By Alice Betteridge
Research Assistants (RA’s) play a key role in the academic research ‘ecosystem’, providing crucial skills and support for a huge range of projects. As such they also offer great opportunities to gain relevant experience, for those aspiring to academic and research-related careers. In our latest article, Alice, a doctoral researcher at NTU Psychology, shares helpful insights and advice to help you start your own research journey.
What does a Research Assistant do?
The duties of a research assistant can vary massively across research projects and timelines; in the earlier stages of the research project this can include searching for funding opportunities and completing literature reviews. Towards the end of the project this can include assisting in data analysis, synthesis of ideas and theoretical outcomes and the writing up of outputs. Then there are various stages within the middle of the project. These can be tasks focused around the development of the theoretical model, or practical tasks such as the creation of experimental materials, compiling psychometric measures or assisting with interviews and focus groups. As psychologists, we develop excellent research skills that are desired in many different subject areas, so drawing on (and advertising) these transferable skills to potential employers can give you a great foundation. Essentially the role of a research assistant can be anything and everything, which is one of the reasons why this job role can be a catalyst for an early researcher to develop their skillset; for example, In the past year I have worked on projects within mental health psychology, forensic psychology, government policy and law, sociology and academic practice.
Benefits and practicalities
Working as a research assistant is one of the best ways to get practical experience, beginning your progression into a career in research or academia.
- Working with others: In the world of research, the ability to work with people is vital. Research projects will always involve some form of collaboration or the need to draw on the skills of others. When working as an RA you with inevitably be working under the supervision of the principal investigator, however there are many others who you may come into contact with, including other research assistants, technicians, consulting academics and many more. Starting to develop skills in working effectively with others of varying disciplines is a wonderful first step. In addition to this, developing a healthy mentoring relationship with academic staff on the project could lead to positive future endeavours such as being recommended for future RA work and good quality, professionally relevant references for future jobs.
- Working independently: The ability to ‘figure it out yourself’ is a key skill in any working environment. Although senior academics will be supportive in your research journey and aim to foster the development of your skills, they are often very busy people! Meaning that the role of an RA often holds a great deal of autonomy over how you choose to do your job. You will develop many skills and knowledge by having to organise your own workload and often problem-solve independently, skills which go beyond what is taught in the classroom.
- Practicing academic skills: The best way to become good at something is practice and repetition. Working as a research assistant is one of the best ways to turn the knowledge you have learnt in the classroom into real-world skills, by applying them to the varying scenarios that you will come across in your work.
- Grow your CV: Practicing these academic skills gives a perfect opportunity to gain more points to add to your CV with all the useful skills that you will have developed during your work. It is also a great opportunity to strengthen the legitimacy of your learnt knowledge, giving increased backing to the skills you will have gained in your studies by putting these into practice in a real-world environment.
- Grow your confidence: Moving from studying to working in an academic environment can be daunting, getting involved in others research work can be a great bridge between. It gives you the opportunity to practice skills whilst under the supervision of a more senior academic, building your confidence in your own abilities before entering the full-time working world. It gives you the opportunity to practice skills which you may feel a little less confident in (presenting is always a big one!), cushioning the impact on nerves when you eventually have to do this independently. It will grow your academic network as you begin to meet new members of staff throughout the department, giving you a great sense of belonging within the team.
- Finances: Moving onto the more practical points, a prominent concern for students is finances! The pay offered for research assistant work differs between projects, dependent upon the project’s available resources, although it is likely to be better than other part-time work generally available to students.
- Flexibility: RA’s usually operate on a temporary basis, with the time dependent on the project, with research projects requiring work on specific tasks for the duration of it. Therefore, the shorter-term nature of research assistant roles can be seen as a negative due to the insecurity of repeated temporary contracts, depending on individual circumstances. However, flipping this perspective, there are many benefits to this style of working, potentially offering the best way to develop a wide range of skills across many topic areas and disciplines. RA work can often be relatively adaptable; as long as the work is being completed and hours are being recorded, principal investigators may be flexible in terms of when the work gets completed, meaning that RA work can be fitted flexibly around your studies or other commitments.
Tips for gaining research assistant jobs
Research assistant roles can be found in various different institutions including universities, research centres and private organisations.
Resources at NTU: NTU are committed to having a strong focus on employability, therefore there are many opportunities to attain great work experience through these channels. More long-term research assistant opportunities are often publicised on their career’s website. These are often aimed at graduates who are no longer studying, due to them often being full-time positions with greater commitment.
However, if you are looking for short-term flexible work, as discussed here, the best place to go is through the JobShop. Here you can filter opportunity types to ‘Jobs at NTU / Unitemps’ and find all short-term research assistant roles being advertised within the university.
Make use of existing contacts: Make use of the time that you already spend around academics at NTU. If you’re a doctoral student who is already engaging in Hourly Paid Lecturing, speak to the lecturers that you’re working with. If you’re an undergraduate or master’s student, speak with your tutors or lecturers in a field of particular interest to you. Tell as many people as you can that you are looking for research assistant work, often academics will have projects going on themselves or may know of others who do. Voluntary work on academic’s research projects is also a good way to get your foot in the door and get some experience working on a real research project to put on your CV.
Search for hybrid roles: If you wish to look outside of the university for research work, try searching for hybrid roles. Often research assistant work entails a great deal of desk work, meaning that a lot of work can be done from home. This opens up opportunities at universities across the country which you can be involved in.
Always read the job description: Once you have found a role that you may be interested in, make sure to properly read the job description. Applying to jobs can become tedious, especially when you’re putting so much effort into applying for jobs which may only be a few months or even weeks! However, do not underestimate how many other people are applying to the same position as you. Read the job description well and clearly outline how you fit this, using examples of how you have demonstrated the skills in previous capacities.
Practicing interviewing skills: Show off your skills in your interview. Be prepared to talk about how your experiences can influence how you would work on this project. But also, be honest, employers will value your honesty in areas that you may not have the most developed skills and will often be able to provide you with training and support in developing these areas. They will appreciate that the role should also be benefiting your development as well as their projects.
When interviewing for a research assistant job, I was honest that I didn’t have specialist expertise in the project topic area, but after explaining how my practical skills lined up with those that the job required and demonstrated my ability to be versatile in working in new topic areas, I was offered the job!
Do a good job! Finally, once you have found and secured the right research assistant job, make an effort to do a good job! Be enthusiastic and make the most of the opportunity. Lecturers will often come back to offer further work or recommend you to their colleagues when you’ve done a good job. Word of mouth is a big asset in this work.
About the author:
- Alice is a doctoral candidate within the Psychology department. She achieved her BSc Psychology and MSc Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health, studying at NTU since 2015. Her area of research is the impact of family communication on individuals’ risk for psychosis.
- Header image by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
- Image 1 from Nottingham Trent University image library
- Image 2 by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
- Image 3 from Nottingham Trent University image library
Psychology at Nottingham Trent University 