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PSYCHOLOGY CAREER GUIDE 2020/2021 Psychology2 Success at School is a national careers website for students aged 11-19, as well as their teachers, careers advisors, parents and other influencers. Young people can learn about their future career options through no-nonsense careers advice related to their own experiences. As well as covering topics such as career paths, industries, apprenticeships, university and employability skills, we connect schools and students to employers and universities through opportunities on our site and our interactive forums. Millions of young people and their influencers have visited our site for advice and information to help them plan for the future. Go to successatschool.org for more information. Copyright Success at School Ltd 2020 AboutSuccess at SchoolPSYCHOLOGY CAREER GUIDE 3 05 What is psychology? 06 How will psychology prepare me for work? 10 Should I choose psychology? Contents 12 T-levels 15 Why work experience matters 18 How to future-proof your career 14 Job roles 32 Everything you need to know about gap years 20 Spotlight job 34 University 22 Interviews 28 Apprenticeships4 Foreword Why study psychology? As you will see later, there are many types of careers that demand a training in psychology – including my own. I have spent my professional life as an experimental psychologist, largely doing research on human memory. For 30 years, I worked in a unit linking basic research with its practical applications – often in connection with problems where there was no time for further research. My research spanned radiological protection to advising the then-Prime Minister on the use of lie detectors – we advised against! Here, I found the most useful skills were those learned long ago as a psychology student. What were they? First, the capacity to ask good questions and to evaluate the answers. Studying psychology will teach you how to do this across a wide range of topics from neuroscience to social psychology, and in relation to issues ranging from mental health to legal practice. Secondly, you will learn to pull together evidence varying in reliability and present a balanced overview in both written and spoken form, a valuable skill for most careers. Thirdly, you will be introduced to a fascinating range of work surveying the whole range of human behaviour. This is useful not only in your job but also in finding your way through the flood of media-based “evidence” and understanding the world in which we live. Finally, you will enjoy it! Alan Baddeley Professor, Department of Psychology University of York5 Psychology can answer many questions about how people behave and why. Did you wonder why everyone seemed to be buying toilet paper during the lead-up to the Covid-19 lockdown? Are you interested in why people become bullies at school? Or maybe you want to understand why some people are terrified of spiders, while others are scared of heights. Psychology is a STEM+ scientific discipline that focuses on the mind and people’s behaviour. You’ll learn about various elements of human behaviour, with a particular focus on the thoughts, feelings and motivations behind people’s actions. It’s a fascinating discipline that covers everything from memory to mental health issues and plenty in between. Because psychology is such a broad topic, there are many career paths that you could follow. As a psychologist, you could choose to specialise in sports and performance psychology to help athletes push their physical performance to the next level. Or you might choose to work as a clinical psychologist in a healthcare setting where you help people to overcome their mental health challenges. You could also work as a psychologist for the military or MI5, or become a child play therapist. The research and critical-thinking skills you develop will be useful if you work as a solicitor. Businesses need the help of big data specialists, meanwhile, to help them make sense of the data they hold and the insights this offers about consumers. Having an insight into psychology will be useful across many sectors, particularly the likes of advertising, marketing or PR. What is psychology?6 5 workplace skills you’ll learn in psychology Critical thinking In class: You’ll be encouraged to think critically about psychological concepts, theories, research studies and research methods. You’ll also evaluate therapies and treatments to determine how effective they are and how appropriate they are in a given scenario. At work: Critical thinking is a sought-after skill in many workplaces. Product designers need to critically evaluate other products on the market and come up with ways of improving them or create completely new designs. Investigative journalists need to think critically about the sources of their information and how reliable they are before they publish a story. How will psychology prepare me for work? Problem solving In class: In the classroom, you’ll solve problems in practical contexts, drawing on a wealth of information in various forms to help support your solutions. You’ll look at how to design experiments and will be encouraged to think about how you can solve problems in a research setting. At work: If you work as a campaign manager, you’ll need to work within a budget and with various people to create marketing campaigns that attract consumers. You might need to find creative solutions to issues that arise as you’re creating content, especially if you have a tight budget. As a robotics engineer, you’ll need to come up with solutions to problems you encounter as you develop new pieces of technology. Research In class: You’ll learn about the different research methods that are used in psychology and the importance of ethical research. You’ll explore various data collection methods and experimental design, and consider how the ethics and guidelines surrounding these have changed over time. This may be done through reading research studies and sharing your thoughts and findings. At work: You could become a research psychologist, using these skills to dig into a specific psychological issue or illness. You’ll need to consider the ethics of any research that involves patients. Other scientific roles, such as marine biologist, also rely on strong research skills. Or you could consider a career like genealogist, where you research people’s family history. Teamwork In class: In the classroom you’ll discuss the topics you’re