Applying to Postbac Jobs

Note: this post also appears on the YCGS website

You’re a senior in college and you’re ready for your postbac life- how do you get started??

Applying to your first job out of college is another process in academia where it can be hard to find resources and guidance. A lot of current PIs didn’t have to take time between undergrad and graduate school, so might not have as much experience or knowledge for advising the best way to apply and find jobs after undergrad. BUT THIS IS WHERE WE COME IN!

GETTING STARTED

You’ll need three things for most of your applications:

1. A curriculum vitae (CV)

2. Cover letter

3. A form email that you’ll send to labs (with details tweaked)

Let’s go through each of these in a little more detail.

CV. Your CV is like a longer resume and should include your undergraduate activities and jobs that would be relevant to a research job. Don’t have a lot of lab experience? That’s probably okay! You can show that you would be a good fit in other ways. Being able to demonstrate leadership skills, initiative, self-motivation, and competency in the lab’s area of interest can help you make your case. Of course having good lab experience is an easy way to obtain this skill set, and can give you a leg up in the application process. Your CV should contain your (expected) degree/educational background, honors and awards, poster presentations (if you have any), publications (if you have any), relevant coursework, relevant research experience, and other work experience and activities that might be relevant. You can check out some examples of CVs on our OSF page, but it’s a good idea to check with any graduate students in your lab and to get a second and third opinion on how you’ve formatted your CV.

Cover Letter. Unfortunately cover letters are annoying and business-y to write, but you just have to get the job done here. A basic cover letter should include:

1. Who you are and what you’re applying for (first paragraph)

2. A brief description of your relevant job experience and why you’re interested in the position (second paragraph)

3. Reiteration of your interest, reach out with any questions, CV or references attached blah blah blah (third paragraph)

Example:

Dear Dr/Ms/Mr. Doe,

I am a clinical research coordinator at YYY Hospital writing to apply for the research assistant position at the XXXX Laboratory. My interest in social and psychological change during major developmental milestones has grown through my research experience over the last five years as a research assistant, and then coordinator. This is why I was excited to find that the XXXX Laboratory is looking for a research assistant. I believe my research background makes me an ideal candidate for this position.

I have spent the last two years as a clinical research coordinator in the YYY Program at YYY Hospital. Before that I worked on an expressive writing intervention for adolescents in the ZZZ Lab at AAAA University. In my current role I have assisted with recruitment, data collection, management and analysis, while serving as the primary research coordinator for three active protocols. Working as a research coordinator has also allowed me to gain experience submitting IRB requests and amendments, as well as preparing grants and manuscripts. My work in research as an undergraduate and postgraduate have further propelled my enthusiasm for research studying adolescent development, which seems to fit well with aims of the XXXX Laboratory.

I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to talk with you further about this position. You can

reach me by email at imreallygreat@gmail.com, or by phone (123) 867-5309 with questions or for clarification. Thank you for your time and consideration. Below are my references.

Bam! You’re done. Once you have the format set in your (professional) voice, you just have to edit the lab-specific details for all your applications.

Form Email. We recommend that you reach out to lab managers or PIs by email, rather than through an HR or job application portal. This puts you in the front of the line (more on this later). To do this, you'll write a mini cover letter in an email (note: if you’re not sure a position is available, then don’t include a cover letter in this email. Just attached your CV. If they request a cover letter you can just write one later). The key thing here is to keep your email short and sweet- no need to turn your past experience into a novella because it will probably be skimmed or, in the absence of spark notes, ignored.

Example:

Dear Dr. Phil,

I hope this finds you well. My name is Jill Pearson, and I am writing to inquire about any openings in your lab for a project coordinator position. I am currently a clinical research coordinator at YYY Hospital, and I previously worked in Dr. Jane Doe’s ZZZ Lab as an undergraduate research assistant.

My education and work experience have further propelled my enthusiasm for research studying adolescent development and psychopathology, which seems to fit well with aims of the CCC Lab. I have followed your research for several years as an undergraduate and as a postgraduate research coordinator, which is why I would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about any positions available in your lab.

I have attached my CV. Thank you in advance for your time.

You should of course write this email with your own voice, but the essential components should include who you are, your background, and your interest in a position. Tweak accordingly for a position that you know is available.

GETTING GOING

Okay, you have the essentials all together. What now?

You should be president of the APA or something!

I think it’s important here to take a step back and look at the larger timeline for when jobs are available and when you can expect to start interviewing and ultimately accepting a position. Generally, positions become available as research coordinators, assistants, and lab managers are accepted into graduate programs. This usually happens around March and April for positions that will start during the summer. Your best bet is to start the application process during that time. This gives you the opportunity to get in front of the line and into the hearts and minds of the hiring manager or principal investigator. Looking for a job to start in the fall, winter, or spring? No worries! There are probably less positions available, but not all labs are hiring in the same cycle, so you’ll be okay.

But where do I find job openings???

There are a lot of ways to find positions in research:

1. Academic Twitter

2. Ask around your department (if you are in undergrad)

3. Job sites (Indeed, ZipRecruiter, just google and search)

4. The APA website

5. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable- cold email your research crushes!

