Help - unsure what career path to take

kathcake

Hi
Just posting here as I've been getting a little fed up with things of late. I for most of my career have been in admin positions but I don't find them interesting and know that's not what I want to do for the rest of my life.

I enjoy writing and i'm considering doing a postgrad or the like course in Journalism, however as you probably are aware the jobs are far and few between.

I've recently thought about psychology but to be a clinical psychologist some courses can cost in the region of 20K and upwards per annum. I'm just interested to know how people generally fund these post grad courses as student loans won't fund them and to get a loan of that size would be a huge risk, especially if I don't have a job to start paying it back.

Also does anyone have any idea how I can approach a careers advisor that doesn't charge (or charge much)

thanks for any help

princessdon

The National Careers Service are free - my clients report mixed opinons on them, but worth a shot.

I am looking to retrain and am saving in advance as I need approx £20K - is this a possbility?

Racheldevon

I'm not sure where you're researching clinical psychology but you are not correct. The Clinical Psychology Doctorate is the only pathway into training as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK. This is funded by the NHS, which means trainees are paid on band 6 of the AfC scale. Competition is highly competitive for posts, with most applicants having years of clinical experience prior to applying, and often a clinically relevant MSc or even PhD prior to successful application. All applications are made through the Leeds Clearing House http://www.leeds.ac.uk/chpccp/

I would suggest that you look carefully at each university you consider applying for, and look at whether you meet their criteria - many have between 400 and 600 applicants for between 10 and 16 places each year. Applicants need to apply between September and December for a potential place the following September.

It goes without saying that you would need to have a good undergraduate psychology degree with at least a mid 2.1 or have exvidence of an MSc relevant to the field with a minimum of 65/67% - if you contact the course's individually they will advise on what they accept if you have a low 2.1.

You may find this website helpful for more information about clinical psychology, and to give you an idea of the routes people have taken to get a training place http://www.clinpsy.org.uk/ it's a really useful forum

The only route that you can pay for is to train as a Counselling Psychologist, this is expensive, it's not the same as a Clinical Psychologist, and yuo similiarly will need lots of experience. Also bear in mind the likelihood of available posts once the 3 year Counselling Doctorate is complete

Other funded post grad psychology opportunities can be found on individual university websites - you might be able to access various funded options often paid at between £13k and £20K, the latter tending to come with additional teaching responsibilities (e.g., 180 hrs per year), manning stats help desk etc on top of your research. Criteria will vary from university to university, and you will need evidence of studying successfully at MSc level to be considered

If you graduated within the last 3 years, you should be able to access for free the career's service at the university you studied at.

Good luck