[glasses]

Hello, I was wondering what type of work experience i can do for psychology that would set me apart from other candidates. I mean i know that typical work experience would be in a hospital or charity shop but what can i do that will be more specifically to do with psychology since to volunteer in the psych ward you need to be 18 -_-

[skotch]

You don't NEED work experience for psychology, but it's always nice.
Working in a hospital would be quite good, especially if you intend to go into clinical psychology later.
Any kind of research experience would be good too. This could be extended to a number of different domains, whether it's health research, marketing/advertising, bank stuff, sports science stuff, business related, or general science research.
I'm hopefully going to get some work at a publishing company that publish scientific books and loads of science journals. However, I've got a contact in the company and have already completed 2 years of my degree, so it's slightly easier for me. If you could find something like that, it would be good!
You'll probably find that a lot of posts are only offered to students in their penultimate year of their degree (usually 2nd), so don't worry if you don't find anything!
Also, you could potentially contact your local psychology department and see if they would offer you any experience. Even if it's just volunteering to take part in experiments, that's better than nothing, because you can ask the experimenter questions about what they're doing and the whole process.

Hope you find something, but remember, it's not essential. I would, however, recommend that you try and create as much synopticity with your other A-level/IB/equivalent subjects as you can, for example, if you do Biology, try and do a project on a developmental/psychological disorder or if you're doing a language, do the oral exam on a topic in psychology (I did German, so I talked about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and their dream analysis). It will make your personal statement a much more interesting read!

Also, if you're into music, I can recommend you a few books that tie music and psychology/science together really well!

If you've got any questions, feel free to ask.

[*Interrobang*]

Extra reading related to psychology is FAR more beneficial than any work experience you could get

[glasses]

Thanks guys this helped alot!!!

[Kayannk]

(Original post by skotch)
Also, if you're into music, I can recommend you a few books that tie music and psychology/science together really well!

Hi! Sorry to barge in here but I would be interested in those books if you would be so kind as to tell me

[skotch]

(Original post by Kayannk)

Hi! Sorry to barge in here but I would be interested in those books if you would be so kind as to tell me

Musicophilia - Oliver Sacks
This is your brain on music - Daniel Levitin

[Kayannk]

(Original post by skotch)
Musicophilia - Oliver Sacks
This is your brain on music - Daniel Levitin

Thank you very much will take a look at them!

[skotch]

(Original post by Kayannk)
Thank you very much will take a look at them!

I've got loads of other 'popular' psychology books, but I haven't got round to reading them yet. There are probably a couple of other decent books linking music and psychology but I think the two I mentioned are the most famous/most accessible.

[jodie.irwin27]

(Original post by skotch)
I've got loads of other 'popular' psychology books, but I haven't got round to reading them yet. There are probably a couple of other decent books linking music and psychology but I think the two I mentioned are the most famous/most accessible.

sorry to randomly comment but i was wondering what some of these 'popular' psychology books are?

[skotch]

(Original post by jodie.irwin27)
sorry to randomly comment but i was wondering what some of these 'popular' psychology books are?

I won't be able to give you a full list as I left all my books at uni, but basically any books by Oliver Sacks, Malcolm Gladwell, Steven Pinker, Richard Wiseman, and Ben Goldacre (amongst others).

[iammichealjackson]

(Original post by skotch)
I won't be able to give you a full list as I left all my books at uni, but basically any books by Oliver Sacks, Malcolm Gladwell, Steven Pinker, Richard Wiseman, and Ben Goldacre (amongst others).

I was told NOT to put pop psychology books on my personal statement (It was oliver sack's "the man who mistook his wife for a hat, incidently).

Personally I don't like malcom gladwell- the others are far more reputable, but literally everyone talks about Oliver Sacks on their personal statement so its a bit of a dodgy one. Richard Wiseman is really funny (ive seen him live at a science show) but pretty popular too.

Ben Goldacre's "bad science" is pretty much a classic now. Worth reading (relates to "research methods" in psychology).

For social psychology ive discovered Aronson's "The Social Animal" which is a really well written book (and comprehensive).

[Danniitb]

(Original post by glasses)
Hello, I was wondering what type of work experience i can do for psychology that would set me apart from other candidates. I mean i know that typical work experience would be in a hospital or charity shop but what can i do that will be more specifically to do with psychology since to volunteer in the psych ward you need to be 18 -_-

I would say that at this point you don't really need to volunteer anywhere but as soon as you turn 18, try and get a post in a care home. They are the easiest to get especially if volunteering as they always need the help. After a couple of months of that it will be a lot easier to get a job working in psych wards, eg as a support worker on bank or with agencies, but none of them hire without at least 6 mths of previous experience in care


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[skotch]

(Original post by iammichealjackson)
I was told NOT to put pop psychology books on my personal statement (It was oliver sack's "the man who mistook his wife for a hat, incidently).

Personally I don't like malcom gladwell- the others are far more reputable, but literally everyone talks about Oliver Sacks on their personal statement so its a bit of a dodgy one. Richard Wiseman is really funny (ive seen him live at a science show) but pretty popular too.

Ben Goldacre's "bad science" is pretty much a classic now. Worth reading (relates to "research methods" in psychology).

For social psychology ive discovered Aronson's "The Social Animal" which is a really well written book (and comprehensive).

I was recommending them more as a starting point for reading about Psychology/Science, not necessarily for a PS.

An amazing book that I read ages ago is 'Opening Skinner's Box' by Lauren Slater. Really good book and gives a more personal, deeper insight into some of the more groundbreaking experiments to have occurred such as Skinner, Milgram and Rosenhan's main experiments.

[kday]

(Original post by Danniitb)
I would say that at this point you don't really need to volunteer anywhere but as soon as you turn 18, try and get a post in a care home. They are the easiest to get especially if volunteering as they always need the help. After a couple of months of that it will be a lot easier to get a job working in psych wards, eg as a support worker on bank or with agencies, but none of them hire without at least 6 mths of previous experience in care


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

I worked in a Special Needs school. If you can cope with special needs you will gain valuable experience as you will come across pupils with mental health issues, physical disabilities, autism etc and also have contact with outside agencies such as social workers, speech & language therapists, psychologists to name but a few. You will gain knowledge and experience and be a welcome pair of hands for the school.