The Aspiring Psychologist Podcast - Why Psychology Graduates Struggle to Get Assistant Psychologist Jobs (And What To Do Instead)
Episode Date: April 10, 2026Becoming an Assistant Psychologist in the UK can feel frustrating, competitive, and at times deeply personal – especially when applications don’t lead to interviews or offers. In this episode of P...sychology, Actually, we explore why Assistant Psychologist roles are so difficult to secure, what experience is actually needed before applying, and how to navigate rejection without burning out or losing confidence.We discuss the reality of psychology career pathways in the UK, including why many successful applicants have prior relevant roles, how to build experience strategically, and how to approach interviews as a two-way process – including checking whether a role truly fits you and whether employers can support reasonable adjustments.If you’re an aspiring psychologist feeling stuck, overlooked, or questioning your path, this episode will help you reframe your journey and take your next steps with clarity and compassion.Timestamps: 00:00 Why psychology graduates feel “behind” after uni01:02 What university careers services actually do02:13 Support available after graduation (and why it matters)03:06 Why psychology careers feel confusing compared to others04:26 Different mental health career pathways explained05:40 Low pay early on and managing expectations06:06 Understanding your career values07:18 Why experience matters more than income early on08:20 Building experience during university09:18 Real example of paid student support work10:35 Why your effort might go unnoticed (but still matters)11:25 Creative ways to gain relevant experience12:05 Mental health roles within universities13:11 Building relationships for references14:14 Why tutors need to actually know you15:11 The long-term impact of mentors and lecturers16:06 Mock interviews and building confidence\16:52 Practising interviews and finding your voice17:52 Interviews are human – not designed to catch you out18:59 Interviews are a two-way process20:02 Checking job fit and reasonable adjustments21:17 Diversity and inclusion in psychology pathways22:17 Internship opportunities and widening access22:57 Celebrating first Assistant Psychologist roles23:55 Why AP roles aren’t entry-level24:37 Managing expectations around experience25:59 Discouragement and proving people wrong26:40 Choosing your own career path (not others’)27:49 Backup plans and flexibility in goals28:30 Burnout, pacing yourself and taking breaks29:25 Noticing when you’re ready for the next step30:19 Following your natural interests and curiosityLinks:🫶 To join my podcast membership to get early access to episodes and / or exclusive weekly content head to: https://the-aspiring-psychologist.captivate.fm/support or to the Apple Podcasts App: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-aspiring-psychologist-podcast/id1605628278 or to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOwjrIP_jatiqlAivJE2mgQ/join📚 To check out The Clinical Psychologist Collective Book: https://amzn.to/3jOplx0📖 To check out The Aspiring Psychologist Collective Book: https://amzn.to/3CP2N97💡 To check out or join the aspiring psychologist membership for just £30 per month head to: https://www.aspiring-psychologist.co.uk/membership🖥️ Check out my short courses for aspiring psychologists and mental health professionals here: https://www.aspiring-psychologist.co.uk/online-coursesAsk Marianne your most pressing psychology career question and she will send you a FREE bespoke reply! Grab your free psychology success guide here and fill in the most pressing concern box: https://www.aspiring-psychologist.co.uk (scroll to the bottom of the page)✍️ Get your FREE Supervision Shaping Tool now: https://www.aspiring-psychologist.co.uk/free-resources📱Connect socially with Marianne and check out ways to work with her, including the Aspiring Psychologist Book, Clinical Psychologist book and The Aspiring Psychologist Membership on her Link tree: https://linktr.ee/drmariannetrent💬 To join my free Facebook group and discuss your thoughts on this episode and more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aspiringpsychologistcommunityLike, Comment, Subscribe & get involved:If you enjoy the podcast, please do subscribe and rate and review episodes.Hashtags: #aspiringpsychologist #dclinpsy #psychology #assistantpsychologist #psychologycareers #podcast #psychologypodcast #clinicalpsychologist #mentalhealth #traineeclinicalpsychologist #clinicalpsychology #drmariannetrent #mentalhealthprofessional #gettingqualified #mentalhealthprofessionals #traineepwp #mdt #qualifiedpsychologist #traineepsychologist #aspiringpsychologists #wellbeing
Transcript
Discussion (0)
My name is Diakalola Amujam.
