Resources for Students

pencil with a mortar hat and text Is Graduate School in Your Future?

Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Teachers September 11, 2017

Master’s careers in psychology

For most careers, providing professional services using psychological knowledge requires a doctoral degree in psychology, and these careers are often called professional or health service psychology. However, psychology careers for individuals holding master’s degrees are available in multiple occupational settings and in fields across the discipline. The demand for jobs at this level of training is reflected in the growth of master’s psychology degrees — from slightly below 18,000 in 2003 to nearly 28,000 in 2013. Similarly, the National Science Foundation reports growth during the past decade in research-focused psychology master’s degrees: approximately 15,000 in 2003 and 22,000 in 2011.

Graduate and Postgraduate Students, Undergraduate Students August 21, 2017

An Easy Way to Handle Criticism

Last month I gave a conference talk where I was one of several invited, keynote speakers. The audience was around 300 people, and I felt prepared, but a bit nervous. Giving talks like this are not necessarily new for me, but only a few times have I been featured in such a prominent role. Once I got going with the talk two things happened that I was unprepared for.

Undergraduate Students July 10, 2017

How Do I Discover My Dream Job in Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology?

Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists use theories and principles from psychology to scientifically study working populations and improve the effectiveness of organizations. However, for aspiring I-O psychologists, it may not be clear what path to follow to land their dream job. In this post from APA’s Division 14, or the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology’s (SIOP)  Visibility Committee, we point students towards some helpful resources as they start to think about choosing and preparing for a career in I-O!

Graduate and Postgraduate Students, Undergraduate Students June 26, 2017

Giving Gratitude in Graduate School

Graduate school is really, really hard. This is because as a psychology graduate student you are living a life that combines coursework, supervised research, independent research, and typically a part time job which pays you just enough to live around the poverty line. Demands are high and very often the praise and positive feedback graduate students get for all their work is minimal. This is not just because academia is an exercise in managing rejection (journals, grants, etc.), but because faculty themselves (myself included) are often not the greatest at doling out consistent compliments and positive feedback. Maybe we have become so accustomed to using rejection as a motivator we forget that the opposite may be equally, if not more, effective in motivating those we mentor.

Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Teachers June 19, 2017

What students should know about forensic psychology from a specialist in the field

With a surge of awareness from many mainstream media outlets and a newfound push to teach the importance of mental health, psychology has never been more popular and readily accessible to the public. Although there has been an increase in awareness, there are still many fields and subjects of psychology that are not as commonly popular or are simply unknown. 

Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Teachers June 12, 2017

Research careers with a bachelor’s degree in psychology

When I was earning my bachelor’s degree in psychology, classmates, professors, family members and guidance counselors would tell me that I needed a graduate degree if I wanted to get a job using my degree. At first, I believed them and planned for graduate school at some point in the future. But, before going to graduate school, I worked for four years in academic research. Below, I’ll describe some different research careers that someone with a bachelor’s degree in psychology could pursue and, most importantly given the difficulty some college graduates encounter finding jobs, what you need to do to prepare for each career.

Undergraduate Students May 8, 2017

A day in the Life of an Industrial Organizational Psychologist

On my annual family camping trip, I was out on the lake fishing with two of my brothers. We were making small talk as we were getting our lines ready to throw in the water.

“How’s work?”
“Good. Busy.”
“You? How’s work?”
“Same, busy.”

Then my brother asked a question that seemed almost comical, “Amanda, what do you do, anyway?” My other brother piped in curiously, “Yeah, what do you do??” The question came after I had been in my current position for a couple years, and I had been working as an I-O Psychology practitioner my whole career.