Best Psychology(ist) job?

I wanted to do clinical psychology but I discovered is VERY competitive and the likelihood of becoming one is small. I heard about health psychologists but I found that there aren't a lot of jobs open. Occupational psychology is interesting but I don't know how competitive it is and how easy it is to become employed. Which seems to be the best and/or safest career path?

Reply 1

TSR Jessica

Sorry you've not had any responses about this. :frown:

Are you sure you’ve posted in the right place? Posting in the specific Study Help forum should help get responses. :redface:

I'm going to quote in Tank Girl now so she can move your thread to the right place if it's needed. :h:

Spoiler

Reply 2

Tsrsarahh

I think I have the same problem as you. I was thinking of doing a psychology degree but after some research I've found that jobs in it are highly competitive :frown:

Reply 3

blitzchika

Original post by Tsrsarahh

I think I have the same problem as you. I was thinking of doing a psychology degree but after some research I've found that jobs in it are highly competitive :frown:

I'm planning on going into counselling psychology or occupational as it seems less competitive than clinical and they seem really interesting. I'm gonna try really hard to get a first at uni so that my chances improve

Reply 4

Tsrsarahh

Original post by blitzchika

Good luck xx

Reply 5

blitzchika

Original post by Tsrsarahh

Good luck xx

You too!

Reply 6

Radioactive_

Original post by blitzchika

Clinical psychology is definitely one of the most competitive fields of psychology and (I don't mean to put you off but) I've heard of people with very good degrees get rejected for studying clinical psychology at doctorate level.

Counselling psychology is the field that I'm hoping to aim for at the moment and it's a bit less competitive because there are more jobs open to them in the same area where there may be only one clinical psychologist.

I don't really know about occupational psychologists so I can't really help you there but it's probably quite similar to the state of counselling psychologists jobs. Health, forensic, educational and sport psychology are also careers you could consider but psychology is a very popular subject so they'll be a lot of people to compete with. Have a look around and make sure to do lots of research before you set your heart on a career and if you decide to do a degree make sure that it has accreditation from the BPS or you will not be able to work as a psychologist. They have a website where you can search for accredited degrees here: http://www.bps.org.uk/bpslegacy/ac . They lso have lots of advice on careers etc. so make sure you check it out :smile:

P.S. Don't let the competition frighten you. Work hard, study harder and if it's really what you want to do, you'll get there in the end. :biggrin:

Reply 7

doodle_333

Original post by blitzchika

I would advise exploring your career options further during university. Try and speak to people from various careers, learn about their outlook and the way they work, shadow a couple of people if possible and decide what fits best with you. My understanding is the clinical is the most competitive track to follow, but it is also the best paid (I think) and in general there are just way more psych graduates than there are relevant graduate positions.

Just because clinical is competitive doesn't mean you can't ever manage it, you just need to show adequate commitment by working a couple of years in lower paid jobs, and you need to learn how to think in the right way and reflect on your experience. That is all perfectly doable it just takes a while. Clinical is not the same as counselling and you should think carefully about what you really want to do. You will work until you're 70+ so it doesn't really matter if it takes you an extra 2-3 years to get into your final career.

Reply 8

sabrinaa1234

You could do sociology and become a HR recruiter...,lots of monayyy£££

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Reply 9

_Sinnie_

As far as I know, Clinical Psychology is the only funded route to becoming a qualified psychologist. So, each year the NHS funds ~630 places for doctoral training (with around 2,000 applicants each year, it's roughly a 1/3 chance). To qualify as a counselling psychologist you have to do the doctorate, which is not funded. For forensic you can do it with just the Master's but you have to source your own (unpaid) placements, for two years - or there's the unfunded doctorate. There is an unfortunate money reality to the other career paths, which is possibly why Clinical is more popular.

I've chosen to do Clinical, I'm at the point of applying for the docorate and hopefully having a good chance of getting on this year. I've done nothing extraordinary and I am by no means an extraordinary candidate. I have a 2:1, a Master's in Forensic Psychology (Master's are increasingly the norm) and will have 3 years of full time Assistant Psychologist experience. I will hopefully have one publication and 5 or so on the way. I would consider myself a pretty average candidate overall and have a reasonable chance of getting an interview / place.

The other aspect to consider is the job market afterwards. Clinical Psychologists are everywhere in the NHS, they are the go-to discipline for psychological input and I hear that even now, with this economy, that all trainee's find a qualified post after training. Doing forensic means you have to work in a forensic setting (where often Clinical psychologists also work) and it can limit your options. Likewise with Counselling. Though, recently there is an increase in adverts for 'practitioner' psychologists which opens up the field to Counselling and Forensic psychologists. It's not to say that Clinical is better, it just does cover a wider range of Psychology than the other two and has historically been 'psychology'.

Other areas like Educational and Occupational are more niche - they move a little outside traditional psychology. I don't really know a lot about them, but I'd check them out before heading down that route.

Of course, there is always the private sector. Or if you're really rich, you can self fund the clinical course (something like £120,000).

Reply 10

Domchannie

Original post by _Sinnie_

As far as I know, Clinical Psychology is the only funded route to becoming a qualified psychologist. So, each year the NHS funds ~630 places for doctoral training (with around 2,000 applicants each year, it's roughly a 1/3 chance). To qualify as a counselling psychologist you have to do the doctorate, which is not funded. For forensic you can do it with just the Master's but you have to source your own (unpaid) placements, for two years - or there's the unfunded doctorate. There is an unfortunate money reality to the other career paths, which is possibly why Clinical is more popular.I've chosen to do Clinical, I'm at the point of applying for the docorate and hopefully having a good chance of getting on this year. I've done nothing extraordinary and I am by no means an extraordinary candidate. I have a 2:1, a Master's in Forensic Psychology (Master's are increasingly the norm) and will have 3 years of full time Assistant Psychologist experience. I will hopefully have one publication and 5 or so on the way. I would consider myself a pretty average candidate overall and have a reasonable chance of getting an interview / place.The other aspect to consider is the job market afterwards. Clinical Psychologists are everywhere in the NHS, they are the go-to discipline for psychological input and I hear that even now, with this economy, that all trainee's find a qualified post after training. Doing forensic means you have to work in a forensic setting (where often Clinical psychologists also work) and it can limit your options. Likewise with Counselling. Though, recently there is an increase in adverts for 'practitioner' psychologists which opens up the field to Counselling and Forensic psychologists. It's not to say that Clinical is better, it just does cover a wider range of Psychology than the other two and has historically been 'psychology'. Other areas like Educational and Occupational are more niche - they move a little outside traditional psychology. I don't really know a lot about them, but I'd check them out before heading down that route. Of course, there is always the private sector. Or if you're really rich, you can self fund the clinical course (something like £120,000).

Hi,Can you tell me a bit more about how you got the job as a assistant? I have finished my psychology degree with upper 2:1 and have more than year experiences in youth social worker as volunteer plus first aids short course. I am doing my master in international approaches to early childhood education as I always wanted to work with children and early years and education is closely related to their mental development, I got place on PGCE in primary school but I just started to wondering if the clinical psychologist isn’t for me but I heard you need to do at least 12 months paid job related to clinical psychology and the bet is to actually do clinical assistant as some university do not take people from other healthcare experiences and volunteering does not count as well. However I heard that getting the job as clinical assistant is so hard and you alone need to have a lots of experiences in healthcare beforehand.