Breaking Into Research Internships: How to Get Experiences of Working with University Professors
Research internships can play a big role in creating a compelling profile for yourself, whether it's a college application or a job interview. But you may find this daunting if you've never done it before. More often than not, starting is the hardest part. In this blog, we'll share with you some tips on how to get a research internship with university professors.
Strategies to Get Research Internships
Get to Know Your Professor First
When you're looking through a university's faculty, you may be able to see what fields of study each professor is involved in. This alone is a good method to find professors who you're interested in reaching out to.
To take this a step further, browsing a professor's profile helps you learn about the fields that they're most engaged in. When you see their research work or their past employment experiences, you can get to know whether or not seeking a research internship from this professor would align with your future career goals.
When you contact the professor for the first time, you can show your interest in the work they've done. This also gives the professor a look into your interests and career goals, and they can see for themselves if they'd be open to letting you work with them.
Cold Email
Cold emailing is a great way to initiate contact with professors from either local or prestigious universities. These sorts of emails work best when they’re straight to the point. While expressing your interest in working with them, try keeping your email as concise as possible. Professors are always busy with their own priorities, so they wouldn't want to read an email that doesn't get your message across quickly enough. Keep in mind that if they choose to give their time to you, you have to respect it and use it wisely.
This is where your knowledge about the professor's work comes into play. After briefly introducing yourself, express your interest in their research or practical work. Then, follow this by saying that you're looking to get experience in that particular field of study. Lastly, invite them to a chat if they're interested.
It can be a good idea to also say in the email how you plan to provide value to them in exchange for their time and mentorship. However, writing about this can make your email lengthy, so sometimes it's best to leave this for a future chat with them.
Below your signature at the end of the email, share links to your profiles on different professional social media, such as Linkedin. It's helpful to leave more information about you in these links so that the professor won't have to search for it.
Create a Resume
Speaking of LinkedIn profiles, it's important to compile in one place all your skills, past experience, and projects that you've done. This can be done in the form of a traditional resume, like a paper resume, or one made in Microsoft Word. An up-to-date LinkedIn profile works just as well.
Taking the time to do this before reaching out to professors will help you make your emails concise because you won't have to cram everything about you in there. The email is just to establish yourself with the professor and express interest in their work. Leave your resume to talk about your work.
Gaining Experience
When seeking any research internship, chances are that you're going to be asked about how much "experience" you have, or what you've done in your areas of interest before searching for some internship. Some professors would be willing to take you in if you don't have any experience but show great interest in gaining some. However, if you're contacting professors from especially prestigious schools, you'd have much more competition to surpass than when you're contacting professors from local schools. This is where experience in the subject matter of the internship would come in handy.
If you're nervous about trying to get an internship when you don't have any experience yet in its subject matter, then you can create your own experience! Try to begin with a passion project in the field of study you're interested in, or work with a friend to build a club for it, or create a space where you can teach people what you know. This is your chance to feature your strengths and character as a human being. Professors definitely love to see someone who's interested in learning and is taking the initiative to learn even more.
Selecting the Right Research Internship
Every professor handles different areas of study, and some may overlap with each other. Try to cold-email as many professors as you can, even if some may be working in the same field. The more professors you reach out to, the more likely you'll receive some emails from professors who are interested in letting you work with them.
Whether or not you're set on working with some specific professor, ask them what a day-to-day experience in the internship will be like. This can help you get to know the nature of what internships you're looking at, and also decide whether or not an internship is for you. If you can find anyone who has interned in the past for a professor you're currently contacting, their testimonials and descriptions of their experiences can also be helpful.
If you're struggling to find a professor whose studies don't align with what you want, you can always talk to them about what you're looking for. Oftentimes, they can tweak the internship to match more with your interests, or they would forward your information to some different professor who they think would be a better fit for you.
Establishing your goals with the professors you're reaching out to will help them know you better before even beginning your internship. This can also bring clarity to yourself and what you want in your career and your personal development.
It's okay if your goals or desires change down the line! Even after you take on an internship that no longer aligns with your goals, internships are always great opportunities to gain experience and show off your drive to take initiative in your learning.
What's Next?
After your internship ends, take some time to reflect on how things went for you. What did you enjoy in this process? What did you learn from applying your knowledge to research? What actions or choices would you want to improve? Would you want to do something like this again? Any sort of reflection brings you a little closer to knowing yourself from both an academic and personal standpoint.
Whether or not you liked this research internship, this was a great step forward for you! Be proud of what you've created and be open to different kinds of opportunities that come your way.
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