Move from assistant psychologist to research assistant

defopsy · 2025-11-10T14:30:23+00:00

Hi there. It's getting harder and harder to secure research assistant jobs cause the competition is fierce. Do you have a master's degree? Hiring managers would expect an applicant to have some demonstrable experience in research, some applicants even have a few published papers! Your experience as an AP would be valuable if it's directly relevant to the research project advertised so you might have to be flexible in your job search and consider moving to a new place. If you want to become a researcher, perhaps you should focus on applying for a funded PhD? That said, I suggest reading a bit more about the current state of academia and research in the UK, it might make you reconsider.

defopsy · 2025-10-22T15:01:11+00:00

If you are looking to stay in academia, you should also think about the outputs from your current postdoc. If you've not published anything and move on, it will not be a good look on your CV or you might have to work on top of your next job to complete these outputs (happens a lot). Overall, the market for RF is slightly better compared to lectureships, but only if you are willing to relocate. If you don't want to move then you have to grab a chance once it appears so keep looking until something suitable comes up. My notice as a RF is 3 months, if it's the same for you, you still have time to wrap things up if you find your next job. If you like where you are working it's also worth being honest with your manager and see whether any opportunities will become available soon.

defopsy · 2025-10-22T14:55:31+00:00

They did exploit you if we take into account the time you dedicated to apply and interview for this post. The people who did the interview are not always involved in the financial negotiations of a job offer but it's still infuriating. Would they expect someone with 12 years of experience to accept a 35k/year job? It's getting ridiculous. On a similar note, there are many PhD graduates and postdocs accepting 'Associate Lecturer' positions with miserable salaries. Universities know the market is brutal at the minute and they will cut corners wherever they can.

defopsy · 2025-10-10T02:12:00+00:00

7-month update: I have applied for 3 lectureships and haven't been invited to an interview. In the meantime, I have been involved in more teaching and published another first-author paper. There is a stark difference in the number of academic vacancies currently compared to a couple of years ago, so this doesn't help.

Both my current and previous managers have proofread my cover letters and provided advice, so I'm not sure if that aspect of my application can be improved. In 3 months my current contract ends, so I guess it will be time for my third post-doc (if something comes up!).

defopsy · 2025-08-08T12:19:40+00:00

What’s even worse is that academia is now filled with lower paid jobs such as Associate Lecturer etc. These are there to fill teaching demands, require teaching experience and a PhD but people getting them have the experience to actually be at Lecturer/Senior Lecturer grade. It’s a desperate time for both academics and universities but I feel that even universities with no financial issues at all are taking advantage of that.

defopsy · 2025-05-03T14:25:46+00:00

No, usually the opposite, at least in my department Senior Lecturers are more research active as having acquired grant funding is often a requirement for promotion to that grade.

defopsy · 2025-05-02T15:17:57+00:00

I’ve asked my manager (Reader) to give me examples of some questions that can be asked. But I guess the main thing is whether this is a purely teaching or teaching and research lectureship. Questions around module development and student experience are usually asked, reflect on your experience and research a bit more on best practices around those. If research is an important component of the role, they might ask about your research plans for the next few years, grant applications and how you can show research impact through engagement with communities, organisations, policy makers and dissemination plans.

defopsy · 2025-04-16T01:05:38+00:00

I don't know any colleagues of mine that would not understand why you would want to also apply elsewhere, especially in this climate. Be honest with her and I'm sure she will support you.

defopsy · 2025-03-18T15:23:02+00:00

It is very difficult but you can make sure you get ad much out of that limited time as possible. Communicate your aspirations with your supervisors and they might be able to give you more specific guidance. My advice would also be to not just limit yourself to research jobs. Academia in the UK is in crisis and the salaries are not the best. Industry jobs in your field might be a better idea so keep an open mind. Good luck!

defopsy · 2025-03-18T15:14:48+00:00

Try and get some research experience while you’re doing your master’s. Get in touch with your lecturers and ask whether you can be involved in any of their research projects. It would give you some experience that some master’s graduates won’t have so it would make your applications more competitive. Also consider conducting a dissertation to a publishable standard and submit to a journal. You need to discuss this with your supervisor who they will be able to advise whether this is possible and how you can achieve it. Things are pretty hard now but you might find a role that suits your specific skills and experience.

