Hi,

I'm looking for any advice people might be able to share regarding the best way for me to begin a bioscience career.

I have a 2:1 BSc degree in biomedical science, and I'm just about to graduate with an MSc in biotechnology - both from a mid-ranking university. I'm 22 years old, I have continuously been in full time education, and I have no significant work experience. My long term career goal is to get into the industrial research and development sector.

Over the last year I have applied for ~10 funded PhD studentships relating to virology. I had 2 separate interviews at a very prestigious university, but was unsuccessful in obtaining either position.

I'm reluctant to keep on applying for more studentships because I would rather wait and eventually get a studentship for a project I'm really interested in at a good university, than lower my sights in the hope of obtaining something which may be somewhere less competitive. Also, I feel that my greatest weakness now is my lack of experience, and worry that by going straight into a PhD this would become even more of a problem afterwards.

Therefore, my current plan is to try to get a job as either a research assistant or research technician. Then, in 2 - 4 years after 1 or 2 different jobs, reapply for PhDs and hopefully get something really exciting.

My question is basically this - do you think I am being reasonable? I have seen quite a lot of job adverts for both research assistants and technicians, but I have heard from several different people that RA jobs are very difficult to obtain, is this true? Also, how much are research technicians generally paid? My primary concern is not money, but ideally I would like a salary of ~£20,000 or more. Do you think this amount is realistic for someone in my situation?

Thank you so much in advance for any help.

Malik.

As someone who does have some experience outside of university regarding RA work, I will say that RA roles are difficult to get, are highly competitive and generally, those who have applied with RA work experience will most likely be picked over you. I don't know what it is like in the UK, but here in Australia RA roles are considered Level A academics.

Do you have any publications, any conference/seminar experience, any student placements conducting research, any paid or unpaid lab experience?

I'm currently interviewing for RA/RT positions in both industry and academia after having just submitted my PhD for examination. I lost out to another candidate despite being told that I interviewed very well/very impressed with my application and professionalism because that candidate had more experience than I did. and I had experience in doing all the stuff required in the role, but just not enough.

I've been told for industry roles that while I have the qualifications and the skills, I lack the experience of industry (i.e. business/client) that would make me competitive, so I'm currently working on how to close that gap/using other means of getting work (informational interviewing, networking etc).

Apply for them and see what happens, but considering the academic environment, you'll be going up against PhDs who can't get postdocs/tenure and may have more RA experience than you, or graduates with internship experience that will be considered more competitive (and paid less) than you. Have a look at internships, traineeship programs, get in contact with Alumni from your university, go to the career counselling at your uni and look into recruitment agencies.

I think RA jobs are getting more difficult to obtain, perhaps because people with PhD's are often going for them now due to a lack of postdoc jobs. Having a quick look on jobs.ac.uk it seems that the salary can vary from starting salary of £17,000 to about £30,000, I guess it depends on the project, the university, the funding they have and how much experience they expect of the candidate. I would just apply for as much as you can and while waiting perhaps look into doing some voluntary work somewhere that interests you - sometimes volunteering can open doors and make contacts to help you get more opportunities down the line.

Hi awsoci, thanks for your reply.

The only noteworthy research experience I have is that obtained through my undergraduate and MSc research projects. (3 months part time lab work for undergrad and 3 months full time lab work for MSc, not including the literature review/experimental design/write up stages). I think my courses may possibly have incorporated a little more lab work than average, but obviously that pales in comparison to the experience other applicants who have worked in a research role will have.

What you're saying with regard to RA positions backs up what I've heard from other people, and I guess that makes sense considering the competitiveness of postdocs.

I am a little surprised that there are significant numbers of PhD graduates applying for technician roles though. Many of the adverts I have seen specify that not even an undergraduate degree is necessarily required, is that the same in Australia? If so, I think I might have to rethink my plans as I thought having a masters degree would put me at an advantage education wise which may somewhat compensate my lack of experience, but maybe not if I'll be going up against PhD graduates.

Caro -

Thanks for your advice. Yeah, I will apply for as many relevant jobs as I can and see how it goes. Maybe register with some recruitment agencies as well like awsoci said.

With regard to volunteering, I will definitely have a look for something. The main problem is that in order to afford to do volunteer work I would have to stay in my hometown, and I'm not sure how many, if any, scientific roles will be available in the area. I will have a search though and hopefully something will come up.

Just to clarify my last remaining question:

- Are there likely to be PhD graduates applying for research technician roles in the UK?

I would just like to know the type of competition for those kind of positions with regard to education.

Thanks again, Malik.

Ah yeah recruitment agencies are a good idea, the last job I did before my PhD was a pretty good job in a lab at a government agency but I was a temp through an agency - it wasn't paid well but it looks really good on the CV.

As for Research technician jobs - I'm not sure, you don't get as many of these roles in my field, I know of one person who is doing a technician job while waiting for something else to come up. If I look at the people who have left my institute with a PhD perhaps half are in RA or temp research jobs, around a quarter in postdocs and the other quarter I either don't know or they are still waiting and applying. Although I think someone hiring for a tech job might not hire a PhD for the reason that they think they will just leave when something better comes - one of those double edge sword scenarios.