I am a recent psychology graduate from Ireland.
I am also an aspiring clinical psychologist.
Dr. Marion's book, The Clinical Psychologist Collective, has been so helpful to me on this journey to becoming a clinical psychologist.
As I plan to continue postgraduate studies in the UK, I found it extremely useful that this book provided in-depth information on the UK.
the Clean Sight application process.
I enjoyed reading about the experiences of both qualified and training clinical psychologists.
The various narratives were my favorite part of the book, as everyone's story was different
and it provided amazing insights into the clinical psychology journey.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in psychology and aspires to become
a clinical psychologist.
You graduate with a psychology degree.
Your friends are starting graduate schemes, earning decent salaries and posting about promotions,
and you're applying for assistant psychologist roles, getting rejected and wondering if you've made a mistake.
Today I'm joined by Sam Adam, a university careers consultant, to talk about what no one else seems to explain clearly enough.
Why the psychology career path looks different, why assistant psychologist roles aren't entry level,
and how to use your university career service properly both before.
and after you graduate.
Because you are not behind,
you just need the right support
to help you to move forwards.
I hope you find this so helpful
if you do,
please like, comment and subscribe for more.
Hi, welcome along to the podcast.
I am Dr. Marianne Trent,
a qualified clinical psychologist.
Today I am joined by Sam Adam,
who is a careers consultant
at Brunel University.
Hi, Sam.
Hi, Marianne.
Lovely to meet you.
And thank you for being here and thank you for pitching, kind of pitching yourself to me,
because we got chatting my email this time and I was like, this sounds really interesting,
I'd love to have you on. So thank you for reaching out to me.
I know we are speaking today because you happen to work at Brunel University,
but you're not acting for them or speaking for them.
Absolutely, yes. Any views that I expressed today are mine alone.
and but as you say, I happen to work at Brunette University, yeah.
Perfect. Thank you.
So I, you know, I was flabbergasted when you told me what you do
because I genuinely had no idea that your job was a thing.
And maybe that's because when I was at university, it wasn't.
But actually you work with students who are doing their degree or their, you know,
postgraduate study and you have the capacity, capability, ability to work with people post-graduation
as well, don't you?
Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So from the minute our students arrive in their first year of
undergraduate studies, we are trying to connect with them in any way that we can through employability
lectures and obviously our social media and lots of different employability events that we
run and then we offer the service once students have graduated for up to three years.
And I think that's really important, especially for psychology students.
So I work with three different cohorts, psychology being one of them.
And my psychology students are the ones that book in more once they've graduated for help
with applications to training programs, PhDs, master's courses.
Once they go away and get their work experience and then need help with making those
applications so I see a lot of psychology students who've graduated which is
wonderful yeah I mean I think we're a pretty special breed I won't lie but
yeah like it sounds really really lovely and I think especially for people that
may not have family support or or may not have family that have been through
education or or don't understand psychology because it is very different I think
isn't it yeah yeah it's it's very different compared to
to say my economics and finance students who, you know,
will maybe want to get onto a graduate scheme when they finish.
And I think it can sometimes be a bit confusing
and unsettling for psychology students
when they hear their friends who are studying,
maybe business or something and they're like,
but I need to be getting onto a graduate scheme now.
And there's a lot of unpicking, I think, to be done
to help them realize that actually your path
might look a little bit different
to your friends who are studying perhaps more business.
focused subjects and going into those graduate schemes or graduate jobs. So it's it's
quite different and I think it's it can be a really confusing range of jobs to
understand. I mean obviously your focus is clinical psychology. My students, many of
them want to go into clinical psychology, but you know it could be psychological
well-being practitioner or psychotherapist or any of the mental health roles that are
out there and it's it can be really overwhelming trying to understand the differences
between them all for students. So, but, but you know, I really enjoy working with my psychology
students. So I'm always really happy to see them. Oh, nice. So yeah, the podcast, I am a clinical
psychologist, obviously. And so it's going to probably be heavily weighted towards clinical psychology.
