Career crossroad/s - Psych Major

[ambivalent]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

When has Psychology degree ever been overrated in the first place? Some will say MBA or a Finance related degree is overrated, but Psychology!? It's pretty well known in the market place that Psy degree have limited value in the market besides civil service.

Inadvertently you will find a lot of psy students in areas like comms, marketing, HR admin, events management, sales etc. And it isn't because studying psy actually helps in these jobs, but more like these jobs are so generic and need no special skills that most psy grads no choice

Psychology degrees are overrated in other countries like Australia and UK. In Singapore's context, several people are taking up psychology as a major but the jobs are few. Hence, competition for jobs will be tough.

Originally Posted by ambivalent

I fully understand that people in this industry are also in HR positions, but aside from HR roles as mentioned in the above post, what other fields can psychology graduates consider? (Aside from marketing & business too).

*The module closest to HR was organizational Psychology, and given the fact I do not possess any HR experience, other than recruitment consultants, what other roles are suitable for my consideration?

Also, I'm keen in crafting behavioral interviews & anything pertaining to Psychology and writing, possible to link me up with those whom you know that are in this field (so I can acquire more information & gain a better understanding on what they do)?

dude you're being damn picky. especially if your degree isn't from a top tier uk uni.

the bottom line is that a bachelors degree in psych is nothing more than a general degree...things that are 'suitable for you' are those that people have already mentioned that you've ruled out in one fell swoop.

also, so do you want a psychology job or not? first you lambasted the industry but now you're saying you want something pertaining to it? i think you're confused and should think about what you really want.

[ambivalent]

^ Well, I singled out some industries like business / PR due to the fact that I've little and close to no intentions of pursuing a career in that field. Why waste time pursuing a field that clashes with personality and which you've no interest in? (How can introverted individuals thrive in such people-centered industries like HR / Business / Marketing / Comms?)

Yes, I want to pursue a career in the industry. Willing to venture into social service sectors too.

I merely stated that the psych industry has limited job opportunities in Singapore (a fact that's known to all), but this doesn't mean that I don't intend to pursue a career within the industry.

Originally Posted by ambivalent

Psychology degrees are overrated in other countries like Australia and UK. In Singapore's context, several people are taking up psychology as a major but the jobs are few. Hence, competition for jobs will be tough.

Dun wanna comment on UK matters, but I can assure you most people who take up psychology has nothing to do with it being 'overrated'. They take up mainly because it is a soft skill generic deg easy enough to get in & hard to fail as long as you hand in the scripts, really is quite the same as those generic non-finance business degrees.

In terms of competition is same as any non-finance business or social science degrees, grads cannot go to those jobs that require real technical skills so they all flood together to the limited pool of mostly customer or admin related jobs or civil service jobs.

[ambivalent]

What are some of your thoughts regarding management trainee programmes? (No, not those from insurance / banks).

Originally Posted by ambivalent

^ Well, I singled out some industries like business / PR due to the fact that I've little and close to no intentions of pursuing a career in that field. Why waste time pursuing a field that clashes with personality and which you've no interest in? (How can introverted individuals thrive in such people-centered industries like HR / Business / Marketing / Comms?)

Yes, I want to pursue a career in the industry. Willing to venture into social service sectors too.

I merely stated that the psych industry has limited job opportunities in Singapore (a fact that's known to all), but this doesn't mean that I don't intend to pursue a career within the industry.

You should only go into social services if you have the heart & passion. It's a tough job requiring long irregular hours, difficult customers and very low pay prospects. Your this kind of "willing to venture" half bake mentality won't last more than a year.

The fact is your position is weak that if I were you I will just apply as many backroom analysis or administration type of jobs as I can and hopefully can get an offer after some time. You are really not in a position to sit around to decide whether you like this don't like this, choose this choose that.

[ambivalent]

I'm unsure if you've read or missed out details in my previous post but I'm currently employed as a student mentor (learning coach to be exact).

I don't have the luxury of time to weigh my options but I don't wish to take up a position that makes me second guess or short change myself. This is coming from someone who used to dread a position to the extent of suffering from insomnia (endless bout of worry + stress cum anxiety symptoms like cold sweat / migraine)

Originally Posted by ambivalent

I'm unsure if you've read or missed out details in my previous post but I'm currently employed as a student mentor (learning coach to be exact).

I don't have the luxury of time to weigh my options but I don't wish to take up a position that makes me second guess or short change myself. This is coming from someone who used to dread a position to the extent of suffering from insomnia (endless bout of worry + stress cum anxiety symptoms like cold sweat / migraine)

Fact is you don't have a choice. Sometimes in life you have to deal with what you have. You may think all this analysis is helping but in the end you research until you song song but nobody offer you whats the point?

Life is like that, if it dun work, make it work. If you cannot make it work, leave & look for other pastures. Doodling around has a cost also, the longer you stay outside mainstream workforce the harder it is for you to sell yourself. Nobody wants somebody who was left on the shelf too long (not fair, but life is like that).

Also the student mentor thing won't fly with your future employer, it might be something to demonstrate that at least you were not hanging around at home doing nothing, but I doubt employers will put much value in this sort of thing.

As for management trainee programs, the real ones by big mnc target the cream of the crop, not much chance for you to even make it past 1st round. The non MLM/insurance fake ones are essentially just entry level executive hire that you should try & apply and see if it works.

Bottom line is time & cv is against you. You need to widen the net as much as possible & not sit around to do all sorts of research & analysis before taking action to apply within a small area.

[ambivalent]

Thanks for the detailed insight.

Which is why I'd like to reiterate my question - which option seems best now?

1. Switch to another industry with the general psych degree I've (but which industries would introverted personalities thrive & receive learning opportunities from?

2. Pursue a part-time degree @ Murdoch (if yes, which course? from HR / Business / Marketing (reserved individual, weak in numbers/math related mods)

3. Attend short courses at SSI (Social service institute) - I've set sights on some courses (To value-add by acquiring new skills & for personal upgrading)

4. For student care managerial roles, what're the options I can take with a psych deg?

Originally Posted by ambivalent

Thanks for the detailed insight.

Which is why I'd like to reiterate my question - which option seems best now?

1. Switch to another industry with the general psych degree I've (but which industries would introverted personalities thrive & receive learning opportunities from?

Go for back office support jobs either analyst type work or admin based regardless of industry. As for thrive & learning opportunities, haha if got is bonus, don't have life goes on lah.

2. Pursue a part-time degree @ Murdoch (if yes, which course? from HR / Business / Marketing (reserved individual, weak in numbers/math related mods)

You already have a degree, no point wasting time buying another soft skill generic degree, waste of time & money.

3. Attend short courses at SSI (Social service institute) - I've set sights on some courses (To value-add by acquiring new skills & for personal upgrading)

Unless you wanna work in social service, dun waste time on these things. A normal employer in pte sector won't care about such 'CCA'.

4. For student care managerial roles, what're the options I can take with a psych deg?

I dunno, student care sounds like just another typical admin based corporate work. As per advice #1, just apply if you see it. Law of large numbers.

As for managerial role, haha I predict you will struggle even to get normal corporate exec work, now is not the time to fantasize about becoming a manager.