Applied for a research position, multiple labs responded. What do I do?
January 12, 2016 2:56 PM Subscribe
I applied to intern/assist at a number of research labs under the same university, and unexpectedly received multiple positive replies asking to meet in person. I don't think each professor knows I applied to other professors at the same university at this point, but they probably all know each other. How do I handle this properly and politely? (I don't want to offend anyone...) Help! (Longer explanation inside.)
I'm an American that has recently graduated from a non-US university with a bachelor's degree in a science-related field. Hoping to gain more research and lab experience, I applied to intern/assist at a number of labs at a top-tier US university. I was very unsure of my chances, coming from a non-American university - which was why I was pleasantly surprised to receive some positive-sounding replies asking to meet in person. I genuinely didn't expect to have more than one (if any) positive response.
So now I'm wondering: how do I handle this situation? The labs and professors are under the same university, so I'm pretty sure they all know each other. I have about 3 interviews/meetings - should I try to schedule them back-to-back, or on consecutive days? Should I even accept more than 1 meeting? What if the first professor I speak to offers me a position during the meeting - how do I explain that I would like to meet with the other professors first, to consider all possible opportunities before deciding? I would feel very bad turning down a professor. At the same time, nothing is confirmed yet - they've just sounded quite positive in their email responses. I don't think they are each aware that I applied to more than one lab.
I know that it's pretty common to be upfront about having more than one job offer when interviewing in the corporate world, but does this apply to academia and science research? What should I say during the interviews/meetings if asked something like "When can you start?", when I will probably need to meet with all of them before deciding? How do I conduct this in a polite and respectful manner, without offending anyone?
(throwaway email: researchlabhelp@gmail.com)
I'm an American that has recently graduated from a non-US university with a bachelor's degree in a science-related field. Hoping to gain more research and lab experience, I applied to intern/assist at a number of labs at a top-tier US university. I was very unsure of my chances, coming from a non-American university - which was why I was pleasantly surprised to receive some positive-sounding replies asking to meet in person. I genuinely didn't expect to have more than one (if any) positive response.
So now I'm wondering: how do I handle this situation? The labs and professors are under the same university, so I'm pretty sure they all know each other. I have about 3 interviews/meetings - should I try to schedule them back-to-back, or on consecutive days? Should I even accept more than 1 meeting? What if the first professor I speak to offers me a position during the meeting - how do I explain that I would like to meet with the other professors first, to consider all possible opportunities before deciding? I would feel very bad turning down a professor. At the same time, nothing is confirmed yet - they've just sounded quite positive in their email responses. I don't think they are each aware that I applied to more than one lab.
I know that it's pretty common to be upfront about having more than one job offer when interviewing in the corporate world, but does this apply to academia and science research? What should I say during the interviews/meetings if asked something like "When can you start?", when I will probably need to meet with all of them before deciding? How do I conduct this in a polite and respectful manner, without offending anyone?
(throwaway email: researchlabhelp@gmail.com)
> I have about 3 interviews/meetings - should I try to schedule them back-to-back, or on consecutive days? Should I even accept more than 1 meeting?
Accept all of the meetings. I don't see any particular advantage one over the other of scheduling back to back or consecutive days, outside of it perhaps helping you make your decision faster if you went back to back.
>What if the first professor I speak to offers me a position during the meeting - how do I explain that I would like to meet with the other professors first, to consider all possible opportunities before deciding? I would feel very bad turning down a professor.
"Thank you for your offer, I really appreciate it and am excited by the opportunity. If it's okay with you, i'd like a few days to consider it, as I am also in interviews with a few other labs at the moment. Do you have a deadline in which you require to my acceptance by?"
>does this apply to academia and science research?
Yes. The professors themselves likely have gone through this same experience in both their job search and research work.
>What should I say during the interviews/meetings if asked something like "When can you start?", when I will probably need to meet with all of them before deciding?
