites for every research institution near you and submit apps. In big cities there are many positions, but many applicants too, so carpet-bomb them with applications. Personalized apps to jobs you qualify for should get you a few interviews.
Edit: Yeah you will get a very low response rate. I submitted over a 100 apps to a dozen different medical schools and only got 2 interviews.
2) Go to institutions you are familiar with and look up researcher profiles/websites. Sometimes they advertise open positions, so directly email them with cover letters and CVs.
3) Contact your old PI and see if they have a paid position, or if they know if any of their colleagues do.
4) It might be too late now, but have you considered the NIH IRTA? Applications are taken all year round. Most new postbacs start June-August., so you should submit an app pronto.

For all of these things, you should start doing 6 months ahead of anticipated start date. So if you submit now, except to start in August-September if you get a job offer.

OP, I did this last year when I was sitting on wait lists. My PI was able to get me a year-long contract with my school. Good luck!

 

[SN12357]

So I'm currently sitting on a couple wait-lists for med school, and in the event I don't get off either, I'm looking to set up a job for next year, but I'm having a really hard time finding opportunities in research- all the ones I've applied to from school websites don't seem to lead anywhere. Do you guys have any suggestions?

Depending on where you are look at the websites for the teaching hospitals as well as the medical schools.

Also network. If your friends aren't in the field try reaching out through your undergrad alumni network.

 

[boomshaketheroom]

I can't tell if you are currently in school, but I would email undergrad science professors and see if they know of anyone. Depending on where you want to be you can also ask if they know of anyone to talk to in a specific area.

Also, anyone you have any connection to in a medical field is a good person to contact. I have a research job and none of my "regular" online-type applications went anywhere. When I started emailing everyone I could think of I started to get more leads, and finally my current position.

 

[Moification]

Try your local university's website and make sure you use relevant keywords to narrow your search.

 

[DrCharlemagne]

Having played this game twice without much assistance from a network, I would advise you to go directly to your local big research institutions' websites and apply directly there. Few of the jobs I interviewed for trickled into the LinkedIn/Moster/Indeed streams. Be persistent, there is a glut of young technicians/assistants aiming for the same positions you are. Other technicians I know emailed labs they were interested in directly to inquire after a position there or in a collaborator's lab. Some were successful, but I've always been too shy to try that approach.

Get your LORs/references in the can as much as possible right now - my school offers a letter service that will forward reference letters for free for the rest of my life, see if you have access to something similar. If you get a bite, you want to be able to turn around a response as quickly as possible, and letter writers can suddenly become flakey when you really needed them to be on the dot. You may also want to get a few sealed official copies of your transcripts, since some of the more prestigious places I interviewed at expected me to have them. Next, review your resume and cover letter. Your resume is ultimately for the PI, but it must get past the HR filter. Read the posting you're applying to closely for any desirable or required skills listed, and be sure any you possess are at top of your resume and referenced directly in your cover letter. Other relevant skills can be used to flesh out descriptions of you experiences, but drop anything not directly related to the position. Since you're a fresh graduate spreading onto a second page is dicey unless you have extensive experience. If you do animal work, make sure things that might put off office staff like "sacrifice and tissue collection" are euphamistically phrased.

Lastly, determine how portable you are and how long you're available. Grant money is lean but certain metropolitan centers (Philadelphia, Boston, NYC) have a pretty dense cluster of well-funded research enterprises. If you can stomach relocating it will increase your odds of landing a job. Also, since researchers aren't always big fans of training up techs only to watch them peace out after a year, consider taking two gap years. It's not for everyone, but basic science labs have projects that need the same pair of hands for months on end and you will be a more attractice candidate if you can offer that time (and you have time to get pubs to throw on your AMCAS application). It may also help you establish residency in a state with more medical schools if that's at all attractive to you.

 

[edgerock24]

Academic hospitals careers websites.

 

[augeremt]

Cold email professors whose research you are interested in, or even better, whose research you have some experience in, whether it's a senior thesis or a project for a class.

In the email, relate your experience to the professor's research. Ask if there is a position available for you and if there isn't, ask to meet for coffee so you can discuss any opportunities that may exist in the field. Make the email a very short and to the point cover letter (2 - 3 paragraphs). Attach a resume.

It takes a lot of emails (15+) and silent rejections, as well as lots of coffee where people will tell you that you need a master's degree to get anywhere (I just have a bachelor's), but someone will bite and you will get a job. It may begin as part-time at first but you'll have something, and if you prove yourself then you'll be up at full-time pretty quickly.

This is how I got a job as did several of my friends. It beats competing with lots of students for a single posted position on a career website.

Speaking of posted positions, some of them might be filled before the position is even posted. My university requires a position to be posted to its career website for a certain amount of days prior to a person being hired for it. So even though my boss created a job for me in his lab, he still had to post it on the website before I could be officially hired. So it looked like people had a chance when in fact I was the only candidate.

Good luck!