retraining as a psychologist

pettelly

So true SarEl, so true!! But it's so perfect for him

But I just want him to move out of the rut he's in, going after jobs that pay £20k (in London) that he's not even being shortlisted for. It's partly my fault because we moved to the US for a while for my career and now, because of my job, he's landed in the UK (he's not British -we met and married abroad and only moved to the UK two years ago) in the middle of a recession with qualifications that don't seem to be getting him anywhere. It's been OK until now because what with childcare and his part-time work, he's been busy but now it's really hitting home how bad the job market is in his field.

But you're also right about a careers adviser. I think investing some money in some good careers advice at this point could be very useful.

SarEl

pettelly wrote: »

So true SarEl, so true!! But it's so perfect for him

But I just want him to move out of the rut he's in, going after jobs that pay £20k (in London) that he's not even being shortlisted for. It's partly my fault because we moved to the US for a while for my career and now, because of my job, he's landed in the UK (he's not British -we met and married abroad and only moved to the UK two years ago) in the middle of a recession with qualifications that don't seem to be getting him anywhere. It's been OK until now because what with childcare and his part-time work, he's been busy but now it's really hitting home how bad the job market is in his field.

But you're also right about a careers adviser. I think investing some money in some good careers advice at this point could be very useful.

There's no point in blaming yourself either. This is just life. A choice was made by both of you to move to the US. He's benefitted from that as much as you but in different ways. As the Ameicans ar fond of saying - if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. In other words, you have to make do until something comes along. At least you have a relative degree of comfort in the meantime - it could be worse.

3plus1

I know a very bright Oxbridge graduate with bags of work experience and life experience who couldn't get anything in this field (and that was before the recession too).

She's now retraining in something completely different, just to get a job at the end. Psychology is not something I'd recommend for job prospects.

mikey72

Jaxb wrote: »

The chances of getting a job in psychology are very limited as there is a glut of psychology graduates as it is seen as an 'easy' university degree.

Would he consider Social Work, more job opportunities and still able to help other people?

3plus1 wrote: »

I know a very bright Oxbridge graduate with bags of work experience and life experience who couldn't get anything in this field (and that was before the recession too).

She's now retraining in something completely different, just to get a job at the end. Psychology is not something I'd recommend for job prospects.

Oddly enough, I'd been told the exact opposite, with a shortage of applicants for NHS psychologist jobs and difficult to get offered a place for at university.
Oxford isn't a popular site for psychology as it is a lab based degree, and that does lead to a difficulty job hunting.

Bargin_bunny_2

Hmmm forensic could be diffiucult too if he doesnt have any forensic experience.
If I was your husband I would join a nursing agency and do some work as a health care support worker. This would give him some experience in mental health and potentially forensic wards. Probably as good idea to try this before the course.
I think some course ask for experience as a requirement.
Many people study psychology go into a mental health job and decide its not for them.
Obviously just doing a masters wont make him a charted forensic psychologist he will have to work towards chartership post qualification.
It may be worth looking a some of the prison service vacancys as they pay for the forensic masters. Also it helps with chartership if you already work in forensics.
I think you need to make sure psychology is what he wants to do as it can take a long time and a lot of work to gain the right experience and even to get a job. There is a lot of competition out there.

jayII

I think that the difficulty in psychology is finding post grad training places. I worked with some forensic psychologists and a couple of trainees, and was told that a basic starting point is a very good first and lots of relevant life experience. Without those you have no chance, and with those, there are still hundreds of excellent applicants for every single training place, and you have to find a new place every year for those two (or is it three?) years.

If you can get through that stage, then there do seem to be plenty of posts, and it looks like extremely well paid and satisfying work. Saying all that, if it is his dream, and you can manage it as a couple, then I'd say go for it. We only have one life, and it's too short for regrets.

ETA: I'm referring to clinical psychology posts.

Bargin_bunny_2

mikey72 wrote: »

Oddly enough, I'd been told the exact opposite, with a shortage of applicants for NHS psychologist jobs and difficult to get offered a place for at university.
Oxford isn't a popular site for psychology as it is a lab based degree, and that does lead to a difficulty job hunting.

A shortage of applicants for NHS psychologist jobs? Are you sure? There is certainly enough applicants. The only reason I can imagine this could be true is if it refers to Clinical Psychologist. The reason there wouldn't be enough Clinical Psychologist is that the NHS fund the doctorate (its the only way you can do the course) and therefore there may not be enough funding for places to cover demand. There is certainly enough people applying for the doctorate.

newleaf

Psychology is indeed a very competitive area, and there appear to be too many graduates and too few opportunities to practice after obtaining the degree.
I work in a community mental health team, and whenever we advertise for support workers (the lowest, and most poorly remunerated, grade of staff in our team) we are inundated with applications from Psychology graduates who are desperate to get any job where their degree could be relevant.
For our most recently advertised (temporary) post, we had over 60 applications. Almost all of these were Psychology graduates who had been unable to get any employment in the field of Psychology, despite doing years of relevant voluntary work etc..
The job was given to a middle aged man, with highly relevant life experience but no formal qualifications. The graduates were all worthy candidates, but genearally were perceived as 'overqualified'.
I would definitely not recommend pursuing a degree in Psychology in the current climate, unless it was undertaken for personal satisfaction and enjoyment, rather than in the hope of a change of vocation.

KK22_2

I would advise against retraining as a psychologist, especially in relation to forensic or clinical psychology.

There is a shortage of forensic psychology jobs in the UK and the chances of you getting a post that would offer supervision to complete your chartership are slim to none. A conversion degree, then a post grad, finding a job, then chartership would take a minimum of 4 years and that is highly unlikely due to difficulties getting jobs offering this opportunity.

Educational psychology may be something worth looking at as some vacanies offer to put you through a masters.

pettelly

Thanks everyone. That's really useful. I think my OH was hoping his 4+ years in the children's home would count as relevant experience.

We didn't think that after the conversion course, he could just get a psychology job, but it's worrying that even with post-grad training that there's a lack of jobs and training opportunities to complete the chatership. I was under the impression that there was a fairly good job market for forensic psych.

We'll be doing some serious thinking this weekend!