General Advice from the Department

It is never too soon to start thinking about the career options open to you after completing your Undergraduate degree in Psychology and your timetable will show compulsory Career realted events you need to attend each year. In Year 1 you will work through the Psychology Employability Tutorial and create a Personal Employability Plan. You should update this plan regularly, as you will meet with your supervisor to discuss it twice a year. Some careers require you to build up relevant skills and experience prior to entry or training and it is better to start doing this during your degree. If you don’t know what you want to do yet, then trying out different types of activities and work experience can help you to build up a better understanding of what might suit you. Use the child pages below for discipline-specific information on some of the more popular careers our students choose to follow (but don’t allow these to constrain your options!).

Each year the department holds a Careers day for second year undergraduates. This consists of a series of talks given by people working in a range of career areas, including psychology and non-psychology occupations. In the past there have been talks on clinical psychology, forensic psychology, educational psychology, occupational psychology, teaching, human resources, social work, management consultancy and academic research. Class capture recordings of these talks from previous years are available on the VLE 'Psychology Employability Tutorial' under ‘Psychology Resources’> ‘Careers Days’. There is also a programme of talks from the Careers Adviser linked to the department, which include sessions on applications, interviews, work experience and employability. These sessions are compulsory and are shown in your timetable as such.

The British Psychological Society (BPS) website includes careers information outlining the different career routes in psychology and their related training and entry routes.

Vacancies for graduate employment, work experience, internships and volunteering are listed on the Careers website

The departmental employability co-ordinator (Katie Slocombe) and supervisors are always willing to give advice on job options, as far as they are able, but information and advice on career planning is also available from the University’s Careers Service.

PLACEMENT YEAR

A Placement Year is a great opportunity to gain work experience and to jump-start your career. It is a full-time internship in a company or not-for-profit organisation that lasts between 9 and 12 months, usually occurring between the 2nd and 3rd years of your degree. Placements can be in any field and are usually paid. Assessment is pass/fail and your degree certificate will refer to your placement. Careers and Placements is currently managing a Placement Year program. Learn more about the program here:

UG Handbook - Placement Year

york.ac.uk/careers/placements.