NationStates Jolt Archive


How Do You Land a Lab Job?

Kreitzmoorland
21-01-2006, 23:46
So I'm eager to get some bench experience this summer in a biology lab.

I've been told that finding a prof who's work interests me, reading a few of their papers, and approaching them is the best way to land a job, but I don't really know what to say. I don't know if undergraduates are usually expected to wash test-tubes, initiate their own projects, or participate in the existing research of the lab. Probably all of the the above. I've found a lab in Israel that I'd love to work at, and I've read a couple of their publications. The next step would be to write the professor, but I'm not sure what to say or how to say it.

Anyone have some experience in getting a summer job from a research lab? What's the best way to spark a lab director's interest in an inexperienced undergrad?
Danmarc
21-01-2006, 23:52
So I'm eager to get some bench experience this summer in a biology lab.

I've been told that finding a prof who's work interests me, reading a few of their papers, and approaching them is the best way to land a job, but I don't really know what to say. I don't know if undergraduates are usually expected to wash test-tubes, initiate their own projects, or participate in the existing research of the lab. Probably all of the the above. I've found a lab in Israel that I'd love to work at, and I've read a couple of their publications. The next step would be to write the professor, but I'm not sure what to say or how to say it.

Anyone have some experience in getting a summer job from a research lab? What's the best way to spark a lab director's interest in an inexperienced undergrad?

No particular experience here with a lab, but I have worked with many a professor during both my undergrad economics studies and now grad school Poli Sci studies and they are genuinly flattered when you ask them to work with them. Just think about it, they don't have to do any extra work, in fact, you could be a lab "slave" and help them on projects, so you would benefit them if anything. I have never received a negative answer from a teacher when asking about something extra.

are you talking about a "experience only" law work, or an actual accredited class? the latter may be harder to get...
Danmarc
21-01-2006, 23:57
lab.....not law..... (I can't even talk when I am silent, sheesh)
Kreitzmoorland
22-01-2006, 00:00
are you talking about a "experience only" lab work, or an actual accredited class? the latter may be harder to get...Well, since I don't have lab experience, except for a couple biology lab courses I've done, I don't mind what I do at all (calibrating pipettes, mixing solutions, whatever) - as long as I'm learning and interesting stuff is going on in the background. The trouble is asking for a job (ie, money - however little) when the lab has to invest in teching me. I know this happens all the time, and I have friends that have done it, I'm just not sure how to approach it. Also, I go to school in Canada, but I want to be in Israel this summer - thus, I'm don't know the people at all.

EDIT: there is an edit function in your posts Danmark
Dakini
22-01-2006, 00:02
Talk to the careers centre at your school, especially if they have faculty specific ones and see how things are done at your school. I don't know how it works for applying to work with different schools though.

Also, really yeah, just talk to profs. The only thing is you might be starting a bit late for this, NSERC deadlines are around this time (they help provide funding for part or all of your salary, thus increasing your odds of getting hired) and there might be a lot of competition.
Danmarc
22-01-2006, 00:05
Israel.....ambitious.. just be careful, you are too cute to travel around the world without caution... As far as getting paid, does your university offer sometime of internship? You could possibly get credit and get paid at the same time, two birds with one stone... I interned with a non-profit organization here, surely you could do the same there (except mine wasn't paid)... although there are many that are paid.
Kreitzmoorland
22-01-2006, 00:05
Talk to the careers centre at your school, especially if they have faculty specific ones and see how things are done at your school. I don't know how it works for applying to work with different schools though.

Also, really yeah, just talk to profs. The only thing is you might be starting a bit late for this, NSERC deadlines are around this time (they help provide funding for part or all of your salary, thus increasing your odds of getting hired) and there might be a lot of competition.No, NSERC is only if you're applying within the country - the canadian government isn't going to fund researchers to go elsewhere. The deadline is passed for that in a any case. I guess I should just formulate an e-mail giving my interests, availablility and experience and see what happens.
H N Fiddlebottoms VIII
22-01-2006, 00:06
Having pictures of said professor receiving oral sex from a student is generally enough to get you whatever you need. Outside of that peice of advice, I can't really help you.
Immortalists
22-01-2006, 00:07
so, i'm an undergraduate student of biochemistry myself and i just got a summer job in a lab next week.
i attended the open day of a research institute in our town and i met one of the department leaders whom I asked for a summer job, and he said *just write a mail to me, we are always happy about people who want to work here" then i mailed him and told him "i'm a student of biochemistry, i already have lab experience because i did ..., and i'd like to work in your department during term holidays, because i'm very interested in your research", and he forwarded the mail to one of his post-docs who offered me a project.

you will certainly not wash test tubes, or at least not only, i already had a job in a lab for some weeks when i was still at school and i helped a PhD student there with her project, i didn't only make solutions and media but also analyzed chlorophyll, fatty acids and DNA. so i think you'll participate in the actual work of the group, but if you can stay for some months you may also have an own project. but you may also have to do something like making solutions and media and wash test tubes if it's necessary :)

hope you*ll be lucky :)

(please excuse my english, it's better normally but i'm not in the state of mind to think about grammar *g*)
Dakini
22-01-2006, 00:08
No, NSERC is only if you're applying within the country - the canadian government isn't going to fund researchers to go elsewhere. The deadline is passed for that in a any case. I guess I should just formulate an e-mail giving my interests, availablility and experience and see what happens.
I know, but I think it might be more likely for you to get a summer job at your own school.

