school of psychology applying psychology “walking the talk” dr rachel bromnick, senior lecturer...

School of Psychology

Applying Psychology“Walking the talk”

Dr Rachel Bromnick, Senior Lecturer Paul Charman, Careers AdviserLeanne Moreland, Final Year Student

School of Psychology

Our starting place

• “We do a really good job at developing skills in our students but they can’t always identify, articulate and apply these skills”

• Feedback received from employers suggests that even very keen and able Psychology graduates can present themselves poorly at interview

School of Psychology

Previous Research• After interviews with 60 Psychology graduates, Dr

G told us the following…"At least 15/60 were unemployable. Most of the rest found it very hard to show that they knew something about academic psychology. By and large, candidates were unable to demonstrate a disciplined, scientific or even systematic way of thinking through a problem. There was a significant proportion who didn't listen to the question or who were determined to answer a different question. It made for a very frustrating week of interviews, especially knowing how keen, enthusiastic and well qualified the candidates were".

School of Psychology

Background at Lincoln“The LearnHigher Award: Psychology”• 15 credit point additional, optional, short course offered to all level

2 Psychology students.• Series of core and optional workshops run over the calendar year• Students work on independent & group tasks within Learning

Circles• A requirement of 40 hours volunteering embedded within the

programme• Assessed by portfolio and simulated job interview• 61 students enrolled (about 1/3 of cohort, £80)

Careers Seminar Series for Yr3 Students• Delivered through Semester A of final year• Features range of psychology/non psychology speakers including

alumni

School of Psychology

Our Aim

• To provide a resource to be used by staff, students and graduates in prep as well as in workshop activities

• To focus in on how to make the most of your psychology degree at interview

• To highlight how to do this in directly related and related job interviews

• To help avoid the problems highlighted by the feedback

School of Psychology

The process• 4 students + 1 new graduate were interviewed for

either– Clinical psychology assistant post– Research assistant (any discipline: needing

skills gained from psychology degree)• They were given the job spec and asked to prepare

as they would for ‘the real thing’• Questions a mixture of typical interview questions

and some provided from clinical training interviews• All candidates were actually interested in careers

in the jobs chosen

School of Psychology

Feedback on filming

• Two experienced employers watched some of the footage and were filmed giving general tips to psychology students

• This feedback will be incorporated into the final package alongside that of our Careers Advisers

School of Psychology

What we found

• A great learning process for us• Obvious enthusiasm for subject• Needed help linking degree

knowledge and job needs• General answers – particularly on

dissertation and transferable skills• Underselling experience – Specialist

degree, Summer Project, Voluntary experience, Research project

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A students experience• Preparation and research for the interview was a

valuable exercise. The project was also fantastic practice for a real life interview.

• The tips and feedback given were very practical and have helped me personally to improve my interview technique.

• Finding information on the internet can be confusing for students and new graduates, but this resource will bring both simple and complex questions into context.

• Focusing on particular questions with professional feedback, will aid individuals in identifying their strong and weak interview performance.

School of Psychology

The final product: Coming Soon

• Web resource, featuring clips from the filming with advice and feedback from the ‘experts’

• Available as one film or as bite size parts focussing question by question

• With job specs provided• Cover talking about: degree, experience,

research projects• Focus on relating degree knowledge to the

interview

School of Psychology

For more information on the project or other projects at Lincoln

• Dr Rachel Bromnickrbromnick@lincoln.ac.uk

• Paul Charmanpcharman@lincoln.ac.uk