PhD/PsyD Impact of Gaps in Experience on PhD Applications

[mr.stinky.wizzleteats]

I'm wondering about the potential impact(s) of having gaps in one's CV when it comes to applying to PhD programs. I am actually still awaiting a response from the last PhD program for which I interviewed this cycle (wait-listed at least, everything still up in the air at best), so technically all hope is not lost, but I am still trying to be proactive in case I have to apply again.

My last job (1.25 years) was working for a high-ranked (in the field and otherwise) school, and that ended mid-fall 2014 due to abrupt funding mishaps. I've had no luck getting work worth mentioning on a CV since, and am planning to move to a much smaller area (my hometown) unless I am able to find something really good in the next month or so, which means that employment opportunities worth listing on a CV will be even more scant.

In the worst-case scenario where I'm not able to find relevant work in the interim between now and the next application cycle, what impact do you think this gap in employment will have on my application overall?

FWIW, here are my other relevant stats:

• 4.0 Master's GPA (MA in Clinical Psych)
• 3.4 UG GPA (Psych UG GPA is 3.8, and when you don't look at my first year of college as a Music major my UG GPA is 3.7-3.8)
• 550V/710Q/5.5AW GRE scores (expire this year, so I'll need to take the GRE again before applying)
• 1 journal article (as first-author, in 2014)
• 2 published abstracts
• 6 symposia/paper session talks (8 if I change the published abstracts to being included here)
  
• 7 guest lectures
  
• 9 posters
• 3+ years research experience (as graduate student and with the current overall #1 hospital in the country)
  
• 5+ years clinical experience (lots of SCIDs and other standardized stuff)
• 2 years adjunct teaching experience + 2 years TA experience
  
• 3+ stellar LoRs
• 3 interviews (1 I declined, and 1 ended up taking no student anyway) when I applied for Fall 2013 enrollment, and 2 interviews when I applied for Fall 2015 enrollment (I applied for 5 schools only this past time)

I do have papers that are in the works for publication, but I am not currently including those in my consideration of the situation.

So, again, what do you think the impact would be of a year or a little more than a year of no direct involvement in a relevant position? Any recommendations as to how to get this, especially in a small (i.e., < 3000 people) town secluded (i.e., 4+ hours) from any urban area, or how to assuage the potential damage such a gap could do?

Thanks!

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[MCParent]

If I were reviewing your application, personally, I wouldn't care if the other stuff you listed is good (journal article is in something respectable, posters are a fit with the people you're applying to, etc.). It's just a year; lots of people need to work for a little while. I'd probably just write that I worked outside of Psych for a while due to financial issue if I were you, and try to get those other papers in the review pipeline before applications.

 

[mr.stinky.wizzleteats]

Yes, all of my peer-reviewed stuff is in the same realm of specialization. I don't anticipate a problem being able to get several papers at least out for submission in the mean time. Even if I can't find paid positions worth listing, I'm hoping to be able to find some sort of volunteer position doing research. However, it's much more difficult when you're not affiliated with an institution, hence my worry.

Thanks for the clarification--that is what I was thinking, but I'm also trying to be realistic and garner different perspectives. I figure in a worst case scenario it'll have to be a sentence of explanation in a personal statement.