Research Assistant/ Research Associate Review

The placement was really enjoyable once I got into the swing of it and got more interested in the nature of work. Especially, with regards to the end of my placement where I was in charge of my own project.

My colleagues knew my position was not permanent but still made me feel welcome and appreciate the work I was entailing.

There was support given but a lot of the time I was thrown in the deep end as my supervisor worked only at my placement part time and as it was a voluntary position I would sometimes only do four days week which meant I may only see her for two out of the three days she was in. So I worked a lot by myself but managed to find support from my other colleagues though and when my supervisor was in I managed to get a lot of work completed.

At certain times I was really busy with my placement - especially towards the end of my placement whereby I was in charge of my own project so I was out visiting a lot of nurseries and schools, where I would conduct my own study.

I was given quite a bit of responsibility at my placement and felt like I was not just a research assistant but rather a person of a higher position than that - especially with regards to doing my own research.

I have learnt a lot from my placement and this includes, working in a strong research team, learning how to promote for a very professional organisation and pay close attention to detail when I analysed data. Also, as the placement was really flexible due to it being a voluntary position - I had time to fit in other jobs and make more contacts.

The office was quite quiet at certain times but sometimes it was really lively - although this depended on the days you was working. Also, majority of the time I worked in other places such as nurseries and schools too so it was not a major issue.

The placement organisation was a bit all over the place and I did find at the beginning I ran out of work to do but with time it the organisation of the placement progressed well.

All the training that I did was on site and there was no major training days but a lot of work was learning of the job though and I got good hands on experience of the world of research.

As both my supervisors are also planning to leave as well - I think my position will no longer be available but there are chances to apply for future employemtn but just not in the department I was a part of.

I worked with a lot of PhD students who were a bit older so I did not go out with them a lot but I made friends with a lot of the other interns and assistants though.

The cost of living in Birmingham is not to bad compared to London but can be still quite expensive though - but as my travel expenses were reimbursed and I worked a lot on the side I managed to have enough money to go out with and try save too.

Birmingham night life is really good and I have been a student in the city for the last two years so I know it pretty well - although I did prefer going out in London a bit more and used to go out most weekend sin London or in the week if I had taken a day of work.

There was not a lot of opportunities to get involved in direct out of work activities but as I worked at one of the biggest universities in the U.K - there always something going on and chances to go out or join new societies.