That's not an offer necessarily - You reply with what your general availability will be, assuming you accepted this job, but you clarify with "I am looking to start on X date." If it becomes clear they intend to offer you the position, go back to the original answer.
posted by Karaage at 3:08 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Accept all of the meetings. I don't see any particular advantage one over the other of scheduling back to back or consecutive days, outside of it perhaps helping you make your decision faster if you went back to back.
>What if the first professor I speak to offers me a position during the meeting - how do I explain that I would like to meet with the other professors first, to consider all possible opportunities before deciding? I would feel very bad turning down a professor.
"Thank you for your offer, I really appreciate it and am excited by the opportunity. If it's okay with you, i'd like a few days to consider it, as I am also in interviews with a few other labs at the moment. Do you have a deadline in which you require to my acceptance by?"
>does this apply to academia and science research?
Yes. The professors themselves likely have gone through this same experience in both their job search and research work.
>What should I say during the interviews/meetings if asked something like "When can you start?", when I will probably need to meet with all of them before deciding?
That's not an offer necessarily - You reply with what your general availability will be, assuming you accepted this job, but you clarify with "I am looking to start on X date." If it becomes clear they intend to offer you the position, go back to the original answer.
posted by Karaage at 3:08 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
How do I conduct this in a polite and respectful manner, without offending anyone?
Anyone who is offended that you are a competent and generally awesome student who has broad research interests is not a person you want to work for.
If such a person becomes offended that you are talking to multiple labs, you should politely and respectfully decline to work for that person. It'll be better for both of you.
posted by saeculorum at 3:12 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Anyone who is offended that you are a competent and generally awesome student who has broad research interests is not a person you want to work for.
If such a person becomes offended that you are talking to multiple labs, you should politely and respectfully decline to work for that person. It'll be better for both of you.
posted by saeculorum at 3:12 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm glad to see someone do this.
I've worked with people who have hired undergrads in this capacity (and hired an undergrad or two in the past), and to be honest, it's not likely someone will say to start on the spot right then. In the 1/100 chance that they do, just politely reply that you are very, very interested in the opportunity and that you will also be talking to X other labs during the week and need a few days to confirm that you have the best match (and be proactive in communicating).
Also, if I were in your shoes, find the best opportunities/fit for you. You didn't mention your goals (ie, grad school? Med school? paid possition? research experience), but here are some things you could do to prepare and consider asking:
-Thoroughly read the "about me" page for the prof and lab and consider going through a review article or primary article generated by the lab (so you can ask questions of interest to you - It is above and beyond what your average undergrad/or recently graduated person will do). So write those questions down and bring them with you.
-Ask about opportunities to present data or write data for that lab, and do they have examples of what other undergrads have done (ie, if they immediately pull out several pubs co-authored by an undergrad, great sign) - this will be helpful if you are thinking about med school/grad school.
-What is it that you want? So if the goal is pay, ask if it leads to pay after x amt of time (or if they get funding in the summer, etc.)
-Ask if you can talk to undergrads or recently graduated people in the lab - you just want to query about their experience there (it is is a hit or miss, some are great places/some can be train wrecks - don't say this obviously, but it be better to fit in well with the lab vs float from lab to lab.)
Good luck!
posted by Wolfster at 3:14 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've worked with people who have hired undergrads in this capacity (and hired an undergrad or two in the past), and to be honest, it's not likely someone will say to start on the spot right then. In the 1/100 chance that they do, just politely reply that you are very, very interested in the opportunity and that you will also be talking to X other labs during the week and need a few days to confirm that you have the best match (and be proactive in communicating).
Also, if I were in your shoes, find the best opportunities/fit for you. You didn't mention your goals (ie, grad school? Med school? paid possition? research experience), but here are some things you could do to prepare and consider asking:
-Thoroughly read the "about me" page for the prof and lab and consider going through a review article or primary article generated by the lab (so you can ask questions of interest to you - It is above and beyond what your average undergrad/or recently graduated person will do). So write those questions down and bring them with you.
-Ask about opportunities to present data or write data for that lab, and do they have examples of what other undergrads have done (ie, if they immediately pull out several pubs co-authored by an undergrad, great sign) - this will be helpful if you are thinking about med school/grad school.
