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I need some help figuring out what to do next...
I've essentially finished my bachelor's degree (well just waiting for final results so fingers crossed) and I don't know what the heck I want to do with my life now. I want to do something that involves helping people but I don't know what. I majored in psych for my bachelors so I could go on to do 4th year equivalent of psych (wouldn't make it into honours lol but I could do a post grad diploma) but I'm not sure if that's what I want in my heart of hearts. I don't think I want to become the classic picture of a clinical psychologist- I want to do something that's more than just talking to people all day and writing notes etc. I want to do a bunch of things so it's not just the same thing all the time? And I want to constantly be learning new stuff? But I do like psychology. And I do feel I want to help people. Like I've considered other allied health roles like OT or even nursing but I think I'm too squeamish for nursing lol.
So does anyone have any advice for me? 😅 If you've studied psych or any allied health stuff I would love to hear what they've been like. I've never done any kind of placement because psych is like that, you don't do placement until like 5th year and I don't want to go through all that to find out I don't like it. Has anyone done placement in the allied health/psych field?
I'm also considering maybe I could do like peer support idk
Also we do have a problem in that I have quite bad social anxiety 😅 so can't really talk to people in person so well. And also I'm not really mentally in a great place but it seems like that's here to stay and I just have to manage it.
Also I don't think I'm very good with the whole 'empathy' thing.. Which seems quite important if I want to do any of those things. I feel like I'm a bitter person deep down cause I haven't worked through stuff and it would be a bad idea for me to try and help people.. But like idk people say I do have empathy. It's really weird.
Anyway... advice with figuring out what I want to do would be appreciated 🙂 Thanks!
edit: Also I don't know if I want to go straight into more study.. I would rather work a bit but I don't have enough qualifications to do anything in the field I studied in. I've never really had a proper job so maybe I could try and find work in retail or something while I figure stuff out. Idk
Comments
I totally understand your situation. I finished my psych degree last year, and at the end of it I really had no clue what to do. It is a bit of a hard degree because in a way its very broad, but also a bit restricted: i.e. it can be applied, valued and useful in many areas, but also its very limited in the actual 'psychological aspect' since you can't do any counselling/psychology with just an undergrad degree.
2020 was a bit much for me so I decided to take a year off from study before (i hope) I do a masters next year. I think personally it was a really good idea to take a year off from study and gain a bit of experience in related fields. I have learnt a lot more about myself and what I want. However, honestly there is still so much ambiguity in what I actually want to do with my life and career (and honestly that is soooo okay, its okay to be confused and undecided). But especially if you feel you're not in a good place at the moment, its a good idea to take a break and recuperate so you can be more prepared/in the state of mind to go back to study (which for Psych is quite full on)
I am currently doing social work in a mental health residential facility, its great however full on at times. Most importantly, its given me first-hand experience in a psych-related environment which I think provides great experience for me both career and study wise.
Wishing you all the best, and hope you know that you can take time to figure things out 🙂
Hi there,
I am currently studying Master's of Professional Psych and I am working in Residential youth work.
If you are still interested in doing psychology I would definitely apply for Honours. Then, there are a few other pathways after that depending on where you are located and what you would want to pursue.
In the meantime for work opportunities that are kind of psych related, you could apply for youth work roles (community or residential), disability, volunteering for lifeline etc.. These types of jobs will allow you to see if you like working with people and it might help you see what kinds of groups you may not want to work with. I love working with children and youth, but some of my uni friends don't want to, so having these types of jobs can help you decide what you want to do in the future.
I currently love my job as a residential youth worker, it is cruisey for the most part but then you do get to experience intense situations that require counselling skills to de-escalate situations.
That way you can get some hands-on experience working with people who have had challenging life experiences and mental health concerns.
Hi @JasminH thanks for your reply 🙂 What do you do in residential youth work? It sounds like it would be rewarding to help people through intense situations. Yeah I definitely need to explore what kinds of groups of people I want to work with and get experience!
Good thread. I'm sure this is one many can relate to!
I have done one placement as a psych so can offer some insight on that (currently doing my masters in clin psych).
Other options, in addition to OT/nursing, could be social work, or speech pathology. Or, as you said, you can just go straight into case management, which is like social work anyway 😊
What do you think some of your strengths are?
If you like animals, you might want to consider animal-assited therapies, such as equine therapy.
