Gaining experience for a job

[speechfan222]

Hi everyone, 

I am interested in statistics and data collection/research jobs once I receive my Masters Degree in Sociology. I have been looking over a few job positions on various sites and most of them require 1-3+ years experience. I have a BS degree in another field and am somewhat new to Sociology. I don't have any experience. 

I found out from my program advisor that some companies will hire individuals who are currently in the process of completing their Master's degree. I already have a generic letter of intent that I can send to various companies. Would this be the best way to inform them that I'm interested in their position, don't have a Masters degree yet, but am completing it? 

I also heard that I can find volunteer activities or an internship, but I need to have at least 40 hrs/week for bills and get paid for them. 

Any help is appreciated. I'm really interested in several positions, but feel lost without having experience. And I don't know how to obtain any. 

[TakeruK]

Sometimes these companies will hire grad students as interns in the summer. Depending on the nature of your graduate program, you may or may not be able to do this while you are still a student. But I do know some people who intern for the summer immediately following their graduate program and then get hired into a full time position after that. 

For finding these positions, you can search for internship programs on their websites. The ones I've looked at generally have different internships for different levels of education (undergrad degree, masters/early grad student, and PhD/late grad student). You can also find the company's recruitment pages and reach out to the recruiters there. They are usually very interested in finding experienced researchers! In my field, these recruiters often also attend our national society's annual meetings and there are career fairs/booths where you can go and meet these recruiters in person!

[fuzzylogician]

^ In addition, since your advisor seems to have some knowledge about this, if s/he has former students in the kinds of jobs you're looking for, ask them to put you in touch with those students. You can gain some first-hand insight and maybe those former students can help you get something in their company. 

[speechfan222]

1 hour ago, fuzzylogician said:

^ In addition, since your advisor seems to have some knowledge about this, if s/he has former students in the kinds of jobs you're looking for, ask them to put you in touch with those students. You can gain some first-hand insight and maybe those former students can help you get something in their company. 

Thanks for the help @TakeruK and @fuzzylogician. It definitely helps. The person I spoke with about obtaining employment without having my MA degree just yet is actually a professor and is the advisor for fieldwork placements within the program. She also informed me that several students go into different areas and gain experience with internships or by volunteering. I need 40 hours/week and I need to get paid for them as well, so I will keep checking. 

Would anyone recommend that I find job opportunities I'm interested in and to contact the company informing them of my situation? 

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it. 

[TakeruK]

@speechfan222: The internships from companies looking to hire researchers are generally full-time, paid internships. But I guess I might have misunderstood what you meant when you say "statistics and data collection/research jobs". I was thinking some kind of quantitative or data analysis type work for companies that need this analysis! One of my officemates found an internship through JP Morgan Chase and now works there full time. They often have paid internship programs for graduate students all over the world. I went to their main website (https://careers.jpmorgan.com/careers/programs), searched for internships and clicked on the first graduate level one: https://jpmorgan.tal.net/vx/appcentre-apac_jobs/brand-0/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/6/opp/4838-2017-Quantitative-Research-PhD-Masters-Summer-Analyst-Program-China/en-GB Although this particular position is closed and it may not be exactly what you are looking for, this is an example of the kind of internship I mean.

It's not just limited to the financial sector, although that is a pretty lucrative field. I know other people who have gone to other companies such as The Aerospace Corporation (see https://careers.aerospace.org/go/College-Students-Recent-Graduates/2441200/) or Microsoft (https://careers.microsoft.com/students/internships). These are all paid positions. Again, I am not sure exactly what you are looking for and what kind of skills you have developed so search for the big companies in your area of expertise/interest and find information about their internship programs online. Generally, the larger the company, the more likely they have well advertised and documented internship programs. 

But you don't need to limit yourself to just these big companies. I think it's fine to reach out to companies whose work you admire or find interesting and ask them if they are interested in hiring an intern over the summer or if they have internship programs. I think this time of year is a bad time to be looking for summer internships (usually these applications happen in March/April, I believe) but reaching out will 1) establish interest and 2) let you find out about future programs and the right timing. Having a connection definitely helps, as fuzzylogician suggested. Most of my friends who now work for start up companies either had some kind of personal connection with a current employee or made a good connection at a conference, career fair, or other networking event. Although I don't have experience in this myself, my friends say that they were later told the direct recommendation from a current employee at the startups really helped make a difference since startups are by nature small and usually want to ensure new hires fit into their company culture. 

I forgot to mention that your school's career center could be a great resource too. Some centers will regularly invite recruiters on campus to conduct information sessions and/or recruiting sessions. It's a good way to make a connection with someone in the company (the company often sends an alumni to be the recruiter at these types of events). It's also a good way to learn about different companies and jobs that you might not have thought about before.

Finally, don't forget about the usefulness of an "informational interview". There are tons of advice about these things on the web written by people with far more knowledge and experience than I can provide so I'll just direct you there. If you're not ready to apply to a specific thing yet (especially since it's kind of off-cycle for summer internship positions), you could interview someone who has the type of job you want and ask them about their work to learn more about the job and their company. Just remember that you are not actually interviewing for a job here, this is just an informal conversation to get you more information. Many people are willing to chat for 15 minutes over coffee or something if you show genuine interest!