-What is it that you want? So if the goal is pay, ask if it leads to pay after x amt of time (or if they get funding in the summer, etc.)
-Ask if you can talk to undergrads or recently graduated people in the lab - you just want to query about their experience there (it is is a hit or miss, some are great places/some can be train wrecks - don't say this obviously, but it be better to fit in well with the lab vs float from lab to lab.)
Good luck!
posted by Wolfster at 3:14 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
This is a totally normal thing to do and no one is going to be offended.
It isn't out of the question that you could get offered a job on the spot - I had that happen once. I asked for a couple of days to look at the benefits, etc. and make a decision, and the guy originally said it was fine, then called me later that day to say "I really need you to decide by 9 a.m. tomorrow so I know whether to cancel the other guy I'm interviewing." I took that job and came to regret it - someone who's going to push you really hard to make a decision on the spot is probably not someone you actually want to be working for.
So have a "I will let you know by Friday" answer queued up in case you need it, so you're not caught without a response.
Otherwise, just go ahead to the interviews, back to back or on separate days, and see what feels like a good fit to you. You're not doing anything to be worried about.
posted by Stacey at 3:29 PM on January 12, 2016
It isn't out of the question that you could get offered a job on the spot - I had that happen once. I asked for a couple of days to look at the benefits, etc. and make a decision, and the guy originally said it was fine, then called me later that day to say "I really need you to decide by 9 a.m. tomorrow so I know whether to cancel the other guy I'm interviewing." I took that job and came to regret it - someone who's going to push you really hard to make a decision on the spot is probably not someone you actually want to be working for.
So have a "I will let you know by Friday" answer queued up in case you need it, so you're not caught without a response.
Otherwise, just go ahead to the interviews, back to back or on separate days, and see what feels like a good fit to you. You're not doing anything to be worried about.
posted by Stacey at 3:29 PM on January 12, 2016
Nthing that this is totally normal and expected. Part of the interview process is, after all, for your benefit, to see if you would like the type of work they're doing in reality as well as on paper, and to see if you "fit" interpersonally with the rest of the research group (e.g., some groups are more buddy-buddy, some are very strictly-business, some are high-pressure and others are quite relaxed).
I personally wouldn't schedule the interviews back to back on the same day, but only because that sounds a little more grueling than it has to be and you want to be sharp when you're making a first impression. Plus it's sometimes hard to predict how long the interview will take and you don't want to inadvertently double-book yourself.
Stacey, Karaage, and Wolfster have good advice about what to do if you feel pressured to make an immediate decision.
posted by en forme de poire at 3:33 PM on January 12, 2016
I personally wouldn't schedule the interviews back to back on the same day, but only because that sounds a little more grueling than it has to be and you want to be sharp when you're making a first impression. Plus it's sometimes hard to predict how long the interview will take and you don't want to inadvertently double-book yourself.
Stacey, Karaage, and Wolfster have good advice about what to do if you feel pressured to make an immediate decision.
posted by en forme de poire at 3:33 PM on January 12, 2016
I was in a similar situation and it turned into an excellent screening process for my employer candidates. Anyone who takes offense or disparages your decision to interview with others or is excessively impatient for you to make a decision is someone you DON'T want to work for. One guy actually said to me "you're making a big mistake" when I declined a position in his lab, even though the position I took was in a far larger and well-respected group with a better salary.
posted by waving at 4:07 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by waving at 4:07 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
The thing you're doing here is deciding which of the three would be the best fit for you. It's perfectly okay to tell folks that you're pleased to have the opportunity to meet with other labs in that endeavor.
Interviewees often forget to assess their prospective employers and this is a great way for you to do it!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:34 PM on January 12, 2016
Interviewees often forget to assess their prospective employers and this is a great way for you to do it!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:34 PM on January 12, 2016
Find out how long they would like to meet with you for. Are they talking about a 1-hour interview, or are you meeting the prof, the grad students, getting a lab tour, and this may take half a day or longer? Assuming it's a short talk, then yes, may as well meet a couple of people on the same day (script "I'll be on campus on Tuesday morning to meet with Dr Smith; we could meet Tuesday afternoon, or I'll be free all day on Wednesday.") But yes, unless it's a quick chat, it would be a pretty grueling schedule.
