need a good strategy for job applications

Hi,

I hold a Masters degree and I am interested in applying for the jobs of academic research technician or research support staff, etc. in NY city

I have been going to the various university websites like Columbia, NYU, etc and posting my resumes on jobs advertised on their Human Resources page- but they dont specify or give much details of job, and which specific lab has the opening. They just give a very broad outline of a skillsets, thats all.

I am wondering if I should start directly meeting with the faculty in person? But even if I were to do this, I am not certain of what my approach should be.

1) Should I go and meet all the professors whose work interests me (or suits my prior experience), see if they have any openings, and if yes, THEN hand them my resume?

Or

2) Should I first try to arrange to meet with them (as is done for informational interviews), talk with these select faculty about their work, etc, and then before I leave hand them my resume and say that this is for future reference incase there happens to be any vacancy in their labs, that they could feel free to contact me.

Which of the above two sounds like a good approach, or should I be trying to so something altogether different?

Plz guide me.

Thank you for your help.

SAD

 You should check out for the options according to your qualifications and experience in a subject. If u r applying for technician post, you need to be very thourough in some of the techniques like electron microscopy (for example) the you seach for job opening in that field.

If you want to apply for PhD, try University job opening pages or even at Scoentist Solutions , you can find so many job opening \s announcement.

You should also specify your qualification a specific subject .

Hi SAD,

In my experience doing everything electronically is not very efficient. You may get something but most likley you will not. The best way to maximize your chances of finding a job is to network. That means contact individuals, including professors and even post-docs, and talk to them. Getting your name out there and looking for openings in person is a very good, yet hard, way of identifying opportunities. 

Good luck

 I would say what Ivan is saying is the best way to get into the line of getting a job but you can always try to contact people around the globe through internet. Send an email and if you get a call prepar e yourself for the interview.

Just as a suggestion you can log on to few websites regularly like that of NatureJobs, ScienceCareers, etc.

Hi SAD.

Being in NY gives you a lot of opportunity. If I was in your place, I would spend a good amount of time going through labpages to see what interests me and send the PI emails with your resume. Keep the emails short but make sure to point out yout technical expertise and any ublication you may have. Some busy PIs open emails from a university (.edu) account but not from a nonacademic account like gmail (so I was told by one of them). Hopefully you will get replies from some of them. Even you do, try to meet up with them and the lab personnel, students, postdoc etc. If you do not get a reply but you are interested in the lab, you could go there with a copy of your resume and try to talk to them. They may not have time to talk to you right then, but you may likely be asked to come back on a specific date/time.

Last but not the least, do look up if the PI has enough funds. The NIH grant info is avaiable on CRISP. As Ivan suggested, you may know somebody in the department, get talking to them and ask for labs that may be hiring. Quite a few labs would be getting stimulus money, so you are in the job market at a  good time.

Good luck.

Varsha