I'm part way through my Psychology degree and wondering if it is really realistic to get a job in Psychology, it would be great to hear some other people's view and opinions!
I'm thinking of pursuing Occupational though I am open to changing if other areas interested me more. My main concern is that ts so hard to find info about gettinginto your first job, or case studies / contacts that I can't see how I could get experience. I know I would also need a masters, it would be great to hear from anyone who is further along the path than me!
I have thought about joining the BPS to network ect and have read their website and had a careers appointment with the OU
I did a psychology conversion course with the OU and then eventually went onto take a Masters in Occ Psych at Birkbeck, University of London and am now a Chartered Psychologist and registered Occ Psych. Networking is key to getting in. For the last couple of years the Post graduate Occ Psych conference and the main conference has merged and these provide an excellent opportunity over three days to get to meet people and generally explore different avenues. These are held January every year. Also on the BPS website it is worth checking out the graduate jobs to get a feel what might interest you. If you go onto do your MSc please make sure it is a recognised course as I know a couple of people who didn't check and were disappointed they had wasted valuable time and money on a course that the profession do not recognise. Information again is on the BPS website. Also don't get too disheartened if you don't start out in an Occ Psych career as an MSc in Occ Psych can be invaluable in business and I know several people who have opted for a career in Human Resources instead. Internships are becoming popular as well and depending where you do your MSc, there are sometimes opportunities that come into the Department from the business world.
Thanks for your post - really useful. How did you go about doing a Psychology Conversion Course? I didn't do my undergraduate degree in Psychology and am seriously thinking about a change of career, in which case I would need to do a conversion course before doing anything else.
I can't see that the OU offer a Psychology conversion course?
Thanks in advance for your help.
you seem to be highly motivated. I was wondering if I could do the same but oyr educational system is different and I have no idea if a conversion course in psychology which I am eligible for, will provide me with the title Bachelor of Science in psychology. I am very sorry for the silly questions but in my country, educational system is very different and open university degrees are not fully recognized which is illegal...but anyway. Please provide me details with what I need to do. I am a PhD candidate in another field so it is a bit strange for me to get back to the regular university. I will feel quite old plus in Greece, you have to do the degree all from the beginning which is four years full as the first one...so...big story for us here. Bear in mind that I already have an MScience in Psychology and counseling so I guess it might be worthwhile to go for the OU degree. I have heard that it has the best of prerequisites and higher standards than most universities. Looking forward to hearing from you Webster!!craving for an answer here.