Let’s use this as an opportunity to think more about what you will do after you graduate from Roosevelt University. This assignment will have you think more about different career options, and allow you to understand the path needed to arrive at your destination. Even though there are often many steps in this process, knowing your destination allows you to sequence them over time so you are well informed and can make good choices.
For the purpose of the assignment, I list the questions that you need to answer in your report. Underneath each, I provide you with tools and links so that you can do the online research needed to provide thoughtful answers. Most students will use this as an opportunity to describe educational and career pathways that lead to jobs in the mental health profession; however, many of the resources are general so that you can describe how you would prepare for occupations in different fields.
Question 1. Describe your current career ambitions. What jobs are you currently considering, and why do you find them potentially interesting?
Your psychology degree can lead to so many different fields, ranging from ones that you may readily think about (like mental health and social services) to those with connections that may be less apparent (like human resources, business, medicine, and education) upon first glance. The challenge for some students is to narrow the number of choices to find a career path that will be the most meaningful and appropriate for them.
If you are unsure about what career you’d like to pursue, one of the best resources to start your search is O*Net Online. The site has an Interest Profiler that features a questionnaire to assess your interests. If you want to complete this questionnaire, go to the site and click the “Next” button at the bottom of the window to progress through the 60-item questionnaire. The site will then suggest careers that match your interests. Select Job Zone Four to learn about jobs that generally require a college education, and Job Zone Five for occupations that require graduate school. Click on careers from each level of education to learn more (there’s a link that reads “See more details at O*NET OnLine” for this information).
If you already know which jobs you’d want to pursue, you can also look up different careers directly on the site to learn more about each without completing the questionnaire.
Also, please download and look over the “Careers for Psychology Majors” document, which lists 300 jobs that are well-suited for students with a psychology major. Some require graduate school (those are highlighted in green), but many do not. You will see that each of these careers has links underneath that you can use to learn more, too. If you still need further information about careers in psychology, you can find an overview provided by the American Psychological Association. Remember that psychology is a broad field and has many different areas that you can pursue additional education and training.
Question 2. Based on this additional research, what more did you learn about your potential careers? Present information about two related career options rather than just one. You should describe, with much greater specificity than in Question 1, what professionals in these chosen areas actually do, what skills they possess, what preparation and training are needed to enter these fields, how much people employed in these fields typically earn, and what the job outlook/projected growth is for these careers. Use the content from the websites above and be sure to avoid plagiarism and merely copying information.
If you can obtain the career that you ultimately want with your undergraduate degree, then the last question below focuses on what you need to do to be competitive to get that job. You’ll want to do the online research to focus on what experiences and preparation are important to be a successful job applicant and move up the ladder to success.
However, students who want to be therapists, counselors, social workers, or clinical psychologists need graduate-level training to become proficient in providing services. Students who want to be researchers similarly pursue studies at the Master’s (MA) and doctoral level regardless of their interest area. There are many resources that allow you to learn more about the steps involved in this process.
The next three paragraphs are written for students who are particularly interested in graduate training in the mental health field. If this is your area of interest, you can read these articles to help you decide between a Master’s vs. doctorate in clinical psychology, and choosing between a PsyD or a PhD program. Keep in mind that GPA is often a deciding factor, so here are some data that were published several years ago. On average, Psychology Master’s programs have a stated minimum GPA of 2.9 for consideration; the average GPA score for accepted/incoming students in these MA programs is 3.37. About 40% of applicants are accepted to Clinical Psychology MA programs; the number is 56% for Counseling and School Psychology MA programs.
Doctoral programs are more competitive (especially for PhD programs in comparison to the more practitioner-oriented PsyD programs). The average minimum GPA required for consideration is 3.1, with an average overall GPA among accepted/incoming students of 3.5 (with a psychology GPA that is slightly above this level). Keep in mind that the average GPA for PsyD doctoral programs can be less than 3.5 for some schools (especially in “free-standing” PsyD schools that aren’t part of traditional universities), and the average GPA of admitted PhD students will very likely be higher (with those students also having higher GRE scores and previous research and clinical experiences). Some students do start in an MA program and then apply to doctoral programs if that is their ultimate goal. For those who are interested particularly in clinical psychology, there’s also more information in the CUDCP Guide to Getting In that has extensive advice and resources.
We recently compiled two resources for you to download as part of this assignment as well, if they apply to your intentions. The first is an Excel spreadsheet that lists all local graduate school programs that provide mental health training. There’s basic information for each along with a link to find out more about them. Be sure to use the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet to scroll through the different types of programs. If you are thinking about graduate school farther away from the Chicago area, I’d suggest starting with a Google search based on the type and location of programs that you’d find most interesting. The library also has related books for you to explore later listing programs and presenting more detailed information as well.
The second download for you is a PowerPoint slide deck on ways that you can prepare for the GRE exam if you’re applying to a program that requires it. Virtually all doctoral programs require you to complete the GRE, but only some Master’s programs do. In terms of timeline, you’d need to take your GRE about one year or more before you plan to start graduate school given how the application cycles work.
The American Psychological Association has a video series on preparing and applying for graduate school in psychology that goes into detail about all of the different steps involved in the process. These review career options, timelines, taking the GRE exam, writing personal statements, and completing applications. The most comprehensive resource available is probably the Online Psychology Career Center and is definitely worth your attention when you have the time later on to explore all of its links. These have a broader focus on different areas within psychology. Consider these two sites a preview for now rather than things you’d need to read through.
The information above about graduate school is really tailored to students who will be pursuing advanced training in psychology and in related mental health fields. I’d definitely suggest additional online research if you’re thinking about pursuing a Master’s degree or doctorate in related areas. We’ve had undergraduates who are interested in education, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other allied professions. Remember to the look over the “Careers for Psychology Majors” document that I mentioned above if this is consistent with your intentions.
Question 3. Describe your intentions and write out your action plan for future education and/or needed experiences to move ahead. If you will need to go to graduate school for your career, you will want to describe the type programs that have the best fit with your interests and your qualifications. You should be able to list some potential programs that you would think about applying to when the time arrives. You should know whether and when you would need to take the GRE exam to reach your goal as well (and, if so, how you’d prepare for it based on the options listed in the PowerPoint slide deck).