Thanks for your reply @Maddy-RO Lol, I laughed at the equine therapy because I was like where the heck am I going to find a horse 🤣 But there are horses around I guess! Ooh could you tell us what your placement was like? (only if you want!)
I don't think I have strengths... erm.. humour?
@Lost_Space_Explorer5 I have to say that we're in the same spot so I'm keen to see the responses to this too! I have heard that it's very difficult to get into clinical psych so I've had it recommended to me to try to go into another endorsement. This shows the list of the 9 types 😊 I'm thinking of doing educational and developmental, but I've also done a law degree and I'm just so sick of studying too. I wonder if with your social anxiety you could do online counselling? I've also wondered about peer support and you do need to get qualified for that too, but if you don't want to do honours it might be a good alternative? Depends how much finances affect you.
It sucks that psych is one of those degrees you can't do anything with until you're qualified, so it's really up to you. I know someone who works as a receptionist at a hospital who is studying psych which I think is a good idea. I do tutoring personally which I also think is good experience for working with people. Retail is good if you find a smaller place I think, but can be stressful for anxious people! What group in society would you like to interact with maybe?
Thanks for your reply @StormySeas17 🙂 I've been doing a lot of googling and there are actually way more career directions I could go and I'm like there's too much choice 😭 The APS website has some ideas for if I didn't want to go further with honours
Have you done honours in psych? And wow a law degree as well! Oof! So much study!
And yeah with peer support I could have just gone straight into that so I feel like that would be 'wasting' my degree... Although I guess it provides me with a more psychology based perspective.
Tutoring seems so scary! I don't think I'm smart enough to tutor people. Reception sounds like a good way of building up social interaction experience.
I'm kind of considering doing something like case management or idk if it's called care coordination but I have no idea how I'd go about that. Just cause in applied psych we learnt about sort of health psychology and there was an example of people with cancer diagnoses and how having a care coordinator was an important part of their treatment/recovery. Just the idea of being there for someone going through a tough and uncertain time, like illness or after something bad happening and like defending their side of the story to other professionals seems so meaningful. How does one go about becoming something like that? Lol also I totally look up to case managers cause my old CM was such a huge support for me 😅
As for groups in society idk, just people needing help? I also love animals so working with animals is always a back up option
@Lost_Space_Explorer5 It seems like it's a real crisis in psych to be stuck with so many options with so little relating to what you actually study in your degree 😅 it's not very clear. I'm not doing honours yet, I'm taking a semester off so I can start it next year, but I just did my thesis in law. Hoping to find something to do that's relatively related between November and Feb so I'm in your boat!
I can see what you're thinking with the peer support and I felt the same. Seems like a big step to do a psych degree then have to backstep and do a qualification which isn't related to your education at all... counselling is probably more in line and I think some people like it more because it's a little more hands on, or at least can be? You could also get into things like education and learning how to be a wellbeing coordinator or something at a school? There's also HR or working in career advice or wellbeing, but that depends on whether you want to work in a corporate office which might not be your thing!
Hmmm I think maybe that would be social work or I think there might be a tafe course on community services? Diploma of mental health? I mean if you've had case managers before could you ask them if you still have their contacts? I know it's out of their job to advise you on how they got into their job but could be an idea. Or if you can stalk them on linkedin and find their qualifications 😂 My friend used to use an app where you could basically take on helping someone with a disability for a brief session and make some good money while also not needing any graduate qualifications. She used to help out a lady with cerebral palsy who was a lawyer on weekends! I could get the name of it for you if you're keen?
Working with animals would be cool and that would account for the behaviourism part of your degree! Maybe you could get a job in the meantime working with animals, like in a doggy daycare or something?
Woah thanks for your response @StormySeas17! Maybe you should be a careers counsellor 😆 Yes we most definitely are in the same boat with waiting till next year! (although in theory there are some online unis I could start a graduate diploma with now, but I feel I need to work stuff out for now). Hmm I'm not sure I'd enjoy working in a corporate office 😕 I.. might have done some linked in stalking but there weren't any qualification listed publically 🤣 Ah well. Yeah I'm thinking of trying to find something with working with animals for a part time job! It's a bit hard with lockdown atm though.
