Where do you find paid lab manager or research assistantship position?

[Rainydays]

Hi you guys, I'm preparing for the next year cos the application results are not ideal. I want to continue doing research to accumulate experience, but at the same time, I have to work to support myself. So I'm thinking about full time or part time lab manager or RA position. But I don't know where I can find relevant information.

[dormcat]

It's tough. I happened into my job almost accidentally. My first piece of advice is to start checking out big universities' labs' websites. We list job openings on our website, but even if we didn't our bios would show we were external hires. If labs have external hires and not just grad students as RAs, contact them to see if they have openings.

 

Aside from that,I'm not sure what area you're interested in but my lab also posts jobs to a listserv (http://lists.cogdevsoc.org/listinfo.cgi/cogdevsoc-cogdevsoc.org) that is open subscription. I get job announcements sometimes through my APA division 35 listserv, though usually they're PhD level because not many women's psych people have huge labs... I'd recommend joining the APA divisions relevant to your interests as you might get postings from those listservs too. Good luck!

[Happy_Green_Inchworm]

I would honestly suggest emailing professors you are interested in working with to see if they have any opportunities, especially if they work at a large institution where other/related labs might be hiring as well. Another RA at my current position got her job this way. You will get a lot of "no, sorry" or just zero response, but you will probably get some helpful emails or phone calls as well. When I was searching for my current (full time RA) position, I essentially looked at job listings for universities/hospitals that I knew were doing research I was interested in. Sometimes these jobs are posted on external job boards, but not always. I probably applied to ~20 positions before I got any real bites. Now is definitely the time to start looking though. 

Edit to add: are you willing to relocate? It would've been much harder to find work had I not been willing to relocate. Also, I would suggest asking current professors/advisors if they have any leads as well. You are most likely to get a job through your connections!

Edited March 6, 2017 by Happy_Green_Inchworm

[CaffeinatedCognition]

This might be helpful specifically for social psych labs: https://my.spsp.org/Jobs/Job-Search

In general, the society associated with your subfield will usually include these types of postings in their job tab on their website. Definitely a good place to start.

[hd397]

1 hour ago, Happy_Green_Inchworm said:

I would honestly suggest emailing professors you are interested in working with to see if they have any opportunities, especially if they work at a large institution where other/related labs might be hiring as well. Another RA at my current position got her job this way. You will get a lot of "no, sorry" or just zero response, but you will probably get some helpful emails or phone calls as well. When I was searching for my current (full time RA) position, I essentially looked at job listings for universities/hospitals that I knew were doing research I was interested in. Sometimes these jobs are posted on external job boards, but not always. I probably applied to ~20 positions before I got any real bites. Now is definitely the time to start looking though. 

Edit to add: are you willing to relocate? It would've been much harder to find work had I not been willing to relocate. Also, I would suggest asking current professors/advisors if they have any leads as well. You are most likely to get a job through your connections!

I will second this! A handful of the RAs in my lab got here because they sent a brief email to my PI with their CV attached. 

[acceptme]

Look on the job search sites of the universities you would be interested in working in.  I found my RA/lab manager job through the job site and just applied online.