Research Assistant Experience

[Applicant#1000]

Just looking for advice on how to talk about research assistant experience on the statement of intent. Do I just talk about what tasks I completed and the skills I gained as a result or should I also talk about the study's purpose and research question too and what I have learnt about the topic from working as a research assistant? Is it okay to talk about a study in detail if it is someone else's project and you're simply collecting data for it. 

[Applicant 1746]

I definitely think it's better to write about the study's purpose/research questions and what you enjoyed/found most interesting or exciting about a project, because it shows your ability to understand and think independently about research, and it lets you highlight what you like and value most about the research process. This will set you apart from other applicants!

That said, if you have a lot of research experience (i.e., too much to talk about everything you've done in a 1 or 2 page statement), you'll want to be strategic about how you allot your space. I chose to go into detail in my statement only about the studies I've worked on that were most relevant to the program I was applying to, or that were really influential in some way on my development as a researcher and the trajectory of my career goals.

As for listing tasks completed and skills gained, I listed all of those for each research position on my CV, so that reviewers would be able to quickly scan and see how in depth or hands on my research experience has been. But I spent my personal statement trying to communicate my potential and ability to think like an independent researcher. Hope this helps!

[Applicant#1000]

Thank you so much Applicant 1746! This is very helpful

[VentureIntoNothingness]

I agree with Applicant 1746 on talking about the study's purpose and research questions and what you have learnt about the topic from working as a research assistant may be a better spend of space. The reason is that you may be able to compile tasks completed and skills learnt in your CV. For statement of purpose, I think it is even more important to state what motivated you to get involved in this or that research or in this or that positions/specifics in some study.

However, depending on the space limit you are working with, I would be cautious about going into details about the studies themselves. That is,  an abstract of the study may not be much helpful if it's not pertinent to you. The reason is that your statement of purpose should really be about you. It would be okay to use a sentence or two going over your findings especially if that is close to what you are interested in studying in graduate level, or a sentence or two about some methodology that shows your growth as a researcher. But overall, for the efficiency of the space, it would be great I think to focus on why you did this [specific things] of this research, what you personally/professionally learnt from this research, how this involvement refined your academic trajectory, and how this may be related to your interest in graduate study. 

*Disclaimer: these are just my thoughts about SoP, they are by no means authoritative or necessarily helpful...  

 

Edited January 5, 2016 by VentureIntoNothingness

[Applicant#1000]

Thanks for your input VentureIntoNothingness! Certainly going to move skills and tasks completed onto the resume

[Applicant#1000]

On 1/5/2016 at 11:22 AM, VentureIntoNothingness said:

I agree with Applicant 1746 on talking about the study's purpose and research questions and what you have learnt about the topic from working as a research assistant may be a better spend of space. The reason is that you may be able to compile tasks completed and skills learnt in your CV. For statement of purpose, I think it is even more important to state what motivated you to get involved in this or that research or in this or that positions/specifics in some study.

However, depending on the space limit you are working with, I would be cautious about going into details about the studies themselves. That is,  an abstract of the study may not be much helpful if it's not pertinent to you. The reason is that your statement of purpose should really be about you. It would be okay to use a sentence or two going over your findings especially if that is close to what you are interested in studying in graduate level, or a sentence or two about some methodology that shows your growth as a researcher. But overall, for the efficiency of the space, it would be great I think to focus on why you did this [specific things] of this research, what you personally/professionally learnt from this research, how this involvement refined your academic trajectory, and how this may be related to your interest in graduate study. 

*Disclaimer: these are just my thoughts about SoP, they are by no means authoritative or necessarily helpful...  

 

 

On 1/5/2016 at 7:32 AM, Applicant 1746 said:

I definitely think it's better to write about the study's purpose/research questions and what you enjoyed/found most interesting or exciting about a project, because it shows your ability to understand and think independently about research, and it lets you highlight what you like and value most about the research process. This will set you apart from other applicants!

That said, if you have a lot of research experience (i.e., too much to talk about everything you've done in a 1 or 2 page statement), you'll want to be strategic about how you allot your space. I chose to go into detail in my statement only about the studies I've worked on that were most relevant to the program I was applying to, or that were really influential in some way on my development as a researcher and the trajectory of my career goals.

As for listing tasks completed and skills gained, I listed all of those for each research position on my CV, so that reviewers would be able to quickly scan and see how in depth or hands on my research experience has been. But I spent my personal statement trying to communicate my potential and ability to think like an independent researcher. Hope this helps!

When listing skills on the resume, do you recommend putting them in the summary points (e.g., http://www.designresumetemplate.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Summary-Of-Skills-Resume-Examples-3.png ) or not having a summary section and just putting them under the position title (i.e., under 'Research Assistant')

[Applicant 1746]

I personally don't have a summary section. I list project summaries and tasks completed under position titles, and I have a separate "Skills" section towards the end of my CV that lists technical skills like statistical packages and programming languages I'm proficient in. I think a personal summary section is more common on resumes than on CVs, no?

Then again, there's really no right or wrong way to do this. I've seen all variations of CVs and resumes. I'd go with however you prefer to present your experiences!

[VentureIntoNothingness]

I listed project titles, PI/supervisor/Lab names, and tasks completed (I bullet pointed tasks completed in addition to make it clearer, but one of my mentors commented that to be too business-y) under position titles. Anyways, another informative thing to do is to go to the program's (the one that you are applying for) website and take a look at their faculties/grad students' cv and perhaps mimic that. 

Edited January 8, 2016 by VentureIntoNothingness

[Applicant#1000]

Thanks Applicant 1746 and VentureIntoNothingness!! Yes I suppose the summary section only goes on resumes, not CVs