learning about and be encouraged to work together to further each other’s understanding of different issues. You may also learn about the psychology behind relationships, which can help you better understand group dynamics and behaviour. At work: There are very few jobs where you work in isolation. If you’re an HR manager, you’ll be working both within the HR team and with others across a business. If you go on to become an educational psychologist, you’ll be part of a wider education team working to make sure each young person receives the support they need. Data analysis In class: You’ll learn about various methods for handling and interpreting data. You’ll use different mathematical skills to enable you to collect data and analyse it to provide meaningful insights. You’ll also explore the differences between primary and secondary data, as well as qualitative and quantitative data. At work: Data analysts are increasingly sought-after in various sectors. When you combine data analysis skills with knowledge of psychology, you’re especially well-suited to roles such as e-commerce specialist, where you’re using data to better understand human buying behaviour. PSYCHOLOGY CAREER GUIDE 7 ...and 2 you may not have thought of Adaptability In class: There are many areas within psychology, and you’ll learn about some of the main ones, including cognitive, social, developmental, social differences and biological psychology. These require you to take different approaches to research and analysis too. At work: Workplaces are changing quickly. Being able to adapt to new situations will help you thrive in the future. A software developer needs to make sure they’re always learning about new technologies to help them adapt their work to meet future needs. If you work as a psychotherapist, you’ll need to adapt your manner and techniques to suit different clients. Listening In class: You’ll need to listen carefully to both your teacher and classmates to fully understand their perspectives and the information they’re sharing with you. You’ll also learn about research methods that require you to listen to others, such as when you use interview techniques. At work: If you train as a bereavement counsellor, you’ll need to listen carefully to your patients to provide them with the support they need as they deal with their grief. User experience researchers interview people to find out about their experiences of using a particular product or service and need to accurately record the responses.8 Develop your knowledge of memory and how our sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory work. Explore the different kinds of long-term memory, as well as explanations for forgetting. Look at theories surrounding memory in the context of eye-witness statements and learn about techniques that can be used to improve the accuracy of eye-witness testimony. Learn about how our knowledge and understanding of how memory works is changing thanks to the use of different brain scanning techniques. If you work in education, as either a primary or secondary school teacher, understanding how our memories work could help you come up with creative and effective ways of helping young people learn and revise for exams. Police officers need to understand the limitations of eye-witness testimony, as well as how to improve the accuracy of what witnesses are able to describe. KnowledgeHow will it help me at work? Learn about the emergence of psychology as a science and the main approaches used within the field. Explore famous research, such as that conducted by Pavlov, Maslow and Milgram. Develop your knowledge of the cognitive, biological and psychodynamic approaches to psychology, as well as various learning approaches. You’ll also look at how to compare the various approaches. Understanding early psychological research will give you a solid platform for any career in this field. If you work as a forensic psychologist you’ll apply psychological theory to criminal activity and behaviour. As a health psychologist, meanwhile, you’ll use this knowledge to help people live healthier lives and to support people as they cope with the psychological effects of ill health. Learn about eating behaviour and how psychological factors can affect our approach to eating and our diets. Explore different explanations for food preferences, as well as the biological and psychological explanations for obesity and anorexia nervosa. Look at what neural and hormonal mechanisms are involved in the control of eating behaviour. These include the hypothalamus, ghrelin and leptin. There’s a growing understanding of the impact poor diet can have on our health. A health promotion specialist will talk to people about healthy lifestyle choices and motivate them to make positive changes. A nutritionist will use this knowledge to help their clients develop eating plans they can stick to. 5 ways your psychology know-how will help you at work9 PSYCHOLOGY CAREER GUIDE You may study the psychology of aggression, including the neural and hormonal mechanisms at play during aggression, as well as the ethological explanation of aggression. You’ll also gain knowledge of institutional aggression (in prisons), the social psychological explanations of human aggression and explore media influences on aggression. This involves exploring concepts such as desensitisation, disinhibition and cognitive priming. If you work as a prison officer, then understanding aggression and how to manage it will be a vital skill. Games developers will need to consider issues such as desensitisation when they are designing new games, as well as consider how new technology such as VR could heighten people’s emotions, like aggression. KnowledgeHow will it help me at work? Expand your knowledge of scientific processes, including the difference between an aim and a hypothesis. Explore processes such as pilot studies and sampling, as well as looking at experimental designs and observational design in the context of psychological research. You’ll also learn about the peer review process within the scientific research community and how to report psychological investigations. If you work as a research scientist in any scientific discipline, having this knowledge is essential whether you’re developing your own studies or working as an assistant on larger projects. If you work as a scientific journalist, you need to understand how studies are conducted to enable you to report on them accurately.Next >