This brief guide explains how to become a research assistant specifically at a university. More advanced research assistant positions, such as those in medicine or law require advanced degrees and field experience.
University research assistants are often graduate or undergraduate students. They can be found in almost every university disciplinary field including, but not limited to, science, social science, humanities, medicine, law, education, and business, assuming that the college in question conducts research. It is usually a training ground for students or early career people intending to advance in that field.
Often, community colleges and small two or four year schools do not conduct research and therefore do not have budgets for research assistants.
College work-study programs often place undergraduate or graduate students in working laboratories on campus or with professors conducting research. In these programs, the students can advance their interest in the discipline and gain hands-on skills and knowledge at the same time.
So the first step to becoming a research assistant is admission as an undergraduate or graduate student to a college that conducts research.
Research assistants perform a variety of tasks from paperwork to maintaining lab cleanliness, to collecting basic data. This is some of the work that undergraduate students can expect to perform. Graduate students may have more advanced research skills and therefore have far more responsibilities that include such activities as conducting literature reviews, interviewing subjects, analyzing data, attending project meetings, preparing presentations, presenting data at conferences, and more.
The second step is to prepare a resume in case you need one. If you are an undergraduate, you will most likely not have much relevant experience in a lab or doing research. Your resume should reflect the skills that you do have, which should include examples of your ability to be reliable, follow directions, complete tasks independently, work well in group situations, and other types of job related tasks. If you are a graduate student, then your resume should reflect any previous research experience, as well as the above.
However, you may not be required to have a resume because research assistant jobs are usually first offered to university students because they pay very badly or are part of the work-study/financial aid package. Graduate students will often receive a tuition waiver and a living stipend of a few thousand dollars a semester.
The third step is to find a job opening. Sometimes job openings are posted at the career center on campus for positions on or off campus; sometimes the research assistant job openings are posted within a department. Other jobs might be available by asking professors in the department if they know of any openings. Not all research positions are advertised, and some become available during the academic year if other students vacate the position. Be aware, though, that in universities, many research assistant jobs go to graduate level students before undergraduate students. Many times just entry into a graduate program is enough to be offered a research assistant position. If it is not automatically offered, be sure to ask your advisor for openings in the department. Other departments will sometimes take students from out of the department but it would ultimately depend on the nature of the work involved.
It isn’t really more complicated than that. To recap:
Step 1: get accepted to a research university
Step 2: prepare a resume
Step 3: ask around and find an available job then apply for it
