How do I determine my interests?
- What kind of work do you enjoy?
- In what specific area of development would you like to pursue a career (public health, planning, finance, human rights, education, environment, etc.)?
- What skills do you have or need to acquire to meet your career objective and how will the job/internship help you meet those goals (field work, practical experience, opportunities for networking or building professional relationships)?
- What kind of institution do you want to work with?
- What is your desired income?
- Do you have an interest in a particular geographical area or issue area?
Beginning the self assessment piece of career planning and development forces student to THINK which will ultimately be revisited for their next job/internship choice (ex: I hated this, or I loved that) and also helps them prove or disprove assumptions of self.
What kinds of experiential learning opportunities are available in psychology?
- “Internships” are typically learning opportunities outside the classroom that may be:
- For course credit (or not)
- Paid (or unpaid)
- The psychology department does NOT offer what we call “internships” for course credit but several other experiential learning opportunities instead.
- Community Service Learning (1, 2, or 3 credits)
- Research Service Learning (1, 2, or 3 credits)
- All of these require permission numbers by instructor. Advising workshops will provide more information about options for next semester.
- This does not mean that you should not pursue experiential learning that is not for course credit!
Students seek experiential learning…
- as a way to connect their academic training with the external world
- to "test out" a possible career direction
- to earn money in order to stay in school
- to develop skills
- to gain experience and professional contacts
Experiential Learning
- Demonstrate greater career focus, and thus have more full-time employment options after graduation
- Strengthen lessons learned in school while applying them alongside professionals
- Often an expectation for many graduate programs and jobs
