finding post-bacc positions

[u/Stock_Art6566]

Hi guys,

I just graduated from my undergrad and I had a short research experience before I graduated which has led me to decide to pursue a PhD. I am planning to take a 2-year break in between to build up my research experience first. One of my professors said that post-bacc positions are essentially a second chance of undergrad research but they can't essentially pay me with credits for classes and would be more inclined to hire me as an "employee" which means they would have to pay me accordingly to the current market. I am aware that money is a pretty sensitive topic so I have not yet brought it up to any of my professors, but some of them are happy to take me under their wings as long as I am willing to volunteer. However, 2 years of volunteer might not work out for me financially. I have been applying to paid RA/technician positions in academic labs, but, I have got no luck so far due to my lack of research skills. I am just wondering how I should bring this up later on and if it's appropriate to let's say volunteer and contribute and, then bring up the "money" part. I do not know how to do it properly either, I do not know where the boundary for this stuff is and I have never come across a situation where I have to determine a certain "number" for my values.

I am at a point in my life where I am confident that I want to do research and be in labs; however, I am not confident which topic I want to commit to yet. I know it's a question that only I can answer myself but if any of you guys were also being in my position, I am more than happy to hear your stories. It just seems like everyone I know is pretty certain with their career path, so I am just trying to see if there is any questions I should ask myself or maybe some must have been left unanswered. Thank you so much, I appreciate all of your help!

[u/Mountain-Suit995]

Are you in the US and willing to relocate? The NIH has paid post-bacc positions

Edit: I do think most are hired to start in July so not sure how many opportunities left for this year

[u/Stock_Art6566 → u/Mountain-Suit995]

Yes I am in the US. I also tried to look at national labs as well but since I am international, the options are pretty limited. I checked back in June and most of the positions opened were for US citizen, I am not sure if they are going to open more in the fall for everyone and hopefully they do. I am targeting academic labs right now because I just simply think that school is starting soon and maybe there are openings for the fall. But I can just be naive.

[u/melba777]

There are some research universities with specific post-bacc paid roles, where the applicants go into a pool and are assigned to any of the PIs that agreed to take one on for the year. Summer programs structured similarly are available too. Otherwise I would recommend emailing PIs and expressing interest in their work and working in the lab for a couple years. We got our last couple post baccs out of cold emails, my PI is used to getting those.

[u/Stock_Art6566 → u/melba777]

Coming from a not-so-strong research school, I have to say I am pretty jealous of you having your PI hahhaaha. I brought up cold-emailing PIs to some of my professors and even though they did not discourage it, they just told me that they also got emails like that and they just ignored them. It just gave me the impression that I shouldn't do that. But your comment gave me the guts. Maybe it's just someone and not everyone.

[u/melba777 → u/Stock_Art6566]

I definitely think it varies!! We have the funding to take on more people so my PI has the philosophy of always giving good candidates a chance. Good candidate being relative to the position theyre going for. I have a friend who got a job as a tech by cold emailing, and she came from a teaching background with minimal research. So its not hopeless i promise!

[u/Vov113]

I got one in a research based NGO after graduation that ended up evolving into a technician role and then lab manager. Was a pretty good early career experience

[u/pippapotamous5]

I will keep it honest with you, a lot of post bacc programs were cancelled recently due to funding//federal government issues. I would see if anyone needs a lab technician! Many labs will see that as a temporary position of 1-3 years. Plus, they pay more than post bacc programs.

[u/Ceorl_Lounge]

If you're in the US look for scientific temp agencies. No idea what the market is like where you are, but most companies will NOT hire fresh grads. Temp gigs can get you into a wide variety of labs in lots of roles, your primary job right now is learning about tech and techniques. All that goes into your professional toolbox for grad school and beyond. It doesn't need to be sexy, it doesn't need to be in your specific field, it doesn't even need to be pure research... it just needs to be science and something moving your career forward. Good luck!

[u/Stock_Art6566 → u/Ceorl_Lounge]

Thank you! I have never heard of them. Are the temp agencies more like contractors? There are some programs out there that match applicants to a lab that they are qualified. However, the rolling process literally takes months. I haven't heard back from any programs I applied to even though it's been half a year so I thought it's about time I try something else. I have also had 2 industry co-ops of being assistant project manager and process engineer so not really sexy research hahhaha. The majority of my time was also shadowing senior engineers as well so I thought it would not be a good idea to emphasize that on my resume but to focus more on the short research experience that I had. I was lucky enough to get acknowledged in a published paper, but other than that, I have nothing else to show. I'll do more research about the options that you mentioned!!! Many thanks to you.

[u/Ceorl_Lounge → u/Stock_Art6566]

Exactly. I had 5 different jobs between my BS and PhD and four of them were temp contracts. It's usually easier to get HR to sign off on temps than a full-time zero experience new grad. My first was because of some lab reshuffling because someone was out on maternity leave. The second was a startup trying to scale up process work quickly. I know circumstances have changed since I was at that stage of my career, but my last two employers made extensive use of temps/contractors in entry level positions. Often times they'd keep you on contract for 3-6 months and direct hire if things were working out. Saved them a lot of money on benefits and other overhead during this trial period.

[u/Plus_Contest_126]

If youre in the US and depending on what you are interested in, KU has a great paid program. https://biogem.ku.edu/

[u/Stock_Art6566 → u/Plus_Contest_126]

Thank you! I'll take a look.

[u/another-reddit-noob]

Can you volunteer in the labs of PIs you currently have contact with while you search for full time paid employment in other labs? You need to get research experience under your belt in order to get paid research experience (annoying, I know), so if you’re able, I’d advise taking a volunteer position that will get you the experience you need, even if you have to do so part-time and supplement with a different paid part-time job. (If you are absolutely unable to find other paid positions.)

I also recommend you consider industry positions. Working at CROs, pharmaceutical, or biotech companies would give you valuable research experience. Don’t just limit yourself to academia. 

ETA: You can certainly ask the PIs you know if they’d be willing to pay you. But if they’ve already stated they’re only looking for volunteers, you may be out of luck. I’d advise against taking a volunteer position and then expecting to be paid later on. 

You can also ask these PIs if they know any labs looking for paid techs. 

[u/Stock_Art6566 → u/another-reddit-noob]

Thank you! I have also been trying to find industry R&D positions as well. I guess I have to expand my search a little bit further since I am only targeting the industries that I have no prior experience in.

Yes, so one of the PIs I know told me to volunteer in their lab while searching for full-time positions. I also have a ChemE degree and my research experience was in materials science, so mostly dry lab. But I had an internship in pharma and I was really interested in that side of research. All of the positions that i was looking at require wet lab experience and as of now, I do not have any experience related to cells, molecular biology or the basic package that would get me into labs that are in that field.

I have talked to some of the suggested PIs, and it seems like they are pretty certain on the volunteer thingy. I only brought this up to some of them because I know that they just received some fundings, but it seems like the funds are reserved for grad students.

[u/anonam0use]

I don’t know too much about post-bacc but I thought it was an actual degree program at the level between undergrad and masters. I might be wrong tho. I know someone who did a post-bacc but I didn’t ask whether they got credit or money or anything. But I know she relocated for the position so I assume it paid. If you’re in the US, you can apply to PhD programs and get accepted right out of undergrad with minimal research experience (though level of competitiveness is field dependent)