Conversations About Careers

Abstract

Providing career preparation for our students continues to be a focus for faculty, departments, and institutions. Professional development is most effective when accessible to students in a number of ways. This article presents how career preparation can be incorporated in advising, through programming and assessment in a career center, and in the curriculum. We discuss the importance of career discussions in advising, the types of resources available in a career center, and finally, we review a number of courses in which faculty can incorporate discussions and assignments focused on careers in psychology. Through this multifaceted approach, students are more likely to obtain important career information, as they consider what path to take after their undergraduate education.

Taking an Independent Research Course in Psychology: Different Teaching Models Lead to Very Different Experiences

“…The present study offers a more detailed investigation of what many (e.g., Ishiyama, 2002;Russell et al, 2007;Seymour et al, 2004) believe is a critical experience for undergraduate psychology majors: an IRE. As stated earlier, an IRE offers students many advantages, ranging from frequent interactions with faculty members to developing a greater understanding of specific research domains in psychology (Schwartz et al, 2018). The present results offered two primary findings.…”

“…Despite the fact that many students take an IRE each semester, researchers' understanding of IREs is limited. There is a general agreement that a student who has an IRE is afforded more intensive and frequent interactions with faculty members (Schwartz et al, 2018). An IRE can help prepare undergraduates for graduate school in psychology by giving them a better understanding of the type of work they will be doing in graduate school, a better understanding of specific research domains in psychology, experience with research methodologies, a letter of recommendation from faculty mentor, and for some even authorship on a conference presentation or publication (Landrum & Nelson, 2002;Michalski et al, 2017;Schwartz et al, 2018).…”

“…There is a general agreement that a student who has an IRE is afforded more intensive and frequent interactions with faculty members (Schwartz et al, 2018). An IRE can help prepare undergraduates for graduate school in psychology by giving them a better understanding of the type of work they will be doing in graduate school, a better understanding of specific research domains in psychology, experience with research methodologies, a letter of recommendation from faculty mentor, and for some even authorship on a conference presentation or publication (Landrum & Nelson, 2002;Michalski et al, 2017;Schwartz et al, 2018). It can also benefit students who wish to enter the workforce, providing them with experience in collaboration, time management, written and oral communication skills, and responding to constructive feedback (Van Vliet et al, 2013).…”

The Power of Presence: One-Shots, Relational Teaching, and Instruction Librarianship

“…43 Instead of reacting instantaneously to a student comment, question, or action based on what we think our role dictates we should say or do, we can take a moment to pause and speak/act with intention. 44 In doing so, we are deliberately setting or reinforcing boundaries, sharing with students how we are affected by them and noticing how we affect them in turn.…”

Entering the Workforce or Going to Graduate School: Themes in Psychology Alumni Decision Making

“…Normalizing feelings of uncertainty may alleviate any expectation that students "should" have it all figured out, and lead to productive conversations that clarify the nature of uncertainty and prompt action (Ludwikowski et al, 2009). Students may be uncertain about various aspects of career development at different points in their academic career (Ciarocco, 2018;Schwartz et al, 2018), and career decision making is a process, not a "one and done" decision (Pryor & Bright, 2014). The faculty advisor can serve as a point person to different resources depending on the needs of the student, and availability of departmental and campus resources.…”