But we've got a special season, which probably has already happened, looking at educational
psychology, by the time this one comes out. And we do look at relevant roles. And I basically think
about it as being anything that you can do post-psychology graduation and just having people
that are psychologically informed out there in the world, I think is no bad thing. Yeah,
I absolutely know what you mean because when I was an aspiring psychologist myself,
so post-graduation, some of my friends were at the time on salaries that felt pretty nice.
And I was on about £13,000 a year. And sometimes I was working six days a week.
to get that salary. It really, I don't know, you have to really care about the work you do
and the people that you're doing it with. And it's just a bit rubbish, really, that you don't always
get the new remuneration that, you know, you should ideally receive. And I know salaries have
increased somewhat since I was an aspiring site, but yeah, it's definitely looking around thinking,
well, they are earning nice money, their clothes are, they're nice, they're able to kind of move
out and live independently and I am not any of those things.
Yeah, and I think that's a really important point and it sort of comes back, I suppose, to
career, people's own career values, you know, what is important to you in a job? And is it
making a difference for other people? Is it developing your own learning? Is it financial security?
that there are lots of different things that matter to different people and those can change over time.
But it's an important part of what we try to do as career consultants to try to help people to
understand what their career values are and what is important to them at any given time.
Because, yeah, there's a big difference.
Yeah, there really are.
There really are.
And before we hit record, I was saying that I'm obviously a terrible economist, economist is the term.
I was a terrible economist because I make about £45 a month from this podcast and yet it costs me many hundreds of pounds and I've done this for four years.
And so I'm clearly doing this because I passionately care about this content being available.
But yeah, like if I was doing economics or if I couldn't afford to bankroll this myself, I'd have had to have stopped it, right?
Yeah, it's, and I think that's, I don't know if this is an unusual segue, but whilst you were talking now, I was just thinking, well, that's why it's so important to get work experience whilst you're going through university just because it's important for you to find out what you enjoy, which challenges you enjoy and, you know, is that what you want to do rather than making a lot of money?
from the outset when you leave university because it,
the decisions, we all make decisions at different times
and we're all ready to understand ourselves
and what we need at different times,
but that earlier you can start taking part in experiences,
that earlier you're going to start understanding
what is important to you and which challenges you thrive on
and what it is that you want to be contributing to the world
than what you want to keep learning about.
So yeah.
Yeah, I never planned to work at uni, but I did.
So I didn't work in my first year,
but during my summer holidays of my first year,
the student support service wrote to me,
because I was a psychology student and said,
actually we've got these roles called student support workers
who go with people who've either got permanent disabilities
or transient disabilities like broken arms or broken legs
to facilitate them getting to their lectures and to be able to stay in them and take notes
and engage fully with their curriculum.
So it was a one-to-one service.
And so they invited me to apply and I did and I got the job.
And I did really value what I did.
And at the time they'll pay me £6.50 an hour, which at the time was a really good, really good rate.
Yeah.
And so I learnt quite a bit, I would say, in that role.
even though it wasn't something that I was planning on applying for.
So yeah, I would say, yeah, if you can, do consider working.
But obviously it does take away some time then from your ability to be able to study.
It's interesting that I would then have to get up for nine o'clock lectures,
which were not my own, which was a bit of a kicker.
But then once I was up, I was more likely to be at uni and I had time to study and to do things.
And it was interesting when I got together with my friends who I used to live with at uni.
And it's now been 26 years since we started uni.
But I was talking about this job when we got together in Cambridge for a weekend to celebrate our 25 years.
And I was talking about the job that I had.
And all three of them were like, you worked at uni.
Did you?
I've got no memory of that.
And I was like, well, you definitely knew.
You must have known.
It's probably because you were all guys, you guys were all asleep when I was getting up and going to these lectures and doing things and I'd just meet you at uni later.
So yeah, you might well be struggling doing all the stuff, but it's for you and it's for your own journey and to support the people that you work with.
But everybody else may not even notice.
