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Getting a job in a lab


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Hey,

So I'm going into third year of university and since before starting university I've always been interested in doing research. However, to this day I have never done any paid or non-paid research in a lab. Though I have excellent grades, the lab jobs I have previously applied to (Though admittedly I only applied to one each summer) gave the jobs to other applicants, likely due to my lack of previous experience. I am in a vicious circle; I cannot get a lab position because I do not have any previous experience, and I cannot get experience because I do not have a lab position. Previous summers, since I did not get a job in a laboratory, I have either worked in a store full-time or done clincal volunteering/wrote the MCAT.

My goal is to get a paid research position next summer, so I was wondering if and how I can build up my laboratory exprience this school year to get employed next summer. Is asking professors whose research I am interested in if I could volunteer (non-paid) in their lab a good idea (Even though I have never worked in a lab before)? Is it also too late (In the summer) to be doing this? Or should I pursue some other avenue in order to gain lab experience?

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Hello,

 

I think you still have good time to gather research experience. The best way to do so would be to mass email profs that you'd be interested in working with and asking for a volunteer position in their labs. If you go to a university that's heavily invested in research, shouldn't be too hard for you to find a prof who's willing to take in a volunteer. And third year summer is also a good time to find paid research work. Make sure to not only go through the scholarships but also apply personally to labs you're interested in. As well as volunteering and summer research, look out for third/fourth year thesis projects. Very few profs will decline a student who's willing to put in a year's work without pay.

 

So basically, email profs right now asking for volunteer positions. A lot of my friends who had no experience until the end of their third years in university still managed to get paid research positions during the summer before their fourth year. Good luck!

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