Advice for Psychology Graduates
By Mariam Adeniji, Featured Writer.
Many congratulations to all those who have graduated! You should be extremely proud of yourselves for not only working hard during the past 3/4 years, but for doing so during a global pandemic. It can be difficult completing your final year and contemplating what your next steps after graduation will be. Therefore, here are a few tips from a fellow Psychology graduate (2019) to help you with making those first few steps after graduating:
Self-care is extremely important – take that well-deserved break!
Self-care is the ability to provide sufficient attention to one’s emotional, psychological, and physical wellness to promote and maintain their health (Viskovich & George-Walker, 2019). This can include maintenance of activities of daily living (i.e. showering, sleeping, and feeding one’s self) and psychological wellness (i.e. journaling, mindfulness, interacting with your social network, engaging in hobbies and interests). Neglecting the ability to engage in self-care can have detrimental effects on our physical and psychological well-being such as psychological distress, fatigue, and possibly difficulty in managing relationships (Viskovich & George-Walker, 2019).
Unfortunately, it can be difficult for students to implement self-care into their daily activities due to academic demands and personal circumstances (Badali & Habra, 2003). Considering academic demands will have lessened after graduation, prioritising self-care during this period is important.
Reflect on what area of Psychology you are interested in.
During the period between graduation and employment/further study, it is also important to reflect on what areas of Psychology you particularly enjoyed during your undergraduate degree. For example, did you enjoy learning about various mental health conditions or did you particularly enjoy conducting research? Or perhaps your degree programme included optional modules that you enjoyed such as Music Psychology or Psychology and Law. Understanding your interests could help indicate what area of Psychology you would like to pursue further as a career. It is important to note that it is completely reasonable and normal to not know what specific area of Psychology you are interested in and to reflect on whether you could be interested in another career outside of Psychology.
It’s time to start applying for a job!
Now that you have an idea of what area of Psychology you are interested in it’s time to start applying to roles that align with your interests. For example, if you are interested in learning about various mental health conditions it will be a good idea to work within a mental health service e.g. CMHT (Recovery teams within the community) or CAMHS. These roles can include but are not limited to becoming a support worker, healthcare assistant or assistant psychologist. These roles provide you with the opportunity to develop key therapeutic skills required to support individuals with varying presentations of mental health conditions e.g., empathy, building and maintaining therapeutic relationships with service-users. Such roles are specifically beneficial for individuals who are interested in becoming a Chartered Psychologist such as a Clinical, Counselling, or Forensic Psychologist. If you are interested in conducting research and interested in a career in academia, consider applying for research assistant roles where you can assist by carrying out literature reviews and/or analysing data.
Note: Becoming a Chartered Psychologist often requires Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) which essentially means that you have a Psychology degree that is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS). You can check your university website and/or email your university lecturers. It also requires completing a doctorate in the specific discipline of Psychology.
I also want to mention that there are several roles that enable you to work therapeutically with others without becoming a Chartered Psychologist. This includes but is not limited to Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners, Clinical Associate Psychologist and Educational Mental Health Practitioners.
It is important to note that roles such as an assistant psychologist and research assistant can be notoriously competitive as they are often a route taken to get onto the doctorate (not the only route). Therefore, it is important to gain some experience as a support worker or healthcare assistant whilst applying for these roles. It is also important to reflect on your experiences as this will be particularly helpful when writing personal statements and interviews. You can find these roles on NHS jobs, Trac jobs, and university vacancy websites.
I’m hoping that these few tips that I have shared are helpful for Psychology graduates. I am also happy to be contacted regarding reviewing job applications (support workers and assistant psychologist roles) particularly those from under-represented backgrounds.
References
Badali, M.A., & Habra, M.E. (2003). Self-care for psychology students: Strategies for staying health & avoiding burn out. Psynopsis: Canada’s Psychology Newspaper, 25(4), 14.
Viskovich, S., & George-Walker, L. (2019). An investigation of self-care related constructs in undergraduate psychology students. Self-compassion, mindfulness, self-awareness, and integrated self-knowledge. International Journal of Educational Research, 95, 109-117. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2019.02.005.