This is Part 2 of a guest post by Eric Landrum, were he discusses careers for Psychology Majors, and how we can better support them. In Part 1, he covered some of the basic groundwork for how we should approach this conversation (with our colleagues AND with our students). Check out Part 1, but here are some of the highlights:
1) According to the APA, out of the 3.5 million people in the US with a Bachelor's in psychology, 56% went straight into the workforce after completing their undergraduate degree. 
2) If we know that the majority of our students are going straight into a career, we need more detailed data on where they are going and what they need when the get there. 

In Part 2 of Eric´s guest post, he presents some new data about how students utilize career resources. This data is from a study he and his student conducted and presented at the 2019 Eastern Psychological Association meeting (Abellera & Landrum, 2019).

I’m always so pleased when my friends at The Novice Professor asked me to write about – well, anything.  I believe in their mission and I’m happy to support their cause in whatever ways that I can.
 
I was asked a while back to write about how to talk to undergraduate students about their preparation for careers with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.  For the sake of this blog post, I’ll divide this topic into two parts: some basic foundational ideas that I believe can be helpful to the conversation, and then share some new data that was reported at the 2019 Eastern Psychological Association meeting with my student Cierra Abellera (Abellera & Landrum, 2019).

When applying to graduate school, the process can be a bit overwhelming. There are a lot of factors to consider when selecting schools and moving parts to keep track of when you're getting organized for submitting the applications. Below, we've compiled a list of dos and don'ts that could help and hurt you during the application process.

​When deciding where to go to graduate school, students often ask questions about where to apply. Some students express interests in Ivy League universities, attracted to the prestige. Some students confine their applications to universities close to home. Other students have a wide pool of applications, focusing on research and faculty interests. 

​To help undergraduates that are considering to apply to graduate school, we asked current graduate students at The University of Texas at El Paso to weigh in on the factors that guided their decisions for where to apply to school. 

​This week, The Novice Professor is going to put out series of posts geared towards undergraduates, particularly undergrads interested in applying to graduate school. Below are some links and information that undergraduate psychology majors may find useful. Many of the links can also be found in our Resources Section, including helpful information about studying, careers, and graduate programs, for both psychology majors and non-psychology majors alike! 

​When I applied to grad programs, everyone warned me to expect rejection letters. I was told to apply everywhere, with hopes of getting in somewhere. I took this advice to heart, and applied to at least 12 different programs (foreshadowing: I don’t even remember how many schools I applied to). Most of them were doctoral programs, but a couple were also “back-up” master’s programs. At the end of the day, I received over 9 rejection letters. It was heartbreaking.