Towards the end of your psychology degree & even once it has ended, it’s not uncommon to feel extremely overwhelmed, lost & confused about where to find out the best information about psychology careers. If you feel like this or felt like this, know that you definitely aren’t alone in your feelings. What different psychology careers exist? What skills do I need for these careers? How can I apply to these roles? What am I working towards?
Sometimes it may even be that we have such an overload of information that it becomes difficult to make clear, focused & informed decisions about our career goals. I definitely felt this lack of clarity once I initially graduated about the variety of existing psychology careers & roles that are out there. Graduating is a new milestone, maybe a leap into the unknown and to me it felt like such a harsh reality. It felt like my comfort blanket which was academia was snatched from me, leaving me exposed & with a lack of identity.
Psychology degrees are absolutely packed with very interesting content & a lot of theoretical information but I personally think (based on my experience) that universities can be more helpful in terms of giving career guidance, helping facilitate work experience & do a better job at illustrating the transferable nature of the skills gained from psychology degrees – which are applicable in many places. Regardless, I still agree that it’s part of my personal responsibility to go on my own journey of discovery & do my own research too.
But that’s why I’m writing this post, to give you great starting places to help you go on your own discovery journey to find out more about psychology careers & give you ideas about how to immerse yourself in the psychology community, allowing you to stay up to date. Sometimes we just need a helping hand & that’s what I’m here to provide you with.
1) Psychological Professions Network
This website provides a wealth of information & resources about different psychology careers such as a variety of NHS psychological professions. It includes a career map with roles including psychologists, psychological well-being practitioners (PWPs), psychotherapists & more. It also provides information about entry requirements, required experience & salary expectations.
I love that this website provides simple, easy to understand information & that the career map helps me to visualise the wide scope of psychology careers and various directions.
https://www.ppn.nhs.uk/resources/careers-map
2) Prospects
I have found the Prospects website to be an amazing, useful source which provides information about psychology career options, work experience & also is great at highlighting skills to emphasise on your CV. I also really like the fact it provides statistics about what sectors psychology graduates have gone into & what directions they have gone in with their degree.
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/psychology
3) LinkedIn
LinkedIn has been one of my favourite resources for finding out information about psychology careers & connecting with others. LinkedIn is a professional networking & careers website which allows you to network with others. LinkedIn also displays roles for different sectors in which you view the job specifications for & apply to. You can also be scouted by employers for roles via LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has allowed me to connect to other aspiring Clinical psychologists, Clinical Psychologists themselves & observe the experiences/journeys of other like-minded individuals. LinkedIn has also allowed me to continually discover relevant webinars, events & opportunities related to the career I would like to go into. You can learn so much on this website about what is currently going on within your field.
I recommend adding like-minded people & professionals you can learn things from to your professional network. LinkedIn makes this much more accessible. Joining career groups on LinkedIn is a great way to feel a sense of community, to obtain advice & to help guide your career journey. I recommend joining LinkedIn & refining your page as early as you can in your career/academic journey as it is a really good accompanying tool.
However, I would say based on my personal experience that I would use LinkedIn with caution. Take breaks away from the platform. Try not to compare your accomplishments with others & make yourself feel inadequate. We are all at different stages in our journeys & even if we are trying to get to the same place, our paths can look so different.
4) Social Media – i.e Instagram, Twitter etc..
In this current era, social media has undeniably dominated the scene as a source of information & news. Although, a lot of us may have tendencies to use our social media for entertainment purposes, I have found that there is a lot of amazing information available regarding careers & academia via social media too.
The Instagram Psychology community has been a great place for me to find out about existing psychology careers from people within those careers & their honest experiences from a more realistic, relatable lense. I love it! I have also been able to get an insight into a day-in-the-life in particular roles, get application advice, interview tips, ask questions & had opportunities to engage with a wide variety of people. I am able to observe a diverse variety of career journeys through this platform.
The Twitter Psychology community has also allowed me to learn so much more about the current state of affairs in the world of psychology, particularly Clinical Psychology for me as this is my primary interest. I am able to observe discourse & debates from psychologists, trainee psychologists, therapists, other mental health professionals & aspiring/pre-qualified psychologists. Through Twitter I am also able to see cutting-edge research being posted & publications shared by institutions. The online community makes this information & learning experience much more engaging & accessible. I also find it really refreshing that I am able to see commentary from people within my desired field regarding their experiences.
Through Twitter I am able to get bite-sized, daily doses of what is happening in the world of psychology & get a feel for different perspectives on issues affecting the discipline as it continues to grow. So why not join & give it a try?
Some informative Twitter accounts I follow which help me stay up to date with research & news regarding mental health, psychology & psychiatry:
- @KingsIOPPN
- @Mental_Elf
- @UCLPsychiatry
All in all, I hope that this post points you in the direction of resources that provide a good starting point for discovering the scope of what you can do with your psychology degree. These were the places where I got my first insights. I hope this post serves as some useful guidance & makes your search a little bit less daunting. This may only be the beginning of a long road, but hopefully a fulfilling one. Good luck on your adventure!
– Tasnim
PSYCHEDIFIED. 