I will be a sophomore this fall and I am thinking of joining a lab at the university to do part time research in robotic vision. The people at my current summer robotics job asked me if I want to continue when I go back to school.
I cannot decide and I could use some wisdom.
Is one better than other on the resume for jobs and/or for masters/PhD?
Some of the labs at the universities must be doing state of the art research but working at a real company provides practical experience.
We can’t really answer that for you, but here are some suggestions to help you decide:
Imagine your updated résumé. How will it be different between the two cases? Which sounds better?
If you’re planning to do a masters or PhD, then the lab work will probably sound better on your résumé and give you better academic contacts and references.
If you’re planning to get a job instead, then the same applies to the job.
Regardless, doing something different from what you’ve done before will not only give you more breadth of experience, but also more contacts and references.
Doing the lab work might give you a better picture of what academic work is like, and help you decide later whether you want to do more.
Would you get a publication out of either? That looks good on your résumé.
Which option will bring you more fulfillment? Sense of accomplishment? Purpose?
Is the time commitment the same for each option? Which fits better with the other priorities in your life?
Which position will offer you more new challenges, potential for learning, and overall growth?
Will both opportunities still be there in a year from now? When you graduate? If not, seize the moment and do something that’ll be harder to do down the line (unless it doesn’t check your other boxes)!
Here’s what I’m getting at: one might be better for jobs. One might be better for graduate programs. Probably not, though. It’s what you do with it that counts. And all jobs cannot be categorically better or worse than all labs – the specifics really matter. But at the end of the day, I’m sure you have goals beyond jobs and graduate programs, and you should consider those goals when making a decision.
Your description of the university option seems a bit nebulous. Do you definitely have an invitation to be part of the university research lab? Do you know what you would be working on there, with whom you would be working, and what kind of support you would have? if you don’t have good answers to these questions, I’d suggest that you need a clearer definition of the university option before you weigh it against continuing with your summer job company.
Although you didn’t say, I’m assuming that you are going to be a sophomore in college. If you somehow are asking this question as a sophomore in high school, you might get some different advice.
You’ve already made the connections and got the resume bullet for that job. Unless the pay is appreciably better than research, and that is a major factor at this stage, try something new. Sounds like there could be a job waiting after school either way, should you want it