Graduating with absolutely no experience - some advice needed

3

Hello everyone! I am a BSc Psychology Hons student who will be graduating this summer and I'm feeling TERRIFIED because I have absolutely no working experience (I did not apply for an internship or placement year) nor any volunteering experience; I also haven't been participating much in societies or extracurricular events other than a language evening course throughout my 3 years of university, solely because I've been too caught up with my school work and kept on procrastinating on making future plans. I'm not even sure if I want to pursue a career in Psychology (most of the modules I chose were cognitive psychology or decision-making psychology related and none specifically on clinical psychology), and I don't know how I should find a job after I graduate. I have some plans to go a year abroad to study at a language school in April 2026, and I was hoping that between that time and now (July 2025 onwards) I could try and find a 6-month internship or gain some part-time job / volunteering experience, but looking at the application requirements I don't seem to meet any of the jobs that are being offered - the internships are mostly aimed at year 2 undergrads whereas the currently offered part-time jobs or volunteering opportunities seem to all start in May/June but (1) I'm still finishing up my dissertation, deadline being May (2) I won't be in my country between June~July. This is making me stress even more because I wonder if I'll end up finding no opportunity and no experience before I leave for studying abroad, wasting a whole year overseas and becoming even more likely to be unemployed when I come back because I will have an unexplainable gap in my work experience (not that I have any in the moment...I was thinking of trying to get a part-time job during my study abroad but that can't be guaranteed). I'm really regretting not exploring more in my past years at uni because now I'm cramming everything in one go; I'm stressing the heck out because I don't know what the point of my degree will be once I get out there. Lots of people will have the same qualifications as me while having more experience/interests/significant extracurricular roles/enthusiasm than me. I have contacted my university's career services to ask about looking for job or experience but they've basically given me the same advice as what I've been looking for above (i.e internship opportunities, volunteering etc). I'm really lost how to go forth. I'm not sure what advice I'm looking for here, but has anyone had the same experience or similar experience as me, and how did you overcome it?

Reply 1

Tank Man21

5

Original post

by gagesPFC

Hello everyone! I am a BSc Psychology Hons student who will be graduating this summer and I'm feeling TERRIFIED because I have absolutely no working experience (I did not apply for an internship or placement year) nor any volunteering experience; I also haven't been participating much in societies or extracurricular events other than a language evening course throughout my 3 years of university, solely because I've been too caught up with my school work and kept on procrastinating on making future plans. I'm not even sure if I want to pursue a career in Psychology (most of the modules I chose were cognitive psychology or decision-making psychology related and none specifically on clinical psychology), and I don't know how I should find a job after I graduate. I have some plans to go a year abroad to study at a language school in April 2026, and I was hoping that between that time and now (July 2025 onwards) I could try and find a 6-month internship or gain some part-time job / volunteering experience, but looking at the application requirements I don't seem to meet any of the jobs that are being offered - the internships are mostly aimed at year 2 undergrads whereas the currently offered part-time jobs or volunteering opportunities seem to all start in May/June but (1) I'm still finishing up my dissertation, deadline being May (2) I won't be in my country between June~July. This is making me stress even more because I wonder if I'll end up finding no opportunity and no experience before I leave for studying abroad, wasting a whole year overseas and becoming even more likely to be unemployed when I come back because I will have an unexplainable gap in my work experience (not that I have any in the moment...I was thinking of trying to get a part-time job during my study abroad but that can't be guaranteed). I'm really regretting not exploring more in my past years at uni because now I'm cramming everything in one go; I'm stressing the heck out because I don't know what the point of my degree will be once I get out there. Lots of people will have the same qualifications as me while having more experience/interests/significant extracurricular roles/enthusiasm than me. I have contacted my university's career services to ask about looking for job or experience but they've basically given me the same advice as what I've been looking for above (i.e internship opportunities, volunteering etc). I'm really lost how to go forth. I'm not sure what advice I'm looking for here, but has anyone had the same experience or similar experience as me, and how did you overcome it?

i graduated with biology with no experience and the first four months after graduating were the worst months of my life, but once i got one foot on the ladder now employers are desperate for people who do what i do. i was stubborn in refusing to do something as a stop gap like recruitment consultancy but you need a stop gap like that... at least recruitment consultancy is well paid as horrible as it is