I've applied to volunteer for a role which involves talking to people over the phone 😨 Idk what possessed me ugh... Also I get real paranoid sometimes so I'm not even sure if this is legit 😭 They've said they want to interview me so I'm kind of freaking out why did I do this to myself 😅 I got this freaked out last time when I applied for my current volunteer job at an op shop and that went fine. Idk why I get so stressed. I blame my parents for convincing me everyone is trying to use or hurt me 🤦♀️
Hm I've heard of people doing support work like that and getting into bad situations so I would be scared. I think by now you can tell I'm scared of everything lol 😅
Haha thanks! I've actually been digging through my university's employment and careers resources and I'm taken aback by how much they've hidden, so eyeballing all of it over this break. I can relate to the corporate office thing too. I have to be honest, I'm much more keen in working at a high school than a lawfirm, something about being stuck in an office with a bunch of lawyers and grumpy clients just doesn't sell it to me 😂 I did work at a legal clinic for placement and it just was very... not my kind of personality of people to be around if that makes sense? I'm thinking of trying again over the summer in law reform- I applied for the midsem break but now that I look back on it I would have been doing it in lockdown so maybe good I didn't get it? Yeah lockdown has made finding any sort of job suck. The only good news is that once it lifts a bit more all of the jobs should come back- that's what a lot of people I knew found.
Good on you for applying! Hopefully it's a good experience. At the end of the day if you don't get it having an interview is always a great bit of exposure. I'm sorry to hear that your parents made you feel that way. I think with jobs it really is a matter of throwing yourself out there screaming- at least that's how it feels to me! I've been in the same job for like 6 years and I need to escape but it's so scary trying to learn from rejection.
Haha don't do anything that doesn't make you at least a little keen! It definitely wasn't something I would want to do but it's always nice to see what's around
Yeah a lot of it is hidden! I wouldn't know about this stuff if I hadn't like accessed different supports for my own mental health @StormySeas17! 😅 Yeah that makes sense we've got to find places that we fit in well otherwise we would feel like fake or something right? A law reform sounds interesting! What kinds of things would you be doing? And I know right, the lockdown has interfered so much. I could have had a better chance being like a volunteer research assistant but every time they say they'll consider me we're back in lockdown or have more restrictions... Lol throwing myself out there screaming is definitely a good way to put it! Ooh what do you work as now, if that's okay to ask?
@Lost_Space_Explorer5 yep best to be authentic! Life is too short to be stuck in a job you hate just because it's what you think you'd want to do. But my summer plan may involve it anyway. Law reform is basically pushing the government to make legal or policy changes for things that don't work, so I'm assuming it would involve reserach writing and also some networking. Would be a lot of fun and I did my law thesis on law reform and really enjoyed it! There's another application due on the 1st for a similar role and I really don't feel like writing an application but I should 😂 I'll talk to a careers advisor about it at uni too. Omg yes I know the feeling with the volunteer stuff it's so painful. At the moment I tutor English with a company and also do debating coaching at my old school! So both involve adolescents. That's the main reason I want to broaden my horizons!
I hope the careers advisor at uni helps a bit @StormySeas17 🙂 Ooh tutoring english and coaching debating that's so cool! I was HORRIBLE at english lol I needed a tutor and you guys can make such a difference! You must be a pro at talking with teenagers!
Hey @Lost_Space_Explorer5 , congrats on finishing your bachelor degree! I'm currently in my Honours year of psychology and I can definitely relate to that feeling of uncertainty about 'what's next'. I feel like in psych they map out one very specific pathway to becoming a clinical psychologist, but that's it! There's never too much discussion of other options, like case management or peer work, which makes it hard to visualise how to get into those careers.
Congratulations on applying for a new volunteer role! I do some phone counselling myself and getting started can be really nerve-wracking, especially if it's out of your comfort zone, but really rewarding. Is there anything you do before interviews that keeps you calm and in a good headspace?
Thanks @Portia_RO 🙂 How is honours going? Is it fun? Stressful? Mixed? It's not really proper phone counselling, it's more like informal chatting to people feeling like they need to talk but not in a clinical way? If that makes sense lol? Kind of peer support but not that either really idk! I've been trying to think of answers to questions. The worst question is going to be 'tell me about yourself' like idek how to answer that
Honours is going well! It's definitely been a little bit stressful but it's also a lot of fun writing a thesis and getting to be in control of a project.
Ahhh I get what you mean. Yes that's definitely a tough question - it's so hard to summarise your own life! I usually say where I'm from, what I've studied, where I've worked or volunteered, and what I like to do in my spare time. I like giving a little bit of that lighter side so they can see me as a real person.
Maybe you could practice telling us about yourself on here!
@Portia_RO omg you're an overachiever being an official RO moderator and doing honours!