But yeah, it doesn't hurt to email the prof you would like to work with and ask if he'll take you on. I mean, at one point he was in your shoes, most profs keep that sort of thing in mind and will try to help you out if possible.
Kreitzmoorland
22-01-2006, 00:14
Thanks for your experience Immortalists - I think I'll just try an email then. Is it bad manners to try a few faculty members at the same time?

I agree Dakini- it would be easier here at UBC, but I need to get away this summer. Hopefully my exoticism will be an asset for Israeli researchers. Maybe I could even write reports for grad students that lack great english skills!
Desperate Measures
22-01-2006, 00:16
I usually tell the man in white that I've been drug free for a week and then I sign some papers. I don't remember what happens next but suddenly it's next month and I have a $250 credited to my bank account.
Also, everything is tinted pinkish.
Kreitzmoorland
22-01-2006, 00:17
Having pictures of said professor receiving oral sex from a student is generally enough to get you whatever you need. Outside of that peice of advice, I can't really help you.
NO BLACKMAILING today Fiddles. BAD.
H N Fiddlebottoms VIII
22-01-2006, 00:37
NO BLACKMAILING today Fiddles. BAD.
I never really saw what was wrong with good old fashioned blackmail. The person in question has done something worthy of punishment, and I am exacting that punishment by extracting money and favours from them.
They get mercy, I get money, the "victim" gets justice, no one has to go to court or be fired, everyone wins!
Danmarc
22-01-2006, 00:47
Kreitzmoorland, curious.....have you spoken with any private companies?? They may not hire you, without a degree, but may let you intern with them privately, even if there is no real school offiliation.
Kreitzmoorland
22-01-2006, 01:12
Kreitzmoorland, curious.....have you spoken with any private companies?? They may not hire you, without a degree, but may let you intern with them privately, even if there is no real school offiliation.That could be an option - but I doubt biotech companies would be eager to have an inexperienced undergrad trailing about their labs. I'm actually more interested in finding out what research in an academic setting is like, so that I can decide what to do with my life after this degree is over.

Anyway, here's the letter I drafted. Please make any comment and suggestions you may have, barring the offer of sexual favours, blackmail, or otherwise disreputable tactics.

Dear Dr. Gruenbaum

I'm a 2nd year undergraduate biology student at the University of British Colombia in Vanouver. This summer, I was hoping to spend three months in Israel and also to get exposed to lab work in biology research. Does your lab accept undergrads for summer lab work positions? This year in my cellular biology course, I was first exposed to the concept of phosphorilation as a powerful and dynamic mechanism in the cell cycle's activation and pace. The use of the mitotic cell to examine so many systems in concert - the cyctoskelton (both lamins, and the spindle), nuclear pores and targeting, and the CDK kinase activities of the cell seems like a fascinating and diverse area to study. Your research and publications caught my interest particularly.

I would be happy to help in any aspect needed, be it helping a grad student with their project, or general lab maintenance. My lab experience is limited to three biology lab courses that covered microscopy, some staining, very superficial gel analysis and protein extraction, and preliminary experimental techniques and data analysis. I'm very eager to learn, get bench experience and be in a research environment in general. Though I am writing to you in English, I do speak fluent Hebrew, though my Hebrew typing and scientific lexicon are rudimentary; I would be happy to use my English skills in your lab for any writing that isn't as natural to native Israelis. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Kreitz.
Danmarc
22-01-2006, 01:19
Excellent letter. One suggestion, and not to the letter you printed. I would include a reference letter from a teacher, your advisor, or maybe even a boss that could vouch that you are in fact a hard worker, and punctual, and that you are a quick learner. That and have them add that you would be an asset to any research team or laboratory. Other than that, great job..
Kanabia
22-01-2006, 01:35
Sign up as a test subject. *nods*
Kreitzmoorland
22-01-2006, 01:38
Sign up as a test subject. *nods*
*passes*












*...out*



Actually there's this lab on my campus that recruits people to take CT and MRI scans for them. You get to see cool pictures of your insides after, and I think they might even pay you.
Danmarc
22-01-2006, 01:48
*passes*












*...out*



Actually there's this lab on my campus that recruits people to take CT and MRI scans for them. You get to see cool pictures of your insides after, and I think they might even pay you.

that may be something to do....... once.. However, you don't want to continuously expose yourself to radiation, I am no doctor, but that can't be good for you....
Danmarc
22-01-2006, 01:49
Kreitz, how far are you from the states?? Just curious.. You may try crossing the border, American schools are always looking for interested students..
Kreitzmoorland
22-01-2006, 01:52
Kreitz, how far are you from the states?? Just curious.. You may try crossing the border, American schools are always looking for interested students..
Very close, I live in Vancouver. But the point is that I want to spend my summer in Israel to be with my family, or in Vancouver to be with my boyfriend, (preferably the former) so that's where I have to look. I don't really care much about going to the states at this point.
Kanabia
22-01-2006, 01:58
Actually there's this lab on my campus that recruits people to take CT and MRI scans for them. You get to see cool pictures of your insides after, and I think they might even pay you.