6. Here!

Having gotten my first job through a job website and my second by cold emailing, my personal recommendation is to cold email and check twitter. Why? First, the job websites applications go straight to HR, who then forward them to the hiring manager or PI. This can create a backlog that requires HR to remember to send all new applications to the person hiring. In my case I got lucky. When I applied to my first job my application was stuck in HR limbo until the hiring manager asked for ALL the applications they had for the position and eventually received mine. Meanwhile they were interviewing a bunch of other people who might have gotten the position because they got there first! Second, Twitter and cold emailing allow you to directly reach PIs and to get in the front of the line for applying. Cold emailing in particular is effective, as the position may not be officially open yet, but you can start to get your name out there and get the first interview. Go you! Finally, this demonstrates to the person hiring that you have initiative in reaching out and that you are interested in their lab in particular.

As mentioned above, you can also find jobs through the APA website and by asking around your department as well! The APA website is a good, though well-trafficked, place to look. Asking around your department is a great idea as well! A consideration for staying in the place where you did your undergrad is whether staying will garner you greater mentorship, publication, and growth opportunities or whether you would be better served in getting a new and different research experience. For me, choosing not to take a position in my undergrad lab was a difficult decision, but ultimately broadened my interests and allowed me to grow both personally and professionally. At the same time, it was expensive to move and navigating a new city, a new job, and new financial challenges was stressful!

INTERVIEWING

You have an interview! Yay! Ahhhhhhh!

Don’t worry, no one expects you to be an expert in coding, running participants, and conducting basic analyses fresh out of undergraduate. You’ll likely be asked about your interests, your current lab experiences, and your relevant experiences. PIs or lab managers are usually looking to see if you will be able to learn on the job and help move projects along in a timely manner. Below are some examples of questions I was asked during job interviews:

-How do you manage your time?

-Are you well organized? How do you stay organized?

-Describe a time when something went wrong and how you handled it.

-Why are you interested in our lab?

-What are your professional goals?

-Generic ascertaining of perceived strengths and weaknesses (yawn)

-What’s your experience with recruiting participants and running studies?

-Have you ever analyzed or cleaned data before?

In addition you have the opportunity to ask questions. ASK QUESTIONS! There are, unfortunately, some labs that don’t feel the need to invest in their postbacc research assistants. So it’s really important to find a lab or research experience that will give you the mentorship and experiences you’ll need to get into and thrive in graduate school. You also want to make sure that the lab you’re applying to has a healthy work culture, and doesn’t expect uncompensated or demeaning work from their research assistants. Some questions you should probably ask when you’re interviewing:

-Does the PI mentor the research assistants in this lab? How would you/the PI describe your mentorship style?

-Are there any formal mentorship opportunities in the lab or at the university/hospital?

-What are the publication/poster opportunities available in this lab?

-What do former research assistants go on to do after leaving this lab?

-What does a typical day look like for an RA in the lab?

-What are my primary responsibilities?

-What are the benefits (re: retirement, health insurance, etc.)

For RAs/postbacs currently in the lab:

-What is the lab culture like here?

-Are you happy working here?

-Are there any downsides to working in the lab?

-Is the PI a good mentor and boss?

-Do you feel like this job has prepared you for your next step?

-Is the salary livable?

If you can follow up with the RAs and other research staff in a casual/outside of interview context, this can give you the best sense of what the lab is actually like. If you’re getting yellow or red flags LISTEN TO THEM. Don’t get caught in the trap that any experience is good experience. Your PI will likely be writing you recommendation letters in the years to come. You don’t want to have to feel like you have to stay in a bad lab environment for the sake of your career. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your financial security, dignity, and wellbeing for research experience.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Your first year out of undergraduate is really challenging. My own first year out was a memorable mix of terrifying and exciting, as I adjusted to being out of school for the first time in 17 years. I remember meeting with a friend to discuss how hard everything was and how exhausting it was outside of the safety of a set schedule and the comfort of knowing what to do and when to do it. She told me, “I don’t know how to explain it, but everything gets easier one year in.” It’s true. Give it a year. Give any major life change a year. It gets easier and you grow more confident in yourself and your role professionally. If your postbac job is challenging and the first few months you feel awkward and like you don’t know how to do anything, that’s normal! As long as you're working to learn and grow, you are probably doing what you need to do and gaining the skills you’ll need for your next step. It’s hard to be the newest person and it’s hard to take on a new job, city, or program. But everyday gets a little better until one day you realize that doing that the one task you dread is no longer an effort. Or that someone now looks at you as the expert to complete a task or answer a question. And how cool is that?

A final piece of advice- you’ll make the best decision that you can make at the time with the information you have. Don’t kick yourself for making a choice that felt like the best decision six months ago. To quote my own undergraduate lab manager, Kirsten McKone, “you can’t write your story until it’s happened”. In retrospect, you’ll learn from the decisions that feel like they were mistakes. You may even feel like it brought you closer to where you are or needed to be.

You’re going to crush it.