Another semester of research, or an internship?

[greenwintermints]

This month, I applied for two jobs - I emailed some professors to try and get a job as a research assistant, and I sent out some cover letters to local museums to try and pick up an internship at a museum.  I'm pretty sure I've got the research job (heck yes!), but now I'm debating what I want to do if and when any of the museums and archives get back to me.

 

At first I was going to just explain I'd already taken up another commitment, and then try to delay my internship until the spring, but then I started looking at my schedule - if things go really well with this research job and I wanted another semester (is that a thing? can you even do research for more than 1 semester?) of research, I couldn't do that *and* the internship and the classes required for the rest of my degrees. 

 

I'm not entirely sure what's best for my application - longer, sustained research, or a museum/special collections internship that might diversify my CV and give me some real world experience (also, placing my foot in the door in case I don't get in anywhere). 

 

So, I guess I'll give the tl;dr version:

 

1) Going into junior year, interested in PhD programs in history

2) Most likely have a job as a research assistant for a professor

3) Can I do research with that professor for two semesters if it goes really well?

4) Should I try and do another semester of research, or should I add a museum internship?

 

Thanks!

[ArtHistoryandMuseum]

I have completed a few collections internships.

I'm en route soon for work (at a museum, no less), but my quick reply on my mobile device is that you may be able glean some helpful insights from this recent post:

Please do feel free to ask me anything more regarding museum work, or just PM me.

[enchanted24]

I think it would depend on how much research experience you currently have. If you don't have any research experience at all and you are sure that you want to do the PhD, then I think you will definitely need a lot of research experience. Certainly a lot more than one semester - or even one year.

 

Research experience varies considerably. I did a lot of research in my undergrad with three different professors. One supervised my honors thesis, the other I co-authored a study with. Those were great research experiences. The experience I had with the third professor was not great. We did very little work over the course of that semester and it was not an illuminating experience to say the least. So it all depends - talk to the professors you're going to be working with and see what you are going to be doing.

 

I will say that I did all of the research work for free - I was never paid for any of it. I believe this is how it is for the majority of students; it's something you're just expected to "do" any way you can. If you really want the PhD then you should try to secure research experience even if you're not paid. Although, internships are a good thing. You may decided later (like how a lot of students do) that the PhD isn't as great of an idea as they thought it would be and they decide they don't want to do do it anymore. In which case, pursuing a master's or entering the work force are the alternatives. If you ultimately decide not to do the PhD, the internship will be valuable work experience which you will definitely need later on.

 

Many students have jobs, go to school full time and do research on the side too; I was one of them and so were my peers. It's expected of students to be doing all of these things at once nowadays regardless of how tremendously difficult it can be at times. The PhD is apparently a tremendously difficult endeavor though so it's expected of you to be able to handle many responsibilities simultaneously. I would try to see if you can get both the internship and the research experience. I think you need both! You mentioned delaying the internship, so maybe you can negotiate the internship to start during summer when you're not in class. Try to do both though. You need both!

 

Best of luck to you!

[greenwintermints]

Thanks for your replies!

 

Re: ArtHistoryandMuseum: I did see that thread earlier, but I'll take another look at it! Thanks!

 

Re: enchanted24: Thanks so much! I didn't quite make it clear at the beginning, but neither my possible internship nor my upcoming research would be paid - I referred to them as jobs because it makes it easier when talking to my family, but I'm not getting paid (I do have a paying job, as a writing tutor) and I'd be pursuing them even if I wasn't! But I think you're right and your perspective is spot-on - I need both the internship and the research, so I think I'll do some playing with my schedule and see how I can fit both in the spring (I can't fit them both in now). Thanks for your help!

[juilletmercredi]

For a PhD in regular traditional history, the research is probably better.  If you are interested in public history and aim towards being a museum curator or something, then the internship is probably better.  And yes, of course you can do research for more than one semester, and should.  I did research for 5 consecutive semesters in college.