I can't find a research job, am I screwed?

Hey all,

I’m a current college freshman and a linguistics major, and I really want to get into a great grad school. (Harvard is the dream!) Anyways, I have been looking all year for a research job, but it is MUCH harder than I thought to find a position in linguistics. I’m starting to get nervous, because all of my friends who are majoring in the sciences have found jobs and are doing research already. I’m still looking, but I feel like I will really need to play catch-up at this point in order to stand out to a grad school. Am I screwed because I don’t have any research lined up yet? What can I do at this point (other than maintaining a high GPA) to make myself more attractive to grad schools?

P.S. I will be interning this summer at an insurance company in the data analytics department, with a focus on analyzing language in customer surveys. It doesn’t have a whole lot to do with linguistics but - could this help me at all?

Thanks!

Sure, it could help. Frosh don’t usually get great jobs, but that seems like it could build some productive skills. Ask profs in the linguistics department if you can provide some unpaid help with their research in the fall. It might lead to something paid, and at least gets something on your CV in that area.

Catch-up? You’ve barely started your college career, of course it’s not too late. When I was in college, I didn’t know a single freshman who was involved in research. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but I think it’s relatively uncommon. Simply put, freshmen don’t really have anything to offer as far as skills or knowledge that might be useful to most professors. Most students who seek to do research get into it sophomore or junior year, in my experience. Linguistics is not my field, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much, especially since you have an internship lined up. You can renew the search for a research position after the summer.