For Undergraduates: Applying for Summer Research Jobs & Internships
Introduction
It’s that time of year again, time to apply for internships and jobs for the next summer! There’s stress in the crisp winter air and the existential dread of having to write about “what you want to be when you grow up.”
Here’s the good news: no one knows that they want to do when they grow up and everyone just kind of rolls with the best option at the time. It’s all about putting yourself out there, being open to a wide variety of opportunities, and making the best out of whatever comes your way!
How does this relate to applying for summer jobs and internships? It’s all about preparing the best you can, giving your applications your best effort, and ultimately, being okay with whatever happens is largely up to chance. Luck, they say, is 50% good preparation.
In this post, I want to walk you through the somewhat opaque process of applying for summer internships and jobs to help you maximize your chance of success!
Specifically, I'll cover:
Types of jobs/internships and how to find them
Once you've found opportunities, how to apply
This post will focus on academic summer research opportunities in ecology. While there are a ton of great options that don’t fall in this range, these opportunities are what I am most familiar with and are most similar to what my current students are doing.
Finding Opportunities:
There are a wide range of summer opportunities to choose from: field technician (“tech”) positions, summer research internships through your institution (internal scholarships, grants), through other institutions (such as REU programs), or informal positions that are paid for by individual labs or scholarships/grants. These opportunities are all different and have different pathways to securing a position. I’ll briefly explain each below.
1. Field Tech Positions:
Many graduate students and/or faculty members in ecology conduct large field projects, often during the summer. These projects usually require help, so many researchers hire undergraduate or post-graduate “field techs” to help with the work. These are usually positions that pay a wage and typically also include food and housing. In this experience, you will be helping with an existing project, so likely won’t have the opportunity to pursue an original research project or address a question of your own choosing. This work is usually done at field stations (small research outposts in typically remote areas, generally operated by a larger organization like a university) or even field sites without a station. As a field tech, I would expect a wide range of housing options, even including camping, and typically involve being outside and a lot of outdoor/manual labor. These positions can be really different from each other, so it is good to read job descriptions carefully and even reach out to the main point of contact for more information.
Where can I find a field tech position?
job boards (e.g. Ecolog-L, TAMU ecology job board, UCSC job board or internal job boards at your institution such as Handshake)
knowing PIs who are currently hiring (asking graduate students who is hiring)
2. Summer Research Programs
Summer research programs typically have cohorts of 5-30 students who work at a site (usually a university) live either in dorms or housing provided by the site, and conduct summer research projects in labs at that site. These programs usually have some professional development component (workshops on various aspects of being a scientist) and sometimes emphasize that their attendees pursue an original research project, as opposed to working for a graduate student on an existing project. However, whether you have the opportunity to pursue your own project varies a lot and depends on the emphasis of the program, culture of the lab, the amount of your previous research experience, and the values/experiences of your particular research mentor. These typically fall into 2 categories: at your university and away from your university.
A. At your university Many universities have within-department programs for students to pursue summer research. This could be as a cohort of students in a formal program (such as B-SURP or Bio-X at Stanford), or through departmental/institutional funding (such as funding for an honors thesis).
Finding Opportunities
Your department’s website
Your department’s student services office (go in and ask. Info on Stanford Biology research opportunities: https://biology.stanford.edu/academics/undergraduate-research/research
B. Away from your university There are many programs at universities or federal agencies that cater to students that are not at that university/site. These include NSF-funded REU programs (Research Experience for Undergraduates), Amgen Scholars programs, and other programs that many universities offer.
Finding Opportunities
Listservs such as Ecolog-L
For both type of program—at home or away—you will need to apply, usually with an application essay, a resume or CV, transcripts, and a letter of recommendation (all discussed below). Before you apply, I would highly encourage you to look at previous students who have attended the program. Programs often have “hidden criteria” for accepted students that are not clear in the program description. For example, some REU programs focus on admitting students from primarily undergraduate-focused institutions, or undergraduates without (or with) prior research experience. You should think carefully about your experiences before applying and how that fits or does not fit the prior cohorts of students. This is NOT to say that you shouldn’t apply to programs where there is a mismatch. You should apply to any program that you want! This is just something to be aware of if you want to maximize your chances of success.
For programs that you are particularly interested in, it also may be useful to reach out directly to former participants and ask about their experiences, as well as any tips they have for applying.
My REU cohort (2015) at the University of Michigan Biological Station
3. Summer Research outside of a formal program
Many people pursue summer research outside of a formal program. Some people volunteer (do NOT volunteer!, and others are paid directly by the lab (through a grant the lab has to hire students), or through external funding that you bring (such as a scholarship or grant to you). While these can be great opportunities, especially if you already have experience working in a particular lab, be aware of the opportunities that you may have. Will you have chances for professional development? Will you have an opportunity to develop your own research project? These opportunities may be clearer or more structured through a formal program, rather than an un-programmed summer research experience. However, much of this is dependent on the mentor, so I would be sure to talk at length with the PI or postdoc/graduate student mentor before accepting such a position.
Opportunities at Stanford:
Summer Federal Work Study
Funding directly from a PI
External project grants (i.e. from Honors Societies such as Phi Kappa Phi, professional societies, or non-profit organizations)
The University of Michigan's Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society funded a summer stipend for my research through a project grant I applied for. In addition to the $5000 grant, that I took as a stipend, I worked an additional job as an RA for a high school summer program to cover my room and board. which also paid a small stipend. Although working two full-time jobs was quite intense, it shows that there are ways to get paid to do summer research outside of formal programs.