Reply 2

Szara_SOAS

9

Original post

by gagesPFC

Hello everyone! I am a BSc Psychology Hons student who will be graduating this summer and I'm feeling TERRIFIED because I have absolutely no working experience (I did not apply for an internship or placement year) nor any volunteering experience; I also haven't been participating much in societies or extracurricular events other than a language evening course throughout my 3 years of university, solely because I've been too caught up with my school work and kept on procrastinating on making future plans. I'm not even sure if I want to pursue a career in Psychology (most of the modules I chose were cognitive psychology or decision-making psychology related and none specifically on clinical psychology), and I don't know how I should find a job after I graduate. I have some plans to go a year abroad to study at a language school in April 2026, and I was hoping that between that time and now (July 2025 onwards) I could try and find a 6-month internship or gain some part-time job / volunteering experience, but looking at the application requirements I don't seem to meet any of the jobs that are being offered - the internships are mostly aimed at year 2 undergrads whereas the currently offered part-time jobs or volunteering opportunities seem to all start in May/June but (1) I'm still finishing up my dissertation, deadline being May (2) I won't be in my country between June~July. This is making me stress even more because I wonder if I'll end up finding no opportunity and no experience before I leave for studying abroad, wasting a whole year overseas and becoming even more likely to be unemployed when I come back because I will have an unexplainable gap in my work experience (not that I have any in the moment...I was thinking of trying to get a part-time job during my study abroad but that can't be guaranteed). I'm really regretting not exploring more in my past years at uni because now I'm cramming everything in one go; I'm stressing the heck out because I don't know what the point of my degree will be once I get out there. Lots of people will have the same qualifications as me while having more experience/interests/significant extracurricular roles/enthusiasm than me. I have contacted my university's career services to ask about looking for job or experience but they've basically given me the same advice as what I've been looking for above (i.e internship opportunities, volunteering etc). I'm really lost how to go forth. I'm not sure what advice I'm looking for here, but has anyone had the same experience or similar experience as me, and how did you overcome it?

Hi there,

Congratulations on being so close to finishing your degree! I’m also in my final-year so I completely understand feeling uncertain about the future. Here are some ideas that can hopefully help.

One great option is trying Forage. It provides free, flexible, virtual work experience programs designed to help students and graduates gain practical skills, explore careers, and boost their employability—without needing any prior experience. Any projects you complete could give you great concrete examples to discuss in future interviews. Some companies also offer off-cycle internships that take place outside of the traditional timeframes so you could look out for these on LinkedIn or by subscribing to companies' talent networks.

In terms of volunteering, I'd recommend directly reaching out to local charities or organisations, even if they aren't actively advertising positions. Many smaller places are surprisingly open to offering opportunities if someone shows a genuine interest and passion for their work. My brother did this with a disability charity in our area and they happily accommodated his student schedule with just 1-2 volunteer shifts per week.

If you're considering working during your year abroad, make sure to double check your visa restrictions first. When I studied abroad in Jordan, for instance, paid work wasn't allowed but volunteering was absolutely fine. There are often great opportunities to use your English skills abroad, like tutoring or helping with English-language publications and your language institution might be able to help facilitate this.

You’ll also gain lots of valuable skills just by being abroad, such as cultural awareness, cross-cultural communication skills and adaptability (to a new country and culture). These are skills that lots of companies value so they’re definitely worth highlighting.

I hope this helps and good luck with your next steps!

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 3

LJMUStudentReps

Official Rep

18

Hi @gagesPFC

Congrats on completing your degree — that’s a huge achievement, even if things feel uncertain right now. It’s great that you’ve already spoken to your careers team — even if their advice felt a bit general, it’s worth keeping in touch regularly as new opportunities often come up for recent grads.

In the meantime, you could look into short-term roles at your university or local institutions — things like helping with Clearing, open days, event support, admin, or student ambassador work. These kinds of jobs usually don’t require loads of prior experience and can be a really solid way to gain skills before your year abroad.

Even if you’re not set on a psychology career, your degree still holds value — the skills you’ve built (like research, communication, critical thinking) are all transferable to lots of different sectors. Don’t underestimate that!

You're already being reflective and proactive, which is a great place to start. Lots of people figure things out after graduation — you’re definitely not behind, you’re just at the beginning of a new chapter.

Wishing you all the best,
Megan (LJMU Postgraduate Rep)

Graduating with absolutely no experience - some advice needed

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