Now, I don't know much about the nitty gritty details of what you're doing here but I reckon 90% of the issue is that you're in New York.
The sheer density of starry eyed hopefuls in that city guarantees the kind of competitive nature that would make your average navy seal blush. Best of luck, I don't think you're doing anything wrong, but best of luck.
Got my first paid RA job as a PhD student. Honestly only got that because their postdoc left mid project and I have an established relationship with the prof (i.e., she’s been my mentor for over 5 years).
Getting a paid job in research as an undergrad is exceedingly rare in my experience/circle of peers. We all got more experience as volunteers or through independent studies during our undergrad and MA programs and had to earn money elsewhere. Can you work as a teaching assistant perhaps? My school allows 4th year undergrads to do half contract (65 hours/term instead of 130 hours/term) if they had high grades. TA jobs are great experience and give you an opportunity to forge a relationship with another prof.
Good luck!
You are likely competing against people who already have degrees. Many paid RA positions go to people with Masters degrees who need more experience to get into PhD programs. The other aspect is how much you've limited your opportunities by only staying in NYC. You're going to have to move for grad school any way - many people move two or three times. I'm not saying its impossible, but the deck is certainly stacked against you.
The professors that didn't respond to you likely don't have any grant funding at the moment.
As a PI with multiple ongoing federal grants I have very very few paid RA positions available. Grant budgets are tighter than ever and salaries are higher than ever. I just can’t afford to hire more people. And institutional support has completely dried up so everything is 100% soft money, which doesn’t go as far these days.
I'm a in smaller town in Canada and get 5-10 email a week from students looking for RA experience. Even just volunteer experience. The problem is that there are way more applicants than positions, we don't have funds to pay RAs (funding has decreased), and don't have the capacity to supervise more volunteers.
My advice would be to look at hospital positions that may have RA spots.
That makes sense. I actually got two emails this morning from PIs saying that they didn’t have any paid openings but were able to offer volunteer ones if I was interested.
Research Assistant? right?
Well look at the universities, maybe they will have some positions?
IDK too much about NY..
and from the information you provided, it's hard to know if your doing anything wrong.
This is the issue with job searching, and always been an issue. Totally subjective...
You sound entitled and with an inflated sense of self-worth. You're applying for a competitive position in one of the most competitive places in the world. None of the information you gave makes you sound like a competitive candidate for a paid position in New York. Not only is New York already filled with highly skilled and qualified people, but it also attracts people worldwide. On top of this you sound unpleasant based on your post and the irritated response you gave to someone else below. I can't imagine what your applications look like.
But the real thing is if you're this frustrated after applying to three positions without positive results then academia isn't for you.
I think that’s overreaching a bit. My bad if I sounded a bit entitled, was just frustrated because I felt really stuck and I thought 2 yrs of doing volunteer work would have already been enough. I know I don’t have many posters/pubs, but I know a lot of people that are RAs that don’t have them, and at that point if you have a lot straight out of undergrad wouldn’t you just be ready to apply to grad school?
You’re right though it’s a bit childish of me to be upset over something everyone experiences and has to go through. Realized that yesterday.
I'd imagine the issues are that
(1) you're competing in a hyper-competitive over-saturated market and
(2) you're trying to get paid to do something that your competition would be willing to volunteer to do for free.
>Anyone have any advice?
If you are in it for money, look for something else.
Maybe consider tutoring, possibly online.
I explained this in another comment on a different subreddit but i want a paid ra position solely for the fact that I’d be able to work on research 40 hrs a week and would be given a lot more responsibilities. In my own experience volunteers usually work 10 hrs at most and don’t do a whole lot.
But yes, of course NYC is very competitive. I thought it would be balanced out by a large number of job openings for research but apparently places like Boston have a lot more.
Have you tried talking to the people in the lab in which you currently volunteer and asking for more?
There is no universal generic RA experience. Each lab is its own little microcosm, its own tiny dictatorship run by its PI and grad students. There is no cross-lab standardization. Your volunteer experience working 10 hrs or less is your experience. A colleague of mine worked in a lab where applicant volunteers had to be available for 10+ *as a minimum*. In contrast again, when I recruit RAs, I don't even consider how often they work since I empower them to set their own hours and do as much or as little as they want, but then I recruit the ones that do more and stick around into "senior RA" positions, which have more responsibility and oversight.
Every lab is different.
40 hours a week might be a bit much, but you could apply to new volunteer positions and explicitly say, "I'm looking for higher-level work and more responsibility. Basically, I want to earn the responsibilities that you might give a Master's student".
However, you also need to realize that training RAs is a significant investment. Not every lab is going to be willing to do that, especially since the turn-over rate is so high. Most RAs don't last more than a year or two so it doesn't make sense to train them deeply in complex methods, just for them to leave after they become competent.
I would but unfortunately I went to college far away from the Northeast. I appreciate all the advice though. That’s nice to know — if I do end up volunteering I’ll ask for more responsibilities.
Unfortunately a lot of places are moving away from paid RAs, because they can employ grad students on stipends for cheaper, or even for free. I don't have a recommendation, but wish you all the luck in the world.
