Can I consider myself an official RA?

[Wackstrom]

I met with a professor yesterday to about working in his lab this coming year, and it sounds like's agreeing to having me help out + supervising my thesis. The caveat is that it's not funded, which I'm fine with (I made clear that I wasn't looking for funding and would be happy to volunteer), but now I'm wondering if I can officially consider myself an RA (AKA list it as a position on my resume, LinkedIn, etc.). 

I don't want to be the Joe-schmo volunteer who pops in here and there to do grunt work, but actually be seen as a legitimate member of the lab, even if not on paper and unpaid.

[PsyDuck90]

I would suggest having another conversation about the expectations each of you have for each other. The fact that it "sounds like" he allowed you to volunteer and for him to supervise would worry me. It's completely OK to talk about how involved you are expected to be in the lab. You can ask things like how many hours a week he would like you to spend, and regarding your thesis, you can try to schedule a meeting to sit down and discuss topics. I would get a more concrete understanding of the situation and worry about my LinkedIn later. 

[Wackstrom]

1 hour ago, Hk328 said:

I would suggest having another conversation about the expectations each of you have for each other. The fact that it "sounds like" he allowed you to volunteer and for him to supervise would worry me. It's completely OK to talk about how involved you are expected to be in the lab. You can ask things like how many hours a week he would like you to spend, and regarding your thesis, you can try to schedule a meeting to sit down and discuss topics. I would get a more concrete understanding of the situation and worry about my LinkedIn later. 

Sorry to emphasize the "sounds like." He basically agreed contingent on me figuring out if the projects are of interest to me + my course availability doesn't absolutely swamp me. I'm planning to reserve one courseload-worth of credits for the research so I told him it wasn't a problem. He threw out a few numbers for weekly hour commitments but left it up to me to find a "comfortable pace" (in his own words).

I guess since this isn't a funded position, I just don't know if RAs are typically on-paper official legit employment positions. I may not have a lot of that formal legitimacy, but just wondering if it really matters or not.

[Sigaba]

5 hours ago, Wackstrom said:

I guess since this isn't a funded position, I just don't know if RAs are typically on-paper official legit employment positions. I may not have a lot of that formal legitimacy, but just wondering if it really matters or not.

It may matter if you authorize a background check down the line and there's no paperwork to verify that you were a RA.

I recommend that you ask around the department how non paying RA-ships are handled: Do you execute an agreement anyways? Are certain class numbers designated for RAs? (Are those class numbers described as such in a class schedule and a catalog.

I also recommend that you double check on what you're eligible to receive even though the RA-ship is unpaid. As an example, the departmental staff may issue student store discount cards to all TAs/RAs but those RAs who aren't paid may assume they're SOLO, not ask, and miss out.

If the situation is such that there's no piece of paper issued to verify that you're a RA, I would look for specific guidance from those who have held similar positions in your department as well as from your department on how to put the position in your CV/resume. 

TL/DR: protect yourself at all times. Don't put anything on your resume that a third party couldn't easily verify.

[ResilientDreams]

I would just put it under research experience. My school (I'm an undergrad) doesn't pay any of the undergrad research assistants and that's where I've listed mine.