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Careers in Psychology
Psychology
is the science and profession that deals with behavior and mental
processes. Psychologists study behavior in diverse populations and diverse
settings but they also apply their knowledge in an attempt to solve human
problems. Behavior is complex, as you no doubt know, and so psychology
has a number of specific specialty areas. As a psychologist, one can
specialize in any of the following sub-fields of psychology (and yet
others in some cases).
Many
popular areas of psychology are:
·
clinical psychology
·
counseling psychology
·
community psychology
·
developmental psychology
·
educational psychology
·
environmental psychology
·
experimental psychology
·
forensic psychology
·
health psychology
·
industrial / organizational psychology
·
neuropsychology
·
personality psychology
·
psychometrics
·
school psychology
·
social psychology
·
sport psychology
...and many many other careers!
Psychologists
fill a number of roles such as researcher, teacher, consultant, service
provider, and administrator. They work in a variety of settings such as
colleges and universities, elementary and secondary schools, hospitals,
mental health clinics, human service agencies, businesses and industries,
and government agendas. Many are in independent practice. wherever there
is a need for expertise in behavior, one can usually find a psychologist.
What Can you
do With
a B.S. in Psychology?
ob
opportunities are available for students with a bachelor's degree in
psychology. With this degree, however, you are not a psychologist.
Nevertheless, there are a number of potential employers who will be
interested in you at the bachelor's level because of your background and
your understanding of people, behavior, and relationships. Social service
agencies, psychiatric facilities, and correctional facilities are among
these employers. You might find a job as a mental health aide/psychiatric
technician, probation and parole officer, psychosocial services director
at a nursing home, director of an area agency on aging, case worker,
social service worker for a division of family services, or a residential
counselor of a group home for mentally retarded individuals. The possibilities
are numerous and varied. Psychology faculty and the Career Center can
provide you with additional information on these and yet other
opportunities.
At the
bachelor's level, your opportunities clearly will be more limited than if
you had an advanced degree. After all, your knowledge, skills, and
experience are still limited at this point. Your salary potential will
necessarily be limited and you will usually work in a highly supervised
position. But such a position may be exactly what you are looking for, or
perhaps at least to begin with. Some of you might want to use such a
position as a stepping-stone to graduate school and an advanced degree.
For examples of potential opportunities at the B.S. level, please examine
the list of recent C-SC psychology graduates included in the promotional
piece earlier in this Handbook.
One
last note: the positions for which you are eligible at the bachelor's
level are commonly advertised in newspapers. You will find that often times, these
are positions for which graduates in sociology, social work, and criminal
justice are also eligible. So the competition may be keen. Your success
will be facilitated by such factors as: strong GPA, strong letters of
recommendation, internship or other applied experience, good computer
skills, evidence of good communication skills, evidence of ability to
work well with others, evidence of initiative (being a
"self-starter"), evidence of leadership potential, mobility,
and patience.
The Ph.D. vs. the Psy.D.
The
Ph.D. is the traditional doctoral degree in psychology. It is a type of
degree that emphasizes research skills and experience. A more recent
degree to emerge in the field is the Psy.D. or doctor of psychology
degree. It is more of a practice-oriented degree. Compared to those earning a Ph.D.,
recipients of the Psy.D. degree tend to have far
less research experience, but similar experiences along the lines of practicums
and internships. The Psy.D. degree is
available in the areas of clinical and counseling psychology and in a few
industrial psychology programs. Which type of degree to seek is largely a
matter of personal preference; therefore, it is something you should
learn more about. Psychology faculty can assist you in making such
a decision. You should be aware that many jobs (such as those listed in
the APA Monitor) require a Ph.D. specifically! One important thing to
remember is this: whatever type of degree you seek, apply to graduate
programs that are APA approved. (This applies to clinical, counseling,
and school psychology programs.) Many employers will not consider you
unless you graduated from such a program. A list of APA approved programs
is published each year in the December issue of the American Psychologist
(available in our library).
Graduate
School in Psychology
To be
a psychologist - to have a career in psychology -- you must go to
graduate school. There is no alternative. As we discussed earlier, a
bachelor's degree does not a psychologist make. Once you determine the
type of career you would like to seek, we can assist you in evaluating
the necessary and optimal steps required to get there. If you tell us you
want to be a therapist, we'll tell you that you need at least a master's
degree. If you tell us you want to be licensed as a clinical psychologist
and have a private practice, we'll tell you that you need to get a
doctorate in psychology. If you tell us you want to be a college
professor who teaches and does research, we'll tell you that you should
get a doctorate. And so forth.