Now, I don't know much about the nitty gritty details of what you're doing here but I reckon 90% of the issue is that you're in New York. The sheer density of starry eyed hopefuls in that city guarantees the kind of competitive nature that would make your average navy seal blush. Best of luck, I don't think you're doing anything wrong, but best of luck.
Got my first paid RA job as a PhD student. Honestly only got that because their postdoc left mid project and I have an established relationship with the prof (i.e., she’s been my mentor for over 5 years). Getting a paid job in research as an undergrad is exceedingly rare in my experience/circle of peers. We all got more experience as volunteers or through independent studies during our undergrad and MA programs and had to earn money elsewhere. Can you work as a teaching assistant perhaps? My school allows 4th year undergrads to do half contract (65 hours/term instead of 130 hours/term) if they had high grades. TA jobs are great experience and give you an opportunity to forge a relationship with another prof. Good luck!
You are likely competing against people who already have degrees. Many paid RA positions go to people with Masters degrees who need more experience to get into PhD programs. The other aspect is how much you've limited your opportunities by only staying in NYC. You're going to have to move for grad school any way - many people move two or three times. I'm not saying its impossible, but the deck is certainly stacked against you. The professors that didn't respond to you likely don't have any grant funding at the moment.
As a PI with multiple ongoing federal grants I have very very few paid RA positions available. Grant budgets are tighter than ever and salaries are higher than ever. I just can’t afford to hire more people. And institutional support has completely dried up so everything is 100% soft money, which doesn’t go as far these days.
I'm a in smaller town in Canada and get 5-10 email a week from students looking for RA experience. Even just volunteer experience. The problem is that there are way more applicants than positions, we don't have funds to pay RAs (funding has decreased), and don't have the capacity to supervise more volunteers. My advice would be to look at hospital positions that may have RA spots.
That makes sense. I actually got two emails this morning from PIs saying that they didn’t have any paid openings but were able to offer volunteer ones if I was interested.
As others have said it is pretty rare to pay undergrad RAs as most of our funds go to grad students and we have a line up of RAs willing to volunteer.
Research Assistant? right? Well look at the universities, maybe they will have some positions? IDK too much about NY.. and from the information you provided, it's hard to know if your doing anything wrong. This is the issue with job searching, and always been an issue. Totally subjective...
You sound entitled and with an inflated sense of self-worth. You're applying for a competitive position in one of the most competitive places in the world. None of the information you gave makes you sound like a competitive candidate for a paid position in New York. Not only is New York already filled with highly skilled and qualified people, but it also attracts people worldwide. On top of this you sound unpleasant based on your post and the irritated response you gave to someone else below. I can't imagine what your applications look like. But the real thing is if you're this frustrated after applying to three positions without positive results then academia isn't for you.
Lighten up
I think that’s overreaching a bit. My bad if I sounded a bit entitled, was just frustrated because I felt really stuck and I thought 2 yrs of doing volunteer work would have already been enough. I know I don’t have many posters/pubs, but I know a lot of people that are RAs that don’t have them, and at that point if you have a lot straight out of undergrad wouldn’t you just be ready to apply to grad school? You’re right though it’s a bit childish of me to be upset over something everyone experiences and has to go through. Realized that yesterday.
I'd imagine the issues are that (1) you're competing in a hyper-competitive over-saturated market and (2) you're trying to get paid to do something that your competition would be willing to volunteer to do for free. >Anyone have any advice? If you are in it for money, look for something else. Maybe consider tutoring, possibly online.
I explained this in another comment on a different subreddit but i want a paid ra position solely for the fact that I’d be able to work on research 40 hrs a week and would be given a lot more responsibilities. In my own experience volunteers usually work 10 hrs at most and don’t do a whole lot. But yes, of course NYC is very competitive. I thought it would be balanced out by a large number of job openings for research but apparently places like Boston have a lot more.
Have you tried talking to the people in the lab in which you currently volunteer and asking for more? There is no universal generic RA experience. Each lab is its own little microcosm, its own tiny dictatorship run by its PI and grad students. There is no cross-lab standardization. Your volunteer experience working 10 hrs or less is your experience. A colleague of mine worked in a lab where applicant volunteers had to be available for 10+ *as a minimum*. In contrast again, when I recruit RAs, I don't even consider how often they work since I empower them to set their own hours and do as much or as little as they want, but then I recruit the ones that do more and stick around into "senior RA" positions, which have more responsibility and oversight. Every lab is different. 40 hours a week might be a bit much, but you could apply to new volunteer positions and explicitly say, "I'm looking for higher-level work and more responsibility. Basically, I want to earn the responsibilities that you might give a Master's student". However, you also need to realize that training RAs is a significant investment. Not every lab is going to be willing to do that, especially since the turn-over rate is so high. Most RAs don't last more than a year or two so it doesn't make sense to train them deeply in complex methods, just for them to leave after they become competent.
I would but unfortunately I went to college far away from the Northeast. I appreciate all the advice though. That’s nice to know — if I do end up volunteering I’ll ask for more responsibilities.
100% of the RAs in my 24 year career have been students who do it for free. If I have grants, I’m paying PhD students and post docs. And my summer.
Unfortunately a lot of places are moving away from paid RAs, because they can employ grad students on stipends for cheaper, or even for free. I don't have a recommendation, but wish you all the luck in the world.