Hi,
Just wondering if anyone has had a career change? would like to know your experiences.
I'm an accountant wanting to study Psychology.
Just like to know as much information I can get
thank you for your help!
The first question I would ask is - " What does Psychology mean to you?"
Psychologists are employed in many different fields and not all involve casework/counselling/mental health. For example, you may work in organisational psychology, advertising, creation and adminsitration of tests, careers counselling, teaching etc. All these have aspects of psychology in their courses and training.
If by psychology you mean "helping people with their problems" there are many fields available to consider not just psychology, and many options for further study. You could consider social work, welfare or youth work - and could do this through a university bachelor degree, and associate degree or a diploma/certificate.
Some "counsellors" are not trained psychologists but have instead used their own life experience or their involvement in areas such as NLP, hypnosis etc to set themselves up as counsellors. Financial counsellors may have a background in commerce (as you do in accounting) and just have a good compassionate understanding of people. You could also work as a telephone counsellor eg for Lifeline and undertake their inhouse training.
If you are considering re-training as a practising registerd Psychologist, know that you will need to complete a fourth year honours degree in order to be accredited and that there is competitive entry and selection to this program. You should investigate these requirements through the Australian Psychological Society.
good luck with your career change. I highly recommend looking at the website www.myfuture.edu.au to help you explore some more ideas of what you might want to do.
"If you are considering re-training as a practising registerd Psychologist, know that you will need to complete a fourth year honours degree in order to be accredited"
Further to this the 4th year can be either Honours proper, or a Bachelor of Psychology (similar but slightly different units) to meet the "4+2 program" the '2' refers to an internship.
also worth noting that if you complete the 4th year program you will be 'provisionally registered' for the first 2 years, which means paying a supervisor $200+ per week to sign off on your reports, and for supervision; unless you can get a free supervisor with your employer, or reimbursement of costs…
Other option is to do the masters program for a specialty title i.e. 2 extra years at uni but you could be a Clinical/Counselling/Org/etc Psychologist; which avoids the provisional period straight away as I believe you get supervised through uni for placements, although there is an additional period of supervision once the masters is completed…
Let me know if you have any other questions, I'm working as a Psych at present in an assessment / counselling role; the work is good, but can be full on at times; and the provisional period is a waste of time and money, but glad to be done with it.
You might deem the provisional period a waste of time and money but the purpose of it is to validate your competence and ethics prior to letting you loose on unsuspecting cliets/patients/etc. A safeguard against incompetent idiots screwing up people's lives.
Hi I am in the same boat, just wondering if anyone is aware of the options for post graduate studies instead of the 3-4 year undergraduate studies.
Post grad in which field?
yes there is. do a Graduate Diploma of Psychology. A Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology is designed to provide fourth year training in psychology and an avenue to professional registration.
eg. csu.edu.au/courses/postgraduate-diploma-of-psychology#tRmJ1744gzJrC5xu.99
A lot, I bet a hefty percentage, of people don't really enjoy their jobs but just stay in them due to the financial security as they have mortgages and other loans to pay off. That's fair enough. But if you are relatively flexible in that regard, I'd definitely encourage you to move around and explore other options that you are wanting to do.
Old saying, but you only live once. Go out and test the waters. I have had many "career" changes. I remember my old man shaking his head every time I did it. My last was a complete backflip from a scientist on the mines to education. One year grad dip and I was finally content.
In my case, I just narrowed it down what I wanted. A commute that was relatively short and a type of work that interested me (ie. wasn't sitting behind a desk all day). The salary needed to be be average but I didn't search for the big earners any more. Most importantly I wanted a job that left room for solid time with my family (and my tool shed). You know, work to live don't live to work thing.
Some people like spending time at work, some like working on weekends and some don't mind long commutes to get there. Some don't. But whatever the case, don't put things off.
NIce story there.
Thanks for the inspiration, I hate my desk job and my co workers. Life's too short, but I believe I'm stuck. I'm 25.
You are still relatively young so quick change and find a field you enjoy. When you get older and have a family and loans and debts, it will be even more difficult then. So many friends of mine are stuck in jobs they don't like like what Oldbugger said.
I made a major change the year I turned 24. In short, I graduated, worked and realised it wasn't for me so paid off my uni debt after working for 2 years, moved to Australia and went back to uni for 4.5years and now I'm pretty broke, in debt again but happy.
Having a supportive mom helped as she paid for my international uni sch fees, and my expenses. I owe her for my entire life now actually. I worked part time in uni giving Math and Econs tuition to uni kids and worked in a restaurant too. Any family support for you?
23 turning 24.
Was a forex banker for a major bank, now I'm in healthcare. Never took biology so had to take an extra half year in 'college'.
if you really believe the new career is for you, I'd say just do it! Do follow a psychologist ard for a few weeks to see if you can do it permanently though cos it is a lot of money to invest in. That was what I did. I would think of what could have been too esp when I see my friends' lives now (rich, children, house) as everything has been delayed - I am 30 now and still renting, no kids no house no travelling (partner went back to study too) and i owe my mom so much (not that she's counting). But it was worth it cos I enjoy my work and can do it for the next 40 years and I know the work-family life balance will be there when I have children. Make sure you can do it permanently too, unless you have the money to spare for lots of degrees!
Want to know what the industry is looking for in that field? www.seek.com.au