Research vs CRUD dev for part-time work
I'm a student who's been working part-time for an academic department's tech support for about a year, essentially building Python CRUD programs. It pays decently (though underpaid as a dev) and is flexible, but I recently found an RA position in a robotics lab that offers $5/hr more.
I think this would be more interesting work, but I'd prefer to work in my school's HCI lab when they have openings available. I'm juggling one other job, and I'd essentially have to choose between the CRUD dev or research job.
Do you all think it'd be beneficial to keep the CRUD job if I intend to go into SWE or R&D in the long term, or should I quit and become an RA? Also, would hopping between multiple labs/jobs (to eventually go into HCI) each year look bad to future employers?
Thanks for reading, and I'd appreciate any advice!
Posted Oct 16, 2020, 7:19 AM UTC · edited
Preface that I have only done research, but have experience with a few groups. Here are my random thoughts.
I don't know what kind of university you go to, but IME, the easiest way to get research is to have research experience. If your goal is the HCI lab, picking the robotics lab is a no-brainer. I have pretty decent experience (namely, some publications) and have yet to be turned down from any research position I've asked about. A friend of mine at UCLA with a 4.0 (but no research is home) because of covid and emailed ~10 groups at our local university and didn't get a single acceptance.
Beyond that, unless you have a dick of a PI, the flexibility/perks tend to be virtually unmatched. I ended up particularly lucky in my first lab, but I have a cubicle with 3 monitors, was offered a lab MacBook, a motorized desk, and an Aeron. I also get to pick my schedule almost to the letter barring meetings, have work discouraged around midterms/finals, and can work remotely whenever I feel like it.
I'm currently doing two labs, and strongly advise against it -- I'm dropping one at the end of this semester. Even over the summer when I had unlimited free time, I got to the point where I was making clear trade-offs in quality of work between the groups. This is particularly true when you end up getting your own relatively independent long-term projects that have a total work time of a few hundred hours, as you can't work at peak productivity for more than 20 hours a week IMO.
If you're considering R&D, grad school is a necessity, and the best way to get into a good grad school is research experience.
I don't think the latter point is a particular concern because you're in college, and change is expected. I have a friend who interned at big M last summer who has 2 majors and 4 minors (one of which is creative writing), and has been in 4-5 labs in half as many years. I'd say avoid switching more than once a semester (proving you can at least commit), and it could very well end up coming off as a positive because you've found (hopefully) what you enjoy most.