I would go ahead and tell them you'll be on campus to meet multiple professors. That is unlikely to be a mark against you, unless any of them are arguably not in your field. i.e. the only downside I could see would be giving the impression that you just want a job, any job, and you blanket emailed 25 professors on campus. So it's important to say how impressed you are with the school, and how great to find multiple examples of relevant-to-you projects in one place, and/or how lucky you are that your three top picks all got back to you.
posted by aimedwander at 5:21 PM on January 12, 2016
I would go ahead and tell them you'll be on campus to meet multiple professors. That is unlikely to be a mark against you, unless any of them are arguably not in your field. i.e. the only downside I could see would be giving the impression that you just want a job, any job, and you blanket emailed 25 professors on campus. So it's important to say how impressed you are with the school, and how great to find multiple examples of relevant-to-you projects in one place, and/or how lucky you are that your three top picks all got back to you.
posted by aimedwander at 5:21 PM on January 12, 2016
"When can you start" is a question about whether you have current work obligations that you need to discharge first (specifically, it's asking if you currently have a job at which you want to give notice before leaving). If you aren't currently working, the normal answer is that you can start "immediately". They won't expect you to roll up your sleeves and start that afternoon, you just give that answer if you don't have to give two weeks' notice first at your current position.
I've never heard of a job offer being contingent on accepting it immediately. It's absolutely normal to say that you'll respond to an offer by the end of the week, or similar -- you don't have forever to decide, but no one will expect you to decide on the spot.
posted by mister pointy at 7:58 PM on January 12, 2016
I've never heard of a job offer being contingent on accepting it immediately. It's absolutely normal to say that you'll respond to an offer by the end of the week, or similar -- you don't have forever to decide, but no one will expect you to decide on the spot.
posted by mister pointy at 7:58 PM on January 12, 2016
I have about 3 interviews/meetings - should I try to schedule them back-to-back, or on consecutive days?
You should allow for at least half a day with each. If you bounce off each other and end early, that just gives you more time to prep for the next one. You don't want to be rushed if you click though, or if someone wants to take you to lunch/coffee. I'll sometimes do this with hires for this sort of position.
As others have said, this is totally normal. Do not hide or evade the fact that you're there fro multiple interviews---people do talk--but neither do you need to tell everyone either. Taking a few days to decide on an offer is completely normal. It would be very unusual to be offered on the spot---that wouldn't even be possible for me.
posted by bonehead at 7:53 AM on January 13, 2016
You should allow for at least half a day with each. If you bounce off each other and end early, that just gives you more time to prep for the next one. You don't want to be rushed if you click though, or if someone wants to take you to lunch/coffee. I'll sometimes do this with hires for this sort of position.
As others have said, this is totally normal. Do not hide or evade the fact that you're there fro multiple interviews---people do talk--but neither do you need to tell everyone either. Taking a few days to decide on an offer is completely normal. It would be very unusual to be offered on the spot---that wouldn't even be possible for me.
posted by bonehead at 7:53 AM on January 13, 2016
Agreed with everyone else, I'm in academia and this is totally normal. Some professors are weird assholes, so it's not out of the question that someone will act weird/offended (just as in any profession), but I don't think this is a big risk, and the nice thing about multiple leads is that you can hopefully avoid the assholes. :) I would mention the other interviews if it comes up in conversation/scheduling/etc., but not make a big deal of it otherwise. They are honestly unlikely to talk among themselves...this is not to make you feel bad, but hiring a summer intern is probably pretty low on their list of priorities (even thought it's a huge deal for you!) and so even if they do know each other, they're likely not chatting about you at lunch. :)
posted by rainbowbrite at 9:08 AM on January 13, 2016
posted by rainbowbrite at 9:08 AM on January 13, 2016
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posted by kickingtheground at 3:03 PM on January 12, 2016 [11 favorites]