Bless you, yeah. And that's a really important.
point is that I know a lot of students have jobs, often sort of full-time jobs, a long-time,
full-time study. So, you know, I appreciate it's really difficult. And that is the kind of thing
that your careers consultant, that you will have a careers consultant, whichever university
you're at, can help you with. You know, one of the things that I sort of recommend to my students
is the text-based service shout. And I don't think they're taking new recruits at the moment,
but, you know, that's something that you can fit around, you know, the other responsibilities that you
have and even if you're just doing an hour here an hour there you are building
experience that's going to be helpful and there are lots of responsibilities you can
take at university so at Brunel we have peer mentors where you sort of support new
students with their study skills and I just think anything that you do that is
supportive of people in any way shape or form builds upon that bank of experience
that you've got to help take you to the next level if you want to
work in mental health. Someone once described it to me as a ladder and I think that's a really
good way to look at it. You know, maybe you start working at Tesco's on the customer service desk,
you're helping the supermarket shoppers and then, you know, maybe you do some mentoring or something
and you're helping people with how to study and then you're sort of moving up the ladder all the
time. So, you know, that job that you did at university sounds absolutely perfect.
Yeah, and it was paid. I'm aware that also universities, certainly I speak for Warwick,
University, because one of my friends works there, they'll have departments that support students
with their mental health and with their well-being. And so there might well be paid opportunities
there where you can get involved with doing more mental health aligned work that helps you
and, you know, helps your fellow students at university. Is that something that all universities
have to have? Do you know, Sam? All universities will have some kind of service and it varies
at universities are as a university we went we went through quite a big restructure last year so our
services have changed um but then yeah there may there may be opportunities and if not it's always
helpful i think just to go and talk to the people that work there to find out about their jobs as
well it's another source of information to help you start making up your mind about what what
type of mental health work would i like to do so even a conversation is an amazing start
But yeah, I think universities all have some kind of well-being service.
Yeah, okay, thank you. It's just reminding me of when I was looking for jobs and I was a postgraduate.
I went to university in Glenmorgon in South Wales, which is now, I think, called University of South Wales.
But I stayed in really regular contact with my academic supervisor for my dissertation.
His name was Martin Graf. And he was lovely, but I feel like I asked him for more references.
than anyone else in the world.
So I was always really nice to him and stayed in contact with him and was telling him when I'm moving on and all of this jazz.
And I think he probably breathed silent sigh of relief when I started a master's and then relinquished him of any reference responsibilities.
But, you know, university academic staff, it's run of the mill.
It's part of it for them, whereas some people are like, oh, people won't remember me or, you know, they won't know who I am.
And, you know, if they don't know who you are, then I would say, make sure they do know who you know who.
you are so that when they're writing a reference, they can speak honestly about you and your
aptitude for psychology. Yes, thank you for making that point because it's something we are
always trying to remind students, make sure that you get to know your tutors because sometimes,
you know, because we're quite a visible service, well, fairly visible service, students are
able to book one-to-one appointments with us so they do ask, can you write a reference for us?
but we can't because we don't have that insight into the work
that they've done.
And I think it can be easy to not build that relationship
with your tutor, but it is important to do that.
So they can comment in positive ways,
rather than just saying the general, yes, this person attended,
but if they don't know you,
it's difficult for them to be able to comment.
And I'm sure that your tutor will be really delighted
to see the progress that you've made.
Because when you, well,
I can only speak for myself when you work in a university
and you support people and then people achieve what they want.
It's that's why we do the job.
So I'm sure your tutor will be very happy to see
how you've managed to get where you wanted to be.
Yeah, and I think it's just, it's really lovely.
When I think back to some of the people who did teach me,
so there was Alan Granfield and Lance Workman and then Martin Graff.
And you know, these people stay with you.
They become part of your psychologist.
identity even when you move on. So it might be that people are listening to this podcast or
watching it on YouTube and they're like, I know that person, I know them. And they've been part of
my experience and my journey. And I think that's a real gift. You know, people tell me that
sometimes when they're preparing for interviews, they hear my voice and think that I'm on their
team or even people that I've worked with in person when I was in the NHS. They're like, well, you're still
you're still with me, you know, what would Marianne say? And I think that's the biggest privilege.
Yeah, that's really lovely to be part of people's stories like that. And another part of the
service that the universities do offer is mock interviews. So for anyone who's got an interview
coming up, and if you're still within the time that you can access the career services at the
university, then know that you can probably book in for a mock interview. And, you know,
the people that I work with tend to say, you know, I feel much more confident.
now that I've done it like that.
