how do you apply for RA roles in labs that do research on a field you don't have sufficient experience in?
i am planning to apply for a phd in biomedical sciences (uk/us/aus/europe/canada) in cell and developmental biology starting fall'27. i just graduated from my masters. i was going start a RA job in the meantime so i can apply for fall'27 phd, but the lab lost their funding so i am currently unemployed. i am hoping to get some sort of RA/lab tech role in a university. i am also an international student studying in singapore. i have been applying to labs that advertised an RA opening - i submitted to the portal + emailed the PI expressing my interest with a cover letter. i have not heard back from a SINGLE PI. so i am trying to figure out what went wrong and what is preventing me from getting a job.
i personally believe that my biggest problem is that the labs i apply to (the research i want to do, which is in stem cell, cell biology, molecular biology research, requiring cell culture, animal work, wet lab experience) does NOT align with my experience (dry lab, variant analysis, omics analysis - bulk and scRNA-seq, a bit of industry experience in product development/ regulatory, and ONE wet lab experience with genetic screens using drosophila - which i try to highlight more.) When i am applying for these labs i try to go for the ones relevant to stem cells but i do go broader and try to be realistic too.
i am not sure what is the best approach to trying to "transition" into a new field of science other than applying for labs that do the things you want to do and hoping there will be a PI that believes in your potential takes that risk to hire you? (which was the case for the job that i got that lost the funding...) i don't want to be super unrealistic - i understand that i need experience!! but then i want to do something that can HELP with my phd application!! ANY advice would be helpful!!! Thank you!!!