Hmm. That'd be cool. Frankly, i'd rather get paid to sit in a torpedo-tube all day than bag groceries. :p
Danmarc
22-01-2006, 01:58
Very close, I live in Vancouver. But the point is that I want to spend my summer in Israel to be with my family, or in Vancouver to be with my boyfriend, (preferably the former) so that's where I have to look. I don't really care much about going to the states at this point.


By no means an invite, and I apologize if it came off weird... I am in St. Louis, MO but I was thinking if the Israeli trip didnt work out, there are lots of schools in Wisconsin and Michigan that have very large student bodies, and thus probably have huge biology/bio-chem/etc. departments that could need help. Are you looking just at the country of Israel as a whole, or is there an Israeli university that is offering summer opportunities for international students?
Harlesburg
22-01-2006, 02:01
So I'm eager to get some bench experience this summer in a biology lab.

I've been told that finding a prof who's work interests me, reading a few of their papers, and approaching them is the best way to land a job, but I don't really know what to say. I don't know if undergraduates are usually expected to wash test-tubes, initiate their own projects, or participate in the existing research of the lab. Probably all of the the above. I've found a lab in Israel that I'd love to work at, and I've read a couple of their publications. The next step would be to write the professor, but I'm not sure what to say or how to say it.

Anyone have some experience in getting a summer job from a research lab? What's the best way to spark a lab director's interest in an inexperienced undergrad?
Have you ever tried voluntering for risky experiments?
Kreitzmoorland
22-01-2006, 02:06
Have you ever tried voluntering for risky experiments?*sigh* it's already been suggested. And no. I'll do that after I kick the bucket.

Though you can make decent dough in psychology/psychiatry departments doing all sorts of experiments and tests.

@ Dan, there are no specific programs- one just has to look in Faculty and laboratory wesites for people that do research that interests one.
Harlesburg
22-01-2006, 02:27
*sigh* it's already been suggested. And no. I'll do that after I kick the bucket.

Though you can make decent dough in psychology/psychiatry departments doing all sorts of experiments and tests.

@ Dan, there are no specific programs- one just has to look in Faculty and laboratory wesites for people that do research that interests one.
Yeah sorry i just saw Kanabia played the smart-arse card before me.-sigh

Such as having your brain hooked up to wires and as you view images they read your thoughts?
Anti-Social Darwinism
22-01-2006, 06:05
Do you have a Department of Agriculture or something like a Farm Advisor's Office? My daughter got an undergraduate job in the Citrus and Date Germplasm Repository of the USDA. They're usually look for some undergraduates to underpay.
Jeruselem
22-01-2006, 06:22
Wonder if there's some nasty legal document if you have to sign when working in the lab - the type which says it's not their fault when you get Ebola by accident. :D
Kreitzmoorland
22-01-2006, 18:43
Do you have a Department of Agriculture or something like a Farm Advisor's Office? My daughter got an undergraduate job in the Citrus and Date Germplasm Repository of the USDA. They're usually look for some undergraduates to underpay.I would love to do that actually - my next place to check is the agriculture school in the galilee and several botany departments.

Wonder if there's some nasty legal document if you have to sign when working in the lab - the type which says it's not their fault when you get Ebola by accident. hah. Most of the labs actually work on harmless model species like yeast, mice, flies, e. coli, and chlamydomonas. pathologost have it a bit tough though - they have to wear these sealed suits with air tanks and take these chemical showers before they emerge from the top-security facilities they work at. suckers. nah, I'll stick to genetics and cellular biology.
Kreitzmoorland
26-01-2006, 05:30
Well, thanks for the encouragement guys! I got it!

The proffesor replied within a day, asked his grad students, and told me I could come and welcome. the project involves nuclear lamina and aging and/or apoptosis, which is so incredibly cool. I cannot wait for the summer!!
WOOoo!

Yeast, here I come.
Megaloria
26-01-2006, 05:38
I thought it said "How do you land a LAP job?". What a let-down.
Myotisinia
26-01-2006, 05:52
Marry into the family. Find yourself a cute little lab rat and shack up. Use some bait. Try cheese. They like that.....
Kreitzmoorland
26-01-2006, 06:01
Marry into the family. Find yourself a cute little lab rat and shack up. Use some bait. Try cheese. They like that.....Marrying into the family doesn't work with rats. You're either in the family, or you're not. Lab rats only mate with their siblings over many generations to produce nearly-identical genetic profiles.
So no ambition possible.
Saint Curie
26-01-2006, 08:03
Lab rats only mate with their siblings over many generations to produce nearly-identical genetic profiles.

Must make for some strange discussions around the cheese wheel...

"Little Bobby! Stop not humping your sister!"