5 Tips for Aspiring Research Assistants in International Affairs
By: Evan Wright
Tags: Research, Students, Writing Tips, Foreign Policy, Writing

As a university student studying international affairs, I juggle several jobs in an attempt to gain experience in my field, hone my skills, and build my writing portfolio. Some of the most rewarding work I have done is as a university research assistant. How to pursue a research assistantship isn’t always clear — particularly for those like myself who are not in STEM. Below are 5 tips to help you find a job as a research assistant and hit the ground running.

1. Get Close with Your Professors

It can be incredibly intimidating talking to your professors one-on-one, but the best way to learn about research opportunities in your school is to get close with your department’s faculty and show genuine interest in their research. Once you have found a few scholars you would be interested in working with, take the time to get to know them! Even if you don’t get the opportunity to work with them, you will learn a lot in the process and might even gain a mentor.

How do you get to know your professors better? Engage in class discussions. Take the time to ask a question after class or ask about a particular topic related to the class that you would be interested in delving into further. Take several courses with the same instructor. Go to office hours. Once you are a known quantity among faculty, it is easier to learn what opportunities are available.

Once you have a working relationship with a professor, you can even highlight your interest in finding a job as a research assistant. Even if the professor you would like to work with may not need one at the moment, they most likely know another faculty member who could use some extra help.

2. Practice Collecting, Skimming, and Summarizing Journal Articles

If your research is in the social sciences, like myself, expect to spend a lot of time collecting, skimming, and summarizing sources. The faster you can do these tasks (and feel more confident doing them), the easier your job will be as a researcher. While these skills may not be particularly interesting, they are extremely valuable and can be developed before you land a research job.

Get comfortable using various research tools such as Google Scholar, JSTOR, and your university’s online catalog and journal subscriptions. Familiarizing yourself with citation management software like Zotero can also be helpful.

Learn to quickly skim journal articles and confidently summarize their contents in 1–3 sentences. In my work, I use upwards of 30 sources (a combination of journal articles and primary documents) for each research memo I write (typically 10–30 pages). Writing a small note to myself reminding me of the articles’ contents is crucial for easily navigating a stack of sources without using too much brainpower. When in doubt, read the abstract, intro and conclusion, and topic sentences to get an initial sense of the articles’ contents.

And, most important, make a note to yourself of the major scholars in your field. This is the best way to build up your own international affairs expertise, learn what the major debates and trends are within your field, and will help you when you apply for jobs in international affairs.

3. Adapt your Writing Style to your Professor’s Preferences

Learn to embody your professor’s writing style as you do research for them. Take a look at some of their published articles and practice mimicking their style so that they can more easily digest the info you collect and analyze. If they prefer visuals, use visuals. If they enjoy a bulleted list, use bullets. Good writing is subjective, so adapting your writing products to your audience is the best way to ensure that your professor will be satisfied with your work.

And, when in doubt, buy yourself a copy of The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White.

4. Do Not Confuse Brevity with Concision

When synthesizing information, do not make the mistake of essentializing crucial information for the sake of brevity. Let’s use a hypothetical public opinion survey to demonstrate this. The sentence “Japan does not want to fight in a way because of its constitution” is very different than “public opinion polls conducted by NHK News indicate that 75% of Japanese citizens do not want to fight a war against China due to constitutional limitations under Article 9.”

Comparing the two, the first example misconstrues the opinions of the Japanese public as those of Japan at large, such as the legislature, military, etc. Similarly, the second sentence tells us who conducted the poll, what country Japan does not want to go to war with, the percentage of people who hold that particular belief, and the exact reason for constitutional limitations — namely Article 9. Both are brief, but only one sentence is concise without sacrificing crucial details.

5. Get Comfortable Conducting Research in a Foreign Language

Possibly the most valuable skill you can bring to the table as an aspiring research assistant in international affairs is a foreign language. If you can’t conduct research in a foreign language already, take some time to learn academic vocabulary crucial to your target language until you are comfortable navigating government websites and journal articles without relying on Google Translate. You will be infinitely more valuable as a researcher if you can read a foreign language because you have access to double the academic resources of a student who only speaks English.