A Psychology Students Journey to Becoming Career Ready
If I am being completely honest, I only began thinking (and worrying) about my future career path in my second year of university.
What motivated me to start?
It wasn’t the fact that I was going to be leaving and graduating in only a year, it was coming across a website (linked here) that I had been introduced to whilst completing a confidence workshop. This website was asking me to write a letter to my future self and I couldn’t.
Do you see how this image looks forward to no goal-driven destination? This is how I saw my future after viewing the website. It left me questioning whether I wanted a career in clinical psychology, developmental psychology or cognitive psychology. Coming to terms with the fact that I had no answer whatsoever is what made me reassess my career readiness.
Where did I go from here?
There was so much left for me to do, my future is in my hands only and I had just come to terms with this. I also took time to accept that it was okay not to be certain of what I wanted to do.
To get almost anything done, I set myself weekly goals. This sets out what I plan to get done in the week based on my university timetable and any assessments due soon. Doing this helps to keep my mind active and prevented me from feeling overworked.
How did my changed mindset help me at the start?
When it came to finding my future career, I was strict with my weekly target. I did a weekly report where I would spend a total of 2 hours on anything career-related that I did not understand. For example, I watched psychology-related documentaries, upgraded my CV, looked at psychology placements advertised by my university. Also, researching more into my degree helped too, I used the modules I enjoyed the most as a starting point by seeing the field of psychology they were focused on. This allowed me to narrow my options down. Fixing my CV definitely took time but I received tonnes of help through a compulsory career management unit. This unit gave a mark scheme that I used as a toolkit to help improve my CV completely and catch the eyes of employers.
what do I do now?
After researching into so many potential career pathways clinical psychology has caught my attention and really intrigued me in terms of its aims and theories. I have also gone back to the website where this all started and written a detailed letter to my future self. The letter is filled with my aims and my expectations. One of these expectations is to have experience in clinical psychology and to get a head start at meeting this aim I have already began applying to placements and improved my CV. I have realised that I can make the unknown known with time and motivation. I feel a lot more aware and certain of what I want for myself and I could not be more grateful for what the confidence workshop drew my attention to.