The Application
For many of these experiences, you need to write an application. Here, I will explain the different parts of most applications and how to prepare it.
1. Resumé or CV
Some applications might ask for a resume and some might ask for a CV. While they both summarize your prior experiences, they differ. Here are some of the major ways they differ from each other:
Sections:
Resumé:
Summary/objective (optional)
Education
Experience (work, volunteer, research)
Skills
Resumé before starting my PhD
CV:
Education
Research experience
Publications, presentations, posters
Honors and awards
Extracurricular/volunteer/work experience
First sections of equivalent CV (this is a much longer document)
You may not have many/anything for these sections right now, and that's totally fine! These are just general sections.
Here are some more resources to putting together a resumé or CV:
Resumé:
Writing a resumé or cover letter (from Stanford BEAM)
Resumé bullet point tips and video (from the University of Michigan)
CV:
What is a CV? (from UCSC)
How to write a CV (from McGill)
Many graduate students, postdocs, and professors post their CVs online. Look at the websites of graduate students and postdocs you know (like your lab members or TAs) and see what their CVs look like!
Resources for revising your CV or resumé:
Upper-division students in your major
Your research mentors/lab!
2. Application Essay
Often, your program will ask for a short application essay that describes your interest in the program. Here are a few tips for a stellar application essay:
Follow the prompts and instructions carefully, especially when they ask that you upload the essay with a particular syntax, a certain page limit, etc.
Make your motivation for the applying to the program clear and explain how the program will help you accomplish your long-term career goals
Make the essay as specific to the program as you can. Many people will apply to many programs and write a "generic" essay. Making the essay specific shows that you care about the specific program you are applying to and went above and beyond to learn about what makes it special.
Revise, revise, revise and use your support network to help!
Generally, you'll want to cover the following points in your essay:
What are your long-term goals and how will this program help you accomplish them?
How does your previous experience make you a good candidate for this program?
What special skills, experiences, and perspectives do you bring to the program?
Don't be afraid to use your network! Ask others around you if they know anyone who was in the program you are applying to. If so, reach out to them! Look at former students who went through the program. If you have a connection with any oof them (same alma mater, home state/town, interests, background), don't be afraid to cold-email them and ask about their experience in the program and the application process. The worst that could happen is that they don't respond! If you reach out to someone, make sure that you do so well ahead of the application.
3. Letters of Recommendation
In many cases, having good LOR make an okay application really stand out. You want to ask early, often, and provide your letter writers with the best resources possible to write a good letter.
A. Who to ask?
You want to ask someone who can write about your personally and has experience/knowledge about who you are as a person. It's best to find someone who can write about some anecdotes and personal experiences they've had with you that attest to you as a good candidate for the thing you are applying for. Generally, it's better to ask someone who knows you well than someone who is famous/well-known, but can't write about you personally.
If you can submit multiple letters, think about how you can balance the letters so that letter-writers reflect various aspects of your personality, work ethic, or experiences. For example, you could ask a professor, someone you've done research with, and someone who you've worked with in a volunteering/extracurricular activity.
Set up relationships with potential letter-writers early. Don't wait until you need a letter to get to know potential letter-writers. Start getting to know people you may want to get a letter from early and often. Attend office hours and find other opportunities to get to know those around you well before asking for a letter.
B. When to ask? For new letter-writers (those who have never written you a letter before), I would recommend asking your letter writers 2-3 months ahead of an application due date. This gives them time to decline and you to find someone else without getting too late-minute. When you ask a letter-writer for the first time, you want to ask whether they "have time and feel comfortable writing a positive letter of recommendation for X." Give them as many "outs" as possible, so you only get letter-writers who write an unquestionably unenthusiastic letter. Tepid letters can actually hurt applications.
C. Okay, they've agreed. What next? You want to provide as much information as the letter-writer needs to write a good letter. I usually offer to provide a packet of information that includes:
Information about the thing I'm applying to (When is it due? To whom/how does the letter writer turn in their letter?)
A 1-2 paragraph summary about what the program is and why I am applying to it. This could be a summarized version of your application essay or a copy of your application essay, if it's ready to go. This should cover the points I mentioned above:
What are your long-term goals and how will this program help you accomplish them?
How does your previous experience make you a good candidate for this program?
What special skills, experiences, and perspectives do you bring to the program? This helps them underscore why you are a good candidate and how it will help you, beyond what you write in your essay
Your resumé or CV (so they can see what else you are doing)
A summary of who else is writing letters for you, so they can understand how their letter will fit into your larger application packet. If you want them to emphasize something in particular, you can mention this here. For example, if the program looks for people with scuba experience and you are getting a letter from a scuba instructor, you would want to tell them that the program is looking for someone with scuba experience.
Offer to meet in person to discuss the application and their letter
D. How to make sure they turn in the letter (without giving yourself a heart attack): Most letter writers wait until the absolute last minute to submit their letter. Some might forget. This can be very scary. Here are a few tips to prevent this from happening:
Send 2-week, 1-week, 3-day, and 1-day reminders until they submit it. Say something nice, like "Just a friendly reminder that your letter of recommendation for XXX is due on YYY, which is in ZZZZ days/weeks from now. Please let me know if you have any questions and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have!"
E. After they have submitted their letter It's always nice to send them a hand-written thank-you note for writing the letter! And of course, tell them if you get into the program! And even if you don't --they might have suggestions for other options!