And it can be nerve-wracking.
Even to do a mock interview,
you know, often people say,
oh, you know, I'm feeling really nervous.
You know, I'm not there to judge.
I'm not there to give you a place,
not to give you a place.
I'm just there to help you improve what you say
so that for the real interview, you can smash it.
And so, yeah, that's something to look into
if you've got any interviews coming up.
Absolutely.
And, you know, I think that the more experience you can get
of doing interviews, the better
because you're more likely to get those tumbleweed moments.
in the mock one rather than the real one.
That's why in the aspiring psychologist membership,
I'm trying to do regular kind of examples of interview Q&A's
so that people are having a go at that
because I think there's also something incredibly powerful
about learning to hear your own voice
and taking up room and taking up space
and knowing that it's okay to have an opinion
and when your opinion is formed based on your own values, your own experiences, or whether you're
backing that up with kind of research and clinical practice. And for me, it's only really when I've
begun to speak out loud and to take myself seriously and not quinge at the very idea that I
would have an opinion or people would want to listen to me is when you start to begin to rise, I think.
Yeah. And I think it's also seeing from the other side as well,
people interviewing you are really just human beings and people genuinely I think want to make
interviews positive experiences so that you are able to express your own opinions and give the best
of yourself. I think you know things have changed from the bad old past where interviews were
perhaps set up to be quite terrifying and I think there's a lot more focus now on making interviews
a positive experience for people because who wants to go and work somewhere they've been
terrorized by the interviewers. But yeah I think it's
I like the way you say, you know, hearing your voice out loud and it's sometimes when I ask the first question, people are like, oh, oh, I don't really know what to say. And it's, you know, we all need a little bit of warming up, I think, of settling into an interview, but also settling into how to present oneself in an interview. It's not an easy process, but it's definitely something that you can improve upon with practice. So it's, I think it's really nice that you offer that.
that practice as well. Yeah, I hear you. It isn't easy and there is that, you know, power
imbalance, isn't there? They've got something that you want, although sometimes during an interview
you're thinking, I don't want this. I've realised I don't want this job. But that's important as
well because you're not just going and saying, hire me, hire me. You're going, especially if you're
able to go for an in-person interview, you're going to see whether you think that they can be
lucky enough to work with you or whether you'd like to do that. And even when you get offered a job,
you don't have to say yes. I've been in the position of going along to interviews kind of
speculatively to see what I think, to weigh up my options and, you know, having a few interviews
and then kind of waiting to see what happens and really having an idea of what my first,
my first best preference would be. And you don't have to say yes, even if you haven't got something
else. If you think this is not going to be for you, you can say, you can say no, can't you.
Absolutely. And it, you know, we spend a large amount of our time at work and it's, of course,
everybody wants to get their first role. But, but if it, if it doesn't feel right for whatever
reason, you know, as you say, that's, that's the purpose of an interview as well. It's for you to
check out, is it, is it right for me? Is it going to work for me? And, you know, also in the case
of perhaps students, graduates who need adjustments to be able to operate in the workplace.
Some employers are better at providing those adjustments that they're absolutely legally entitled
to. And so you're also checking out, is this going to be a supportive employer for me and my
needs?
So important. Are you seeing? So I feel like an important part of my podcast is about inclusivity
and how not all psychologists look the same. You know, some may be, you know, able to walk on their
who legs, others, you know, might look very different. And, you know, we've even had a recent
episode where we had a trainee psychologist who's registered Blyden uses a guide dog. I feel like
we're really, I'm trying to amplify that psychologists can look all kinds of different ways
and have all kinds of different experiences. Are you seeing more of that diversity coming through
in more recent years? A little bit, and I'm all on board for more inclusivity. It's something that I feel
really passionately about as well. Certainly in the NHS trust near the university that I work at,
they run a program called Catalyst Program, which is a six-month assistant internship program
that is aimed at students that would not otherwise be able to access work experience for
whatever reason, so they wouldn't be able to voluntarily work. And of course, there could be many
reasons for that. Universities themselves run different schemes. So,
At Brunall, we ran, unfortunately, we haven't got the funding this year, but I ran a very small internship program for, this wasn't psychology focus, but it was for students with any kind of disability or learning difference to gain an internship at the university.