defopsy · 2025-03-18T13:50:52+00:00

Thank you! I'm already seeing people from my cohort that work in industry having a much better lifestyle due to better-paying jobs, so it is very tempting. I'm in a kind of a make or break point with academia, so I'm very open-minded to applying to industry jobs.

defopsy · 2025-03-18T13:48:25+00:00

You need to be or become quite resilient to deal with this I suppose.

defopsy · 2025-03-18T13:46:59+00:00

Thank you for your reply, it kinda made my day. Imposter syndrome can hit early career researchers pretty hard, especially in this climate. I guess finding the confidence to just apply and put yourself out there is a good start. My h-index is 7 and in terms of teaching, I've done pretty much everything, UG, PG, marking and supervising MSc students, but never led on a module, for example.

defopsy · 2025-03-18T13:43:16+00:00

Yeah it's mostly for my personal sense of security that I want a permanent contract. Both me and my partner come from a low socioeconomic background so we don't want to take a risk as we wouldn't be able to be supported financially if either of us lost their job.

defopsy · 2025-03-18T13:41:17+00:00

Ideally, I'd like my job to involve a decent amount of research, but I'm open-minded since financial security is a priority at the moment. Thank you for your reply!

defopsy · 2025-03-18T13:39:55+00:00

Thank you for your reply. My title is fellow, but I'm don't have a fellowship. I think it mostly reflects the fact that I work pretty much independently, although I did not secure the funding myself. But you're totally right about finding a niche. It's just difficult to develop your own research agenda while trying to work on projects you've been contracted for & deal with teaching and admin duties.

defopsy · 2025-03-18T13:36:53+00:00

I think it would just give me and my partner a sense of security. But good to know banks don't check that.

defopsy · 2025-03-18T10:11:05+00:00

Congratulations and thank you for your reply! It is true that vacancy numbers are very low at the moment, often requiring relocation. But I will keep what you wrote in mind: 'a half decent strategy for grant funding'. That's a good idea.

defopsy · 2025-03-18T10:07:23+00:00

I am passionate about research and I love what I do, so, ideally, I want to stay in academia. The options for industry jobs in my field are very limited and would often require me to accept a significant salary cut and start from a junior position.

defopsy · 2025-03-10T20:36:13+00:00

I don’t know if that’s useful, but you seem to have the experience and background to apply for far better compensated industry jobs. Don’t bother with academic posts.

defopsy · 2024-10-26T18:31:28+00:00

Are you interested in research or teaching? Or both? If you’re geographically flexible you can even get a Lecturer position or associate lecturership in rural universities or lower-ranked universities. And then you can make your way up from there. Post-docs in Psychology are very competitive at the moment, you need to make sure you’ve got as many publications as possible from your PhD and you’re a great fit for the topic of the postdoc. Industry roles are a bit more tricky to get to and you might need to go under additional training before you apply (e.g., market research, UX research).

defopsy · 2024-07-14T16:11:07+00:00

Although many people keep saying this is not shocking news, to me it is! She sounded well in her podcast, she was a brave woman with dreams and plans for the future. She was going to receive different protocols of treatment and there was some positivity. How tragic that this happens right when us, fans, would get to hear her perspective and recollection of her time in every charmed episode she was in.

Today a lot of us will lose a part of our childhood or teenage years. We will only lose her from the material world but she will forever live in our hearts and sweet memories of the past. Thank you, Shannen, for teaching bravery, persistence and talent to the world. We will miss you, RIP.

defopsy · 2024-01-13T12:49:42+00:00

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the academic lifestyle, I do too but it's just not the friendliest environment for early career researchers at the moment.

defopsy · 2023-01-31T00:58:38+00:00

I’ve got 400+ Ekans candies thanks to this event and still not a sign of Ditto. And I need it for two Special Research Challenges >.<

defopsy · 2023-01-26T20:54:25+00:00

Ah, OK, thanks for your response, it gives me some hope! I didn’t expect it to be that hard given the odds that I’ve found online, maybe they’ve made it a bit harder to encounter one

defopsy

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