why is getting a paid RA position so difficult?!?

[velvsop]

i've been trying for the past 4 months to find a paid RA position in a field related to clinical psychology, with no luck. in that time i've been able to get involved as a volunteer in a couple of labs- one being a neuroimaging project and the other being a mood disorders lab, but i am not getting an offer from other applications.

i applied to a perfect RA job and i found out there were 80 applicants. 80!!

i am a fairly recent college graduate in psychobiology and English from UCLA, and i didn't participate in research in college, which i am majorly regretting.

but i am really REALLY interested in going to a top, funded research PhD program, and i feel like i have what it takes to succeed. i don't have the financial means to go to a nonfunded PsyD/PhD. it is just frustrating me that the fact that i can't secure an RA position is what will keep me back.

or will it?? any thoughts GREATLY appreciated..

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[erg923]

I would speculate that your lack of experience in research is hurting you here. Most former psych majors applying for these jobs are the "research hound" types who probably got alot of exposure and experience in undergrad. You should expand the range of setting and places your applying to, as academic med centers are always going to be competitive for these jobs. Non academic places do research to. VA hospitals also have alot of RAs and tend to be slightly less competitive than academic med centers. Voluntering somewhere in hopes of getting experience and/or getting your foot in the door for being brought on board as a paid employee at a later date.

I had actually had a clinical job (psychometrist) before my Ph.D. program, but i was within a neuropsych service at an academic med center, so we were cranking out research when we got the chance. I came in on weekends to help out with lit searches, database entry, and manuscript prep, etc. Didnt do alot of it, but I did a grand rounds presentation for the neurology residents and had a pub (second author) submitted by the time I left for my Ph.D program.

 

[biogirl215]

I thought you went to grad school straight out of undergrad, erg?

 

[psychanon]

i've been trying for the past 4 months to find a paid RA position in a field related to clinical psychology, with no luck. in that time i've been able to get involved as a volunteer in a couple of labs- one being a neuroimaging project and the other being a mood disorders lab, but i am not getting an offer from other applications.

i applied to a perfect RA job and i found out there were 80 applicants. 80!!

i am a fairly recent college graduate in psychobiology and English from UCLA, and i didn't participate in research in college, which i am majorly regretting.

but i am really REALLY interested in going to a top, funded research PhD program, and i feel like i have what it takes to succeed. i don't have the financial means to go to a nonfunded PsyD/PhD. it is just frustrating me that the fact that i can't secure an RA position is what will keep me back.

or will it?? any thoughts GREATLY appreciated..

I'd suggest doing the unpaid volunteer positions part-time for a while, and then going for a paid position. With no experience, you're in a tough position, but then again it's not like you need a ton of experience-- just a bit to make up for your lack of undergrad experience. You might try volunteering in a job you'd like eventually- maybe you can turn it into an eventual job offer. Also, remember that most people who work at these jobs are applying for grad school, so vacancies tend to open up around April, when people know they've gotten in somewhere and give notice to their employers.

 

[Ollie123]

I'll second what has been said already - the reason its difficult is the fact that you didn't have research experience as an undergrad. Its basically a pre-requisite for those sorts of jobs. I've never heard of anyone getting one without at least a year of research experience. At least not a "good" research job - you could maybe be a phone interviewer or something (I did that for awhile...blech), but its not the sort of experience that gets you into grad school.

Assuming your other qualifications are in order, once you have about a year of solid research experience under your belt you will be in much better shape. If you want the full experience of a paid position to, its likely you will be delayed in applying since you have to play catch-up this year, but its well worth it.

Chances of getting into any funded clinical program with zero research experience are near nil, let alone top ones. Keep at it and you'll get there. It just takes time. Most people start building up their research resume around junior year. There's no reason to lose hope - just realize that your timeline will be a bit different then most. Nothing wrong with that

 

[PsyDr]

basically because you are unskilled labor.

there are tons of phd students (aka skilled labor) who will work for the same or less as you.

or there are tons of BA students who will do the work for free just to get the experience.


when you have a grant you only have X dollars. the less money you spend on labor, the better the materials you can have. and the more secure your salary is.


i know that doesn't help, but it is the truth.

 

[amphigory]

I don't know, I got my first RA job in psychiatry fresh out of college with no experience. It helped that it was a respected university and the job was in the psychiatry dept of that school. Also my last prof offered me a job in psychology, but it didn't work out since I was already getting paid full-time by the university (I wasn't after a PhD back then. It was just a job).

So, it is possible. You just have to get lucky and hit someone who's got a bunch of money and in a hurry to hire. You could maybe get a job at the university doing something else and volunteer while you're there? Then you'll already be in the system when the lab you're volunteering in is hiring.

 

[velvsop]

thanks guys

do you think funded PhD programs care/ask about whether your research experience was from a funded, full time RA position? for instance, if i can manage to still get good experience and maybe even a poster/pub out of my volunteer experience this year, would it still put me in the running? would carry as much "weight" as the same achievement done in a paid position?

 

[SpoiledKiwi]

You said you've been looking for the past four months, which would mean you started looking around July/August. I believe April, May, and June are when most of these positions are filled, so there are fewer available in August. Also, all of the people that decided to take a break after graduation are now competing for these few positions. I don't know where you are located, but NYSPI has a few listings that might still be open. It's a great place to work, I was a volunteer RA there last summer.

http://rf.cpmc.columbia.edu/nyspi/JOBS/jobindex.asp

 

[KillerDiller]

thanks guys

do you think funded PhD programs care/ask about whether your research experience was from a funded, full time RA position? for instance, if i can manage to still get good experience and maybe even a poster/pub out of my volunteer experience this year, would it still put me in the running? would carry as much "weight" as the same achievement done in a paid position?

As far as I've ever heard it makes no difference at all whether you were paid while obtaining your research experience.

 

[amphigory]

Actually, if you can swing it financially, you might get better experience as a volunteer. In my experience, if they're paying you, they're less inclined to give you anything juicy to do, or at least you have to finish your "real" work first (of which there is always more to do) and wait for the grad students and other senior members of the lab to let something interesting trickle down. At least as a volunteer you might have more of a direct line to the PI and maybe they'll be more vested in giving you something real to do, as it's kinda crappy to take on a volunteer and make you do photocopies all day. All PIs are different and some labs will still make you prove your worth, but with one gigantic exception I've had more interesting stuff to do as a volunteer (or at least more directly applicable to a PhD app).

At any rate, I definitely don't think it would have any less merit than a paid position.

 

[mlwg1]

thanks guys

do you think funded PhD programs care/ask about whether your research experience was from a funded, full time RA position? for instance, if i can manage to still get good experience and maybe even a poster/pub out of my volunteer experience this year, would it still put me in the running? would carry as much "weight" as the same achievement done in a paid position?

I don't think they care at all about whether you're paid. No one asked me about that during my interviews. I wasn't paid for any of the research experience I had before getting into my PhD program. They're more concerned about the nature of the work you do.

 

[Thrak]

I only skimmed the responses, so I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but if you need to expand your horizons and would consider selling out, look to marketing research. It was my first job out of undergrad, and it eventually gave me enough project management and real-life stats experience to get an RA job at a research institute. Granted, I was going for Social, not Clinical, but it definitely paid the bills a bit more than my RA positions, had less competition to get in, and even got me on a publication.