Some students, particularly in the US, face the dilemma of graduating at the end of a fall semester or quarter, but then have the prospect of not having a PhD position start until the following fall. For students for whom working would be an important means of trying to support themselves, what options are available? Companies are typically reluctant to hire someone for a few months (not enough return on investment in such a short period of time), and there aren't a lot of academic programs available. What's a prospective PhD candidate to do in such a case—particularly with reference to students entering science and engineering fields?
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My experience is limited to anecdotes. What I have generally seen is that students usually attempt to get either a paid industrial internship or an paid/unpaid research internship with a particular research group.
In fact, I have been mentoring an undergraduate who is graduating in the middle of the semester and is preparing to spend the next 6 months working as a research assistant (paid ~$15/hour) for a research group in our university before joining a prestigious PhD program in another university.
Shion
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+1 RA positions are usually more flexible in terms of contracts/eligibility/duration/etc. Though I can tell you that 15$/hour sounds very low to my European ears. – ThomasH Sep 10 '13 at 11:05
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The pay scales could be different in different schools but in mine, this is generally what it is. $15/hour for 40 hours/week work is actually a really nice salary comparable to what graduate research assistants actually get paid. :) – Shion Sep 10 '13 at 15:44