Generally
speaking, a number of opportunities exist in psychology at the master's
degree level. These are primarily in the applied areas of school,
clinical, counseling and industrial psychology. Also, teaching
opportunities exist at the community college level for such individuals.
But for many jobs, you absolutely need the doctorate. APA recognizes the
doctorate and the Psy.D.
as
the only degrees with which one can practice psychology independently.
Not surprisingly, in all but rare cases, it takes the doctorate to be
able to be licensed as a psychologist. And, of course, it should be noted
that the doctorate gives one enhanced knowledge, skills, experience,
salary potential, opportunities, and independence.
Is Graduate School for
You?
Graduate
schools accept only the best students. Admission to graduate study in
psychology is extremely competitive. In any given graduate department,
there may be hundreds of applications for only a handful of openings. So
you clearly must be well prepared. Generally speaking, the following will
help you: a strong GPA, a strong GRE score (explained later), strong
letters of recommendation, research experience, and practical, hands-on
experience (such as an internship). Other criteria may be considered but
you can see that achieving these things will not necessarily come easily
for all people and that success depends on good and early planning. For
example, you can't wait to do something about your GPA in your senior
year. Your freshman year is the time to be concerned about that. A
suggested timetable for pursuing graduate school appears at the end of
this section. Here are some suggestions to bear in mind as you plan for
graduate school and go through the application process:
·
Read helpful books available in Psychology Department (see
recommended readings described earlier in this Handbook).
·
Get help and feedback from psychology faculty when preparing
applications, especially on letter of introduction, statement of goals,
etc.
·
Have a strong GPA.
·
Have strong GRE scores.
·
Get research experience, especially if you have experimental
psychology interests; go to conferences, submit papers to research
conferences, try to publish a paper, etc.
·
Have strong letters of recommendation; get to know your
professors, do well in classes, work with them, etc.
·
Learn statistics (for example, SPSS) and computer
skills; have strong math and science background.
·
Join APA and/or APS as a student affiliate.
·
Do an honors project if you are eligible.
·
Get internship experiences: do volunteer work in a social
service agency, etc., especially if you have clinical interests.
·
Apply to as many programs as your time, energy, and money
will allow.
·
Apply to varied programs: varied competitiveness; some
terminal masters, some doctoral; look beyond clinical -- consider
experimental, industrial, social, etc.
·
Do your homework: get to know the programs and try to find a
fit between yourself and the program to which you are applying; go to
journals, read the Graduate Study in Psychology book, send off for information,
write to specific faculty, etc.; even consider visiting the program.
·
Submit neat, well-written applications.
·
Meet all application deadlines.
·
Photocopy all application materials before mailing.
Early
on, you should decide if graduate school is for you. Will you have the
necessary qualifications to be a successful candidate? If not, should you
seek employment at the bachelor's level? Perhaps. But it may also
be that you can attain admission to graduate study in some less
competitive but yet related field of study outside of psychology. There
are a number of such opportunities and psychology faculty can discuss
these with you. But there is an additional matter. Graduate school takes
considerable time, effort, motivation, discipline, study, and research,
to say nothing about the cost. Do you have the necessary
"attitude" to succeed? Are you committed to make it work?
e
bring all of
this up because you have chosen psychology as a possible
career choice. And we need to be very honest with you. Psychology is a
very exciting, challenging, and rewarding career. But you have to realize
from the very beginning of your studies how rigorous and competitive the
field is. We will do everything we can to help you be successful. But you
will have the major role in your success. If you are committed to a
career in psychology, begin today to seriously consider the issues we
have addressed above. And begin to take the necessary steps to enhance
your chances for success.
A Timetable
for Graduate Study Preparation
First
Year:
·
Complete as many General Education and Core requirements as
possible.
·
Complete the General Psychology course and earn an A in it.
·
Participate in psychological research.
·
Work with your advisor!
·
Join the psychology club
·
Begin your portfolio!
Second
Year (Sophomore):
·
Continue working on completing your general education and
core requirements.
·
Take other lower-level psychology courses.
·
Begin thinking about a minor.
·
Get to know the faculty members in the psychology
department; ask them about their research interests
·
Become aware of and attend local, regional, national
psychology meetings or conventions.
·
Seek out opportunities for psychology-related volunteer
work.
·
Take an exploratory internship.
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