What to do in life
 

Hey guys, I'm currently attending University and I'm in the Psychology program. After getting into this program, I have heard many people talk about how difficult it is to find a job after graduating if you do not get at least a Masters. Now normally, if I have interest in the subject, I don't think I would mind, but after taking more and more psychology courses, my interest began to dwindle.

My question to you guys is, how did you guys know what to do in your life regarding your school's degree? And also, to anybody that is or was in my position, what did you do to solve this dilemma? Thanks so much, because at this very moment in life, I am very confused.

Don't forget that a university's purpose is to enhance the knowledge of its students and it's not to find them jobs except for some professional programs.

The problem with an undergrad in psychology is that it is mostly theory with little practical application unlike say an undergrad in accounting.

I know some psychology graduates with jobs unrelated to their major or who don't have jobs yet. A few are research assistants now which is kind of related to what they studied.

You can always switch your major if you find your current one uninteresting or if you think your future prospects with that major are uncertain. A big part of university is also finding yourself and what you truly are interested in. I was a psych major for a very short time too but changed my major for almost the same reasons as you.

I had a friend recently grad with a psyc major and he is thinking of going back to school to do something else due to the lack of opportunities available.

Depending how far into your degree you are, you could change it to a minor or double major to compliment something else. I think it would be much more valuable then, especially in marketing or something, but that depends on what your other ambitions would be.

Good luck!

I'm in the exact same position, but I'm feeling optimistic. Network, get connections, and ask people for advice.

rule number 1
FINISH school WHATEVER YOU DO, FINISH school get the piece of paper.

i don't care if you want to take a yr off to search for yourself, whatever it is,finish that piece of paper and pin it up on the wall.

2) get a job. I don't care wtf job, GET a job. you'll never know what doors might open. Don't give me the "i have a degree" shit. i grad from SFU thinking i was the shit, i ended up working in a call center earning 8 bucks an hour
6 mths later, I was call center manager making 16
i left to an 8 dollar job to do marketing and sales 10+ yrs later i work in a fortun 100 company

3) whatever you do, stick with your values.
treat people with respect and that reputation will OPEN doors for you in the future.

What kind of field are you hoping to find a career in?

What i find to be true of most psych majors, is that they all like to communicate (whether it be on paper or by mouth) and carry a mindset to help people. Any type of degree will help set you up for a job. Its not the degree that matters, its what you decide to do with the degree. And again, its not the marks that you get, its what you decide to do with those marks. When you think about it, most professions out there that lets you earn in the $30+ range require some sort of training anyway, so figuring it out earlier on in life will def give you an advantage. However, the disadvantage of that is, youll start to think that youre career path is set in stone and that ur on a one way road. What you def need to do is go out there and do some volunteering. Doesnt matter what type of volunteering, but ones that allow you to go out there and network with people. Not a paid job, but a volunteer position, where you really get to learn and exchange knowledge with other people without being at the expense of them. Read lots of articles, youtube videos, etc, and something will eventually inspire you to achieve greatness. A cousin of mine used to do volunteering for a local community program, and after finishing his doctoral degree, got a multimillion dollar contract with them for software development.

So lets cut to the chase, what exactly can you do with a psych major? The opportunities are endless.

Work for a local police department as a counsellor or in the forensic department. Work in the healthcare industry and help treat patients with mental illnesses or neurological dysfunctions. Or maybe go ham and become a psychologist. It really isnt as hard as you would think it be. Any average student who is willing to put in hardwork and has the desire to achieve will succeed. Those who dont know what they want to do in life are usually the ones that arent seeing enough of it. The important message is, you have to start with something, or youre never going to get anywhere. Take a hit, and you might just hit a homerun.

starbucks on 12th and main is hiring bro

Did your interest begin to dwindle once you started hearing about the lack of opportunity post graduation? I was in a somewhat similar situation, left my job to go back to school, upgraded all my courses but none of it mattered because I got waitlisted.

If it's really what you wanna do, do it. After being waitlisted I started looking at other options/fields and deep down I really want to do the program I applied for. I assume it would be the same for you, you chose it for a reason. If you were to go with another program I'll bet it wont bring you the same type of satisfaction.

Thanks everybody, I hate to sound like a bum, but nothing seems to pop out at me at the moment. I have some slight interests in psychology and computer science, but I feel the level of interest I have in these subjects aren't high enough to warrant any satisfaction in the future careers I do get in these fields. I think 6793026's advice is really good, and I will be considering that heavily.