So we had kind of five students scattered around the university gaining experience that they could then put on their CVs.
So there are pockets of money out there within universities and outside.
They aren't always easy to find, but it's worth, again, checking with your career service to see if they know of any local initiatives that are running because the Catalyst Program run by the North, I think it's Northwest London Trust, it's an amazing program.
And every year, I'm really like keeping my fingers crossed that it runs. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it runs in 2026.
So there are things out there, but sometimes you have to dig around a little bit and ask the people in the people in the world.
the know to see what's out there. But it's important, yeah. Sounds fantastic that Catalyst
program. Just before I logged on and opened up this browser for us to speak, I was on LinkedIn
because I often am. If you're not already connected with me on there, I'm Dr. Marianne,
Chink, come and say hi. And I'd seen that someone had said, oh, after almost a year and, you know,
a hundred applications. I'm delighted to be able to say that I've got my first assistant psychologist post.
And I was like, amazing, incredible. I'd say you're going really well to have got your first AP
post within a year of graduating because actually that isn't super common. So if people have done a
placement year, that might speed them up a little bit. But when you're going for assistant psychologist
roles, you're often competing against people that have already worked as a paid assistant
psychologist, that might already have done a master's, that might already have done lots of
relevant experience roles. So by the time I started as a paid assistant psychologist, I had been
travelling around the world independently, I'd been a home carer, I'd work with students in the
student support setting, I had worked in an office for probably getting on for a year, number of
different offices and then I'd worked for a local council doing rehab and support work with
disabled adults for two and a half years and then I got a paid role as an AP so people are like
why aren't I getting this you know I've got my psychology degree but a psychology degree
is not a golden ticket to an AP role is it Sam? No and I think the I think the job title misleads people
I think this word assistant, often people believe, okay, so it's an entry level job.
And as you say, it really, really isn't.
But I think maybe if people, you know, just readjust their expectations, then they're, okay,
so that's something I have to work towards.
And, you know, I know you highlight that in your work, but it's something I'm frequently
having to say, oh, okay, yeah, no, don't worry.
The reason you're not getting these positions or these interviews is not because there's
anything wrong with you it's just you know it's maybe you need a little bit more
experience first because it's not common to get that kind of position until a year
two years after you've graduated I think I once heard of a student who had been
offered a paid assistant psychologist role straight after graduating but
that was simply because they had done a placement year within that service the
service knew them and asked them if they wanted to come back but that is pretty
much unheard of in my experience so so yeah it's about building up that
experience before you apply for those roles and you know
If people come to me and say, I want to apply, I want to apply now.
I'm like, great, you know, I'll always support you.
Just be aware that it might be that, you know,
just set your expectations that it might be this time
you don't get through because it might be
that you need a little bit more experience.
And then, you know, you could use it as a practice
if you don't get through this time.
Absolutely, such good advice.
And speaking of setting expectations,
when I was at university, I was told in my final weeks of uni,
don't bother clinical psychology.
It's very hard.
It's very difficult.
Probably won't get on.
It's very stressful.
Don't do it to yourself.
And for me, I was like, well, no, that's that red ragged trouble.
Like, no, that's not going to work for me.
But, yeah, I guess talking about the fact that it is a challenging career, any of the HCPC
psychologist routes are very challenging, but they aren't impossible.
And someone's got to do it.
You know, why not, why not you?
Thank you for raising that point because I feel I love the fact that to you that inspired you to prove them wrong and to make it happen for yourself because, you know, people do these jobs.
And yes, it may be a long journey. It may be difficult. It may not always go the way you want. You may not get on to the, you know, you may not get the assistant psychologist position straight away. You may never get an assistant psychologist position. That doesn't mean you can't be a clinical psychologist without it. There are different routes.
And, you know, I have students who people say that same thing to them.
And I think it's for people to decide their own goals and to decide what they want to do.
And to hopefully find their own role models that they can relate to that can inspire them.
And, you know, if for any of my students that are listening, if that's what you want,
I will support you all the way.
