getting a graduate assistant job
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what is a GA?
A graduate assistantship (GA) is the most common form of student employment offered to students as part of their Graduate Funding Package. GAs are positions that allow students to participate in a variety of different projects. They’re meant to help you develop your academic and professional skills.
If you are a funded or post-funded full-time or flex-student, you’re likely to be alerted to the possibility of applying for a GA position to be held during the Fall/Winter Sessions. A few GA positions are also available during the Summer Session each year. To make sure you don’t miss any opportunities, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the current schedule for the two application processes (Fall/Winter and Summer). You can find the tentative application timelines for positions to be held in the Fall/Winter and Summer sessions here, under Graduate Assistantship:
how do you get a GA?
How to Apply for a GA: Funded Full-Time Students in their First Four Years
As a student receiving a Graduate Funding Package in the first four years of your study, Graduate Assistantship is likely offered to you as one component of your funding. You must first accept the offer by a specified deadline, which you’ll be prompted to do by e-mail (usually around May).
Once you’ve accepted the offer of Graduate Assistantship, you’ll be invited to apply for up to 5 available positions by a specified deadline. All the necessary links will be e-mailed to you, but this is where you’ll be granted access to explore all of the positions available and make your selection/s through a ranking system
Click on this link to view GA opportunities. You will need to enter your UTORID and password.
how do I know what GAs to apply for?
With your current and/or future plans in mind, you might like to ask yourself the following questions while selecting and ranking your GA positions ...
Will the position allow me to explore an area that I’m interested in for my own doctoral research?
Will the position help me gain knowledge and develop skills that I can use in own doctoral research?
Will the position help me broaden my knowledge and further develop my skills?
Will the position allow me to get a publication credit or co-credit, such as a research report, research paper, or conference presentation?
Will the position allow me to work alongside a professor I haven’t worked with before (i.e., someone with a different theoretical or methodological approach)?
With everything else I plan to undertake in the upcoming academic year or summer session (i.e., course work, comps, proposal, other work), will I have the time and mental capacity to engage in the activities that are listed in the job description?
how do you apply for a GA when your funding package is over?
How to Apply for a GA: Post-Funded Full-Time Students in their Fifth Year
As a post-funded doctoral student, you’re eligible to apply for a Graduate Assistantship in your fifth year. The application process is similar to the process followed by full-time funded students except two differences.
First, as a post-funded full-time student you’ll be invited to explore available positions only after all funded students have received a placement, which means that there’ll be fewer available positions.
Second, you’re not guaranteed to receive a placement.
How to Apply for a GA: Flex-Time Student
As a flex-time student, you’re eligible to apply for a Graduate Assistantship once to hold the position during the first five years of your study. As with post-funded full-time students, you’ll be invited to explore available positions only after all funded students have received a placement, which means that there’ll be fewer available positions for you to choose from and you’re not guaranteed to receive a placement.
Here’s the link to the section of the website, where you’ll be invited to explore all of the positions available and make your selection:
testimonials
IVAN (LLE Program)
The very first GA-ship I got was one where the professor offered me the opportunity to co-author a scholarly paper. Since I was tasked with combing through available data from one of the professor’s research projects and coming up with a research question, analyzing data, and writing the paper, I was actually even able to get credit as first author when the paper was finally published. For a long time I took this opportunity for granted. If you’re looking to go into academia after you graduate, it’s not a bad idea to look for GA-ships that will allow you to gain experience in publishing research, present at conferences, and get your name out there. It’s not always possible, but it’s worth trying to look for these types of opportunities.
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