<p>How can you become a research assistant? Do you just ask a professor if you're interested in their work? Or are available positions posted in the department?</p>
<p>You could just ask the professor.</p>
<p>multiple ways:</p>
<p>1) prof might say s/he’s looking for someone in class
2) go to profs office hours, get talking about class and his/her research and ask or s/he says there is a position available
3) look at departmental website and department bulletin board for advertisements
4) read through research of a few profs, find one you like, read some more then email showing some knowledge and interest and ask if there is a way you can assist
5) jobs are posted on the on-campus job website, just apply.</p>
<p>I’ve had friends get research jobs through all these channels, I started off as an admin/research assistant / jack of all trades for a senior prof as a freshman. and then attended a few meetings with him and his researchers, contributed and transitioned to being a research analyst only. worked one summer (full time) and 3 semesters (part time) total. </p>
<p>Becoming a research assistant is an organic process once you get your foot in the door. You have to show some attention to detail, dedication and passion for the work before you are given more important responsibilities. Profs hire undergrads very rarely because they’re brilliant and much more because they are enthusiastic. So you’ll start off doing some mundane work, but you’ll get to witness cutting edge research first hand and almost certainly with some effort become a part of the research. </p>
<p>In the end I had something to put on my resume, a deep perspective of the issue I was helping research/analyze (engineering related to international development), had something to talk about at interviews. and I got recognized in a pretty massive paper which was published in several journals, which would have helped my career had i gone into academia/international development instead of finance.</p>
<p>I just e-mailed a professor, met him in person to discuss my background and interest in his work and was offered the position. Sometimes you have to be persistent (as in asking several professors before receiving an offer). The most important thing is to know about the professor’s research prior to meeting him or her, that way they know you will be an interested and committed member of the team. Best of luck :)</p>