GradPSYCH - March 2012 - (Page 15)

CarEEr CENTEr Rather than following a predictable career path, many future psychologists will have to find their own way. How can graduate students prepare for this uncertain but exciting future? bY CaSSanDRa willYaRD A cademic jobs used to be relatively easy to come by, and once upon a time, psychologists could launch a private practice, collect a handful of clients and soon become profitable. Today, academic and private-sector employers are making fewer longterm commitments, and the number of contingent workers, such as adjunct professors, continues to grow, says Mark Savickas, PhD, a psychology professor at Northeastern Ohio University who studies career adaptability. Meanwhile, many new private practitioners are finding that they can’t rely on therapy sessions alone to keep their practices afloat. To succeed in today’s economy, psychologists must seek new skills and find new ways to use their expertise. They must also be able to adapt to new environments, say Savickas and other career experts. “It’s a brand new world.” That sets up a tough problem for graduate students: How do you prepare today for the psychology careers of tomorrow? Recent graduate Rob Wennerberg, PsyD, has hedged his bets by gaining skills in a broad array of areas. While some of his peers have specialized, Wennerberg has worked with a variety of different people — children, firefighters, veterans and families. In addition to conducting therapy, he has experience teaching and conducting forensic assessments. “What I have done is diversify my portfolio,” he says. “Specialization is a great gift, but in an economy that is struggling ... flexibility really is key.” That’s a wise move, as a postgraduate degree is no longer a guarantee of employment, says Rudy Fenwick, PhD, a sociologist at the University of Akron in Ohio who studies the changing occupational structure in the United States. That said, advanced training is more valuable than ever. “The more skills you have, the better off you’re going to be,” he says. defining yourself The economy may be struggling, but the outlook for psychology graduates is far from grim, since they can apply their skills to a variety of jobs, says Fenwick. “You can have careers in academics, in clinical settings, in the business world and in the public sector,” he says. In 2009, unemployment among new psychologists was about 6 percent — higher than the 2 percent unemployment in 2007, but lower than the 2009 national unemployment rate of 9 percent, according to the most recent APA doctorate employment survey. Behind these numbers, however, are many psychologists who piece together several jobs rather than being employed full time at a single institution. For example, Heather Banis, PhD, a full-time professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles, logs six hours a month as a school psychologist and also consults one day a week for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Patching together a living with several jobs isn’t always easy, she says. “When budgets get cut in institutions that aren’t 100 percent focused on mental health, one of the first things to go is mental health,” she says. As a school psychologist, “I’ve gone from being on site half time to being on a consulting retainer.” Banis’s flexibility has helped her continue providing crucial mental health services, even in tight job markets. Banis attributes her success, in part, to the fact that she has maintained her focus on children and families even as she cultivated a diverse skill set. “Even though the job descriptions and titles have changed tremendously, the key focus of my work has stayed very much the same,” she says. That focus has helped her resume seem more cohesive. Having a variety of skills will be crucial for future private practitioners as well, allowing them to weather market shifts, says Steven Walfish, PhD, a clinical psychologist in Atlanta and a partner at The Practice Institute. Walfish, for example, provides traditional psychotherapy, substance abuse evaluations and psychological evaluations for people who are preparing for weight-loss surgery. However, one major insurance company has stopped covering weight-loss surgery. “So those 50 evaluations that I do a year will be gone,” Walfish says. “If all I did was pre-surgical evaluations before weight-loss surgery, I would be in trouble.” lifelong learning Building a diverse skill set begins in graduate school. Students can develop competency in a variety of areas, for example, by developing assessment as well as therapy skills, and working with adults and children in a variety of settings, says Nadine Kaslow, PhD, who directs the psychology postdoctoral gradPSYCH • March 2012 • 15 

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GradPSYCH - March 2012

GradPSYCH - March 2012
Contents
Psychology practicums reflect the field’s growth
How evidencebased is your trauma treatment?
Media Picks
Chair’s Corner
Odd Jobs
Research Roundup
Chart your own adventure
Matters to a Degree
Killer apps
The oil spill’s reverberations
A student of synchrony
Literature reviews made easy
Absentee advisers
What’s behind the internship match crisis?
Potential solutions
Steps to the match
Bulletin Board
Jobs, internships, postdocs and other opportunities
The Back Page

GradPSYCH - March 2012

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