Psychology Career Change

I am looking for some general advice.

Im 24 and Ive completed an honours degree in Economics (2:2) and an Msc in Information Technology. The type of IT masters course I did is generally considered as a 'conversion' or 'crash' course in Computer Science.

I got a job in Retail Space Planning, which Ive been doing for 18 months, but realistically it was a bit of a stop-gap job and im very uneasy about ending up having a career in it.

Recently I discovered the introductory Psychology course available on the Yale Open Courseware website. For anyone who doesnt know Yale make the complete course materials available for a few selected courses (incl. video lectures and exams) available to anyone. Needless to say there is no credit - its just for personal educational purposes. Long story short, I was extremely enthused by the course and slightly annoyed Id not done a psychology degree in the first place (which was my 2nd choice when I applied to uni).

I strongly feel like Psychology is the subject for me. In retrospect I Economics contains a strong element of (social/business) psychology and that was the aspect I enjoyed the most. I even gravitated towards the 'psychological' aspects of computing such as A.I.

Im not certain what field of psychology to pursue, or what role to practise in if I were to become qualified, but I figure I can reassess that as I begin general study in Psychology. Obviously Clinical Psychology is the well known career option but I also wondered what careers there are for someone from an Economics & Psychology background?

Also can anyone give me advice on the Psychology Conversion route? Whereby I can do a diploma/msc conversion course in psychology which will allow me to progress onto the same postgrade/doctoral courses as psychology graduates(?) I wondered if this was realistically viable, as I 'converted' to IT and quickly found Computer Science grads were preferred ahead of me every time.

I am willing to try and get work experience, by volunteering if I have to, but the financial situation is very tricky. As I understand it, I will get no more public funding of any kind for higher educations, save a yearly £500 grant from ILA for (part-time?) courses. If I was going to be volunteering and studying that leaves little time to earn money to live off of and to pay for my education!

Just to make everything even more complicated - my heart has always been set on one day moving to north america, especially the USA. Im aware that there is a decent shot at a permenant VISA for those with advanced degrees and a job offer where the job requires said advanced degrees. Id say psychology fits that bill pretty perfectly. However if I become a qualified Clinical Psychologist in the UK, with a BPS accreditted doctorate qualification how well is that accepted in the USA and the APA?

Sorry about the 'essay' but I would massively appreciate advice on any part of this. I am reasonably capable of finding technical answers regarding this path so Im especially interested in 'real world' information, especially from people who've gone down this road or seen others do it.

Feel free to email me.

Jamie

Reply 1

Psychotik

Hi Jamie,

I did psychology and then a management masters. I was one of those that thought psychology was for me. Not entirely sure what advice to give you as I am still a little confused about my career path. But Economics and Psychology give you a very broad scope - you can pretty much go into any industry. I would say you would be attractive to marketing/ advertising/ HR consulting/ HR careers. These are careers I am also looking in to.

And of course you always have the psychology route to go down should you choose to in the end!

Reply 2

Psychotik

also i dont think you can really practice in the usa as a clinical psychologist - but you'll have to look more into that!

Reply 3

Lord Asriel

Just to make everything even more complicated - my heart has always been set on one day moving to north america, especially the USA. Im aware that there is a decent shot at a permenant VISA for those with advanced degrees and a job offer where the job requires said advanced degrees. Id say psychology fits that bill pretty perfectly. However if I become a qualified Clinical Psychologist in the UK, with a BPS accreditted doctorate qualification how well is that accepted in the USA and the APA?

UK clinical training is not valid in the US as they have a different requirements for clinical licensure. Regardless, training as any sort of qualified psychologist either in the US or UK is a fairly lengthy process and requires quite a lot of planning and understanding of the training pathways.

Though I dont know much about your case, your long term goal is to move to the US, which suggests it will be much better for you to move their first then continue with your psychology studies. There is very little to be gained spending years on a highly competitive pathway in the UK, then doing it all again in the US, with no guarantees and no money.

In any case, your first step is to visit either your local universities psychology department or careers advisor and talk it through there

Psychology Career Change

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