Diversity Post (Oct 18): I study Psychology, am I going to have a job? – 2

Welcome back! Thanks for commenting on the first post – I will address all your questions together after I finish writing the main content.

In case you haven’t already done so – complete the questionnaire (to gain credit/money)!

If you want to be in the cooperate: 

        ➡️You can choose to be a data analyst:

Generally, consultancy firms also recruit data analysts, and consultants are also expected to have data analyzing skills, but the main difference between a consultant and a data analyst is the latter has a higher requirement in your “tech” side and a more specific job description – so it’s easier for you to tell whether you are suitable for one position or not. Due to its emphasis on the “tech” end, you would want to make sure you know some mainstream data analysis/programming tools (e.g., R., SPSS, python, or NVivo for qualitative data) and/or you have experience in performing advanced statistical analysis – not just t-tests, but stuffs like regression, multivariate analysis.

This field values research ability much much more than the consultancy field, so generally, you would want to do a Master’s or higher postgraduate research degree (or, if you are one of those super undergraduate students who do 11 interns, a lot of research internship experiences) would make you a competitive applicant. 

If you want to be in academia:

        ➡️You can choose to be a researcher:

The good news is the route is rather clear – find a field that interests you →  Master → Ph.D. → Post doc → Research Fellow…  The bad news is starting from Ph.D., the spaces will become very limited – in the UK you will only be offered a place if a Professor agrees to supervise you. In this case not only do you have competitive research & publication experiences, but you will also need to find a professor that is interested in your project proposal! A lot of that comes with connections, which is hard and easy at the same time. Say your Master supervisor happens to like your work very much and happens to have the capacity to take in PhDs (which is not a rare case), your life will be much easier! Anyways these are not something you should worry about now. What you can do as an undergraduate is focus on your academic work (yes I’m talking about grades) and accumulate research experiences. 

Someone asked about where to find research opportunities for undergrads, the easiest way is to pay attention to your departmental emails & UCL Careers website, 80% of the jobs can be found there. Besides those, you can also try the UCL Research Mentorship Programme. 

        ➡️You can choose to be a teaching fellow/administrative role: …

if you want to be a clinical psychologist: …

If you want to work with the government: …

Stay tuned for more content in the following days! Meanwhile, if you have any thoughts or questions, or regarding our next diversity topics, please comment below 😊