Get out of the program ASAP if it's not what you want to do. You're just wasting time otherwise.

Yup I agree with what someone said above that you should absolutely finish but at least get a degree in something that interests you or is useful.

So switch majors now!

If you're going to spend time/money on post-secondary make sure you're majoring in a subject that teaches you some tangible skill. The best place to study imo is BCIT but if you want a college degree, major in the hard sciences, mathematics and/or english. Stay away from the life sciences because you will not learn any tangible/marketable skills in these courses (if you want to learn about these subjects, learn them on your own at next to zero cost).

One of the most important lessons I've learned in life is that you must be a life long learner and school is really just a starting point (so don't sweat too much about grades and stuff). If you're a "learner" you will do well in life because most people are "non-learners" and they will not be able to keep up with you. Good luck kid.

^werd bro, i totally agree with u on the part about grades being a lesser factor than being a learner.

totally agree with finishing a degree -- you'll never find anything that is 100% perfect. There will be courses or aspects of any job that you will not like as much.

The point is virtually any university degree will teach you the critical thinking you need to succeed in life whatever it is you end up doing. If you continue on the academic path towards masters or just self learn, you will eventually succeed.

From my experience, just keep trying things and don't focus too hard on the end result. You can't connect the dots looking forward in life, so follow what you think is best for you currently and things will fall into place. Just don't bum around and do nothing, cuz that's a sure way to end up at the same spot you currently are.

^also the other thing with having a university degree is it will help you with overcoming difficult situations in your future work.

When you encounter that difficult project at work, and then you think about the time you had to study for 5 consecutive finals or something like that, the difficult project will not seem so difficult anymore. If you can get through University, all the term papers, research projects, finals, etc... it will teach you to be a good learner if anything, which in turn will help you in your career, whatever it may be.

If you are in your last 2 years of psych, might as well finish... if you are just starting, you may want to switch to something else now.

My advice is to look around you, those who complained its difficult to find a job after graduation are probably the ones who only knows how to carry their asses to classes, fucked around BSing during lecture and fucked around outaide of school. These people make zero efforts to build their careers. I wouldn't hire one of those douchebags with their BS degree and no experience/ community involvement. They don't have their shits together nobody will hire them.

^ I don't get why this guy is getting FAILED.

It is true. Do you want to work in the psychology field? Work for it. You know those professors that teach you? They pump out 10-50 research articles a year, get on that shit. Get that experience, get that community involvement, and especially get that high GPA. Many people who graduate from any Arts programs are lazy fucks. Don't listen to them, and just try your best.

I think he was getting failed because he made a huge generalization on people's lazyness just based on the fact that they could not find a job in their chosen field. Instead, he should've factor in job availability, socio-economical factors, and general lack of work experience rather than just stating that they are all unmotivated slackers.

If people are not lazy, socio-economical factors, and general lack of work experience would not even matter.
Job availability is a tough situation. Everyone knows if you study "Women's Religious Studies" or "English Poetry from 1600-1800", you won't find a job.
From the story that the OP has given, people around him are usually clueless/lazy people. No you don't need a masters to find a job, no your psychology degree is not useless.

To relate back to the OP's story:
There are many jobs out there for a psychology student. The world will never be short of pain and suffering. Have you tried looking internationally for some career options? Have you volunteered at the local shelters, hospitals, or police organizations?

I need to stop you right there. You must be fresh out of highschool, very early into your career, or just naive. Work experience DOES matter. Sure if you keep throwing out resumes you'll eventually land something entry level, but having a decent amount of relevant experience in your field goes a long way.

Imagine for a second that you own a construction company and one of your project managers is retiring, meaning you need to find a replacement.

Would you prefer to hire a fresh grad to save a few bucks and pay them less, or hire someone who knows what they're doing and has a proven track record of increasing work efficiency on site?

I did say "If people are not lazy", suggesting that they gain those experiences.

Edit: My post before yours, suggests that he should volunteer. Work experience does go a long way, negating the attribute of being lazy does as well. I wouldn't have gotten my position if I did not do the extra shit that I had to do.

I think you missed my point.

Its not easy to just go out and "gain those experiences."

There are many factors at play when searching for your first job:
-Job availability
-Related work experience
-Competition etc..

For fresh grads, getting their foot in the door is the hardest part. Usually you have to have experience to get it.

Do what you like & have a passion for and disregard what ANYONE else thinks. Do some serious soul searching figure out what you truly want out of life.