Because, you know, and some people may change their minds.
in two, three years time and think, well, I've given it my all and actually my circumstance
of change and that's not for me now. And, you know, whatever you choose at any given point in time
is, is okay for you. But as career consultants, we're here to help you kind of take steps forward
and to try to achieve what you do want to achieve. And, you know, it can be important to just
have a little backup in the back of your mind just in case you need it, but always go for what you
want with the support and help of the people that know what you need to do to get there.
And that's whether, you know, the misconception of the assistant psychologist comes in.
I think often people get put off because they're like, well, I've applied for all these
positions.
I haven't been successful.
Therefore, I'm never going to be an assistant psychologist.
Well, maybe, you know, build that experience first and then apply for the assistant psychologist
roles.
It's difficult.
It is.
And you can never see what's going to come next, can you?
So you never know if the next one.
would have a different outcome. But that said, if you're feeling burned out from your pursuit,
it's okay to down tools and you might not be downing them forever. You might just be like,
I'm just going to stay where I am or I'm going to do this job until I feel, it's a bit like an
itch, you know, until you be like, oh, you know, you finish university and think I'm never going to
study again, it's awful, lawful. And then one day you're like, hmm, I'd like to learn more about
that and you find yourself Googling it and before you know you're signing yourself up to something.
And I think the same is true with kind of learning and being in our roles.
You know, we can be stretched and grown and be kind of energized and learning something new
every day until you're not or until something turns your head and you're like, right,
oh, okay. It's like when I first realized that I wanted a Volvo.
You then see volvos everywhere, right?
And it's like that.
Like when you're ready for a new job or a new challenge, that activates you.
And it allows you to see all of those opportunities, hopefully, around you.
Yeah.
And I think that's, you know, when you're thinking about what pathway you want to follow in a career,
it's like, well, what am I naturally drawn to?
What are the things that I follow on social media?
What do I like Googling about?
What do I like reading about?
Where does my natural interest lie?
And then, of course, as you say, those things will then come to you in abundance.
But it's also paying attention to what do I want.
What sparks my interest and where does my attention go naturally?
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for your time and highlighting this very important aspect of what universities
can do, maybe not even just for psychology, but whatever your degree is, there will be someone
that specialising and looking out for you. So thank you so much for your time, Sam.
Thank you so much for having me. It's been a really enjoyable discussion.
It really has. Thank you very much. Thank you so much to Sam for sharing her time with us so
kindly. And I'm kind of reflecting on the episode and it's making me think that actually,
whilst I didn't need to work but did end up working during my undergrad.
Many people are not in that position.
Many people are working a full-time job against what is essentially full-time study as well
and having to squeeze their lectures in around shifts.
And if you are having to do that, then, you know, please know that you are not alone.
There are other people in that vote too.
And my hat really goes off to you.
And I really do admire you because you will not likely be able to have the same experience of
university as some of your peers might be.
You might well be out of bed earlier, into bed later, having to shoehorn your study and your
seminars and your lectures into an already busy life.
So I would love to know if this resonates with you.
Please do let me know on social media.
Please do share this episode to your stories if you have enjoyed.
it, please do drop me a comment both on Spotify or on Apple. It would be so gratefully received.
And if you have felt bad for me earning £45 a month from the podcast, then if you would like
to support my costs as a creator to help me to be able to create this really valuable
psychology careers content, please do consider maybe buying one of my books, The Aspiring Psychologist
collective, the clinical psychologist collective, maybe even the grief collective or an autistic
anthology, please do consider joining the aspiring psychologist membership if you're serious
about moving your career forwards. And of course, you can join the channel either as a first
look member or the backstage crew. And that is available on Apple Podcasts, Captivate or Patreon,
and on YouTube. There's more information in the show notes, the description, and on
link in my social media bias. Thank you so much.
Psychologist Collective book. I found it really interesting about all the different stories and how
people got to become a clinical psychologist. It just amazed me how many different routes there are
to get there and there's no perfect way to become one. And this kind of filled me of confidence that
no, I'm not doing it wrong and put less pressure on myself. So if you're a lot of,
feeling a bit uneasy about becoming a clinical psychologist I'd definitely
recommend this just to put yourself at ease and everything will be okay but trust
me you will not put the book down once you start
