Psychology is a rewarding and varied career path with many different options available to new graduates. Here are the answers to some of the questions we’re often asked about a career in psychology.
Where can Psychologists work?
Psychologists deal with human behaviour, helping people change the way they think, feel, behave and react.
That means Psychologists can work in many different settings, since human behaviour is relevant almost everywhere.
You may choose to work as a Psychologist in:
- Schools, helping children improve their academic attainment and social skills
- The corporate sector, helping executives to maximise their potential
- Human resources, helping organisations select people with the right personality traits for the job
- Academia, doing research that deepens our understanding of human behaviour and teaching the next generation of psychologists
- Social services, aged care or maternity services
- Addiction recovery
- Childhood and adolescent services
- Family law disputes, conducting assessments that influence custody decisions
- Criminal psychology, including criminal profiling
- The fire, ambulance or police service, helping first responders process the difficult situations they encounter
- Private practice, helping people in the local area manage mental health difficulties.
As you can see, you’ve qualified in a very broad field. You’ll need to complete additional training for some special interest areas.
What are the next steps after graduating as a Psychologist?
The next step on any journey depends on the destination you’re trying to reach.
To obtain your general registration as a Psychologist, you’ll need to complete further postgraduate training such as an internship, Masters degree or PhD. Once registered with AHPRA, you can then start looking for jobs in private practice or in the public sector.
You might decide to keep your options open at this stage, gaining experience in treating a range of different clients to establish a solid foundation and to discover any areas of psychology that you feel particularly interested in.
If you wish to specialise, you’ll then need to gain further qualifications in order to gain an area of practice endorsement as a:
- Clinical Neuropsychologist
- Clinical Psychologist
- Community Psychologist
- Counselling Psychologist
- Educational and developmental Psychologist
- Forensic Psychologist
- Health Psychologist
- Organisational Psychologist
- Sport and exercise Psychologist.
What about telepsychology?
Telepsychology means providing psychology services through telehealth, whether that’s a video call or a phone call.
Telehealth has been a game changer for both patients and healthcare professionals. It makes healthcare more convenient. As a Psychologist, telehealth opens up your career options, meaning you can:
- Enjoy more flexible working patterns
- Accept clients from beyond your local area
- Avoid the health risks of face-to-face sessions.
Check out our blog to learn more about
the benefits of working as a psychologist via telehealth.
What’s the current job outlook for Psychologists?
Good news for you – your skills are likely to be in high demand.
Job Outlook, an initiative of the Australian Government National Skills Commission, states that the professions of psychology and psychotherapy are expected to grow very strongly over the next five years. Indeed, Seek Australia predicts a 22.8% increase in job growth.
Undoubtedly the pandemic has caused or exacerbated some mental health difficulties in the community as people have grappled with ongoing uncertainty, financial stress and job pressures.
We’d also like to hope that employers are realising the benefits of providing in-house psychological services to their staff.
How can you stand out from the crowd in the psychology job market?
When there’s competition for a position, you want to be memorable for all the right reasons. How do you achieve that? Try these tips.
- Use your networks. If you’ve had a positive experience of a placement or internship, if you’ve connected with a captivating conference speaker, if you have a family friend who is a Psychologist, then use these networks. Let them know you’re looking for work and ask them if they know of any opportunities or people you could approach.
- Craft a strong LinkedIn profile: An interested employer will check you out online so make sure your LinkedIn profile is compelling. Here are some tips.
- Forge a human connection if possible. Especially if you’re applying to a small organisation, phone up and chat to the employer. Show interest, find out more and ask them to look out for your resume.
- Tailor your materials to the position description. You need to clearly show how your skills and experience match the position requirements. Don’t make the employer join the dots.
- Submit a great resume. Your resume needs to be crisp, succinct, professional and error-free (get at least one other person to read it). If you’re applying to larger organisations where a bot is likely to scan resumes before a human does, then make sure you include keywords that match the words in the ad.
- Prepare for an interview. Research behavioural interview questions and prepare your answers using the STAR approach.
- Follow up afterwards. Send a short email thanking the employer for their time and restating your interest in the role. If you don’t get the position but felt you had a good vibe with the employer, then ask if they could give you some feedback to help you in your next interview.
Need more input? Listen to Relaunch Me’s podcast
on ‘How to stand out in the job market’.
Psychology careers at The Talk Shop
We’re always looking for talented new Psychologists at The Talk Shop.
We’re a unique private practice, one that believes in nurturing the mental and emotional wellbeing of our professionals and showing you the same care that you show your patients.
We offer registered or clinical psychologists:
- Flexibility – set your own hours
- An industry-leading 70/30 price split paid weekly
- Autonomy over your schedule and caseload
- A huge variety of clients to match your skills & interests
- Full-service admin support – we do all the admin so you don’t have to
- A healthy and supportive team culture.
Interested? Find out more on our careers page.
If you’d like to work with us, please get in touch.
Disclaimer
All information is general in nature. Patients should consider their own personal circumstances and seek a second opinion.
