One of the most daunting things with applying to lab positions or any position at a university or college is putting your-self out there for the world to see and judge your experience and capabilities. Before I got my current lab position, I applied to another lab; I worked out my resume and cover letter, and tried to put my best qualities and abilities on a piece of paper. I got an email back a week later telling me that I was not chosen for the interview portion of the hiring process. This bummed me out. It was only one application, but when you try your very best and the situation does not turn out in your favor, how can you help but to sit there and think: What now? What qualities am I lacking that they were looking for? and How can I gain those qualities?
It is my opinion that questioning yourself like this is critical. This can make you realize that you need to take a step back and decide if you are judging yourself subjectively or objectively. I then went back to my resume and cover letter, looked back over it, and edited some sections. I asked a friend to compare the previous papers to the current edited papers. I remember she told me that she saw a difference between the two. In the second one I seemed more confident. This made me understand that just how you can stand up straight and carry yourself with confidence when you are in an interview, you need to be confident in your resume and cover letter. This includes confidence in your abilities and your desire and enthusiasm to learn.
To someone who has experience with applying to positions, this may be an obvious fact. For me though, because I was inexperienced, I haven’t had the opportunity to build this confidence. Then I figuratively pulled up my trousers and submitted my resume and cover letter to another lab looking to fill positions. I got a reply back the same day and through some correspondence and a lab tour, I got the position. I was ecstatic and so thankful to the lab for giving me the opportunity. The one thing that was different compared to the previous lab, was that this one was unpaid. To me this facet did not matter one bit. One day during the first week of working in the lab, the lab manager thanked me for spending my summer break helping out in the lab. Those small words added to the feeling that I am on the path to what I want to do with my life. To me it was and still is one of the best opportunities that I could have ever had in my early undergraduate career to dedicate my time to help in anyway to further the work of the lab.
~Nicole
P.S. Thank you for taking time to read this post! We are going to try in the coming posts to focus on what it is like to learn certain techniques in the lab.
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