posted about 7 months ago
not sure if my personal experience will aid in your decision-making, but just wanted to share my experience...
I am a full time phd student in social sciences (criminology), and going into my 2nd year i felt entirely overwhelmed at the prospect of having to conduct fieldwork and data analysis (having never done so before). I asked around at my university, to see if i could get some experience.. one of my supervisors was working on a project, and had a full-time RA employed, conducting the qualitative data analysis for her. So i shadowed the RA, learning how to conduct thematic analysis of interview transcripts. It was just voluntary, work experience, but invaluable to my personal development and learning. The RA left, and so on the next project, i was offered the RA position, but only on a paid, but temporary 6 month contract. I am just coming towards the end of this temporary contract, and have been assured that going forward there are likely to be other opportunities for RA work.
I will admit, a few months ago, i was actually considering dropping out of my phd, and applying for a full time position as a RA... imposter syndrome and all that, anxiety and worry that the phd was too big a feat for me, and i was quite content in simply assisting someone else's project. I talked this over with my supervisor and she basically said i would be silly to give up the phd, and there would be plenty of opportunities once i had finished, should i want to continue with RA work.
Seems to me like it doesn't really matter at what point you are in your academic career, if something interests you, then go for it.