Having multiple work interests

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psyx

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Is this a bad thing? I'm a new grad and I can see myself working in a hospital setting, school setting, and also doing forensic research, working with kids or adults. Psychology just fascinates me in general and thus there are lots of different areas that I can see myself working in. However I notice that a lot of the job ads that I see are very focused on people having experience within those areas. For me, the only experience I have with forensic work is from my undergrad days with my thesis, for example. I'm also wondering what it might look like to a school board if they get an applicant who is transitioning from a forensic research job, again just as an example.

Is this normal or am I just way too scattered with my interests if I want to be jumping all over the place?
 
Is this a bad thing? I'm a new grad and I can see myself working in a hospital setting, school setting, and also doing forensic research, working with kids or adults. Psychology just fascinates me in general and thus there are lots of different areas that I can see myself working in. However I notice that a lot of the job ads that I see are very focused on people having experience within those areas. For me, the only experience I have with forensic work is from my undergrad days with my thesis, for example. I'm also wondering what it might look like to a school board if they get an applicant who is transitioning from a forensic research job, again just as an example.

Is this normal or am I just way too scattered with my interests if I want to be jumping all over the place?

What degree do you and are you licensed?
 
This is common, especially early on as you're learning about the different areas. One year back I was the same way. I could see myself being a generalist Psychologist, Forensic, Neuro, etc. Now, after being a lot more informed, (because of the great people here), I honestly can't see myself doing a Phd, unless it was specifically for neuro.
 
I assumed you graduated from undergrad. Your post is sort of unclear.
 
I don't know how many people have had similar experiences to mine, but during grad school and shortly thereafter I have actually found myself having to be more flexible and willing to try out different areas of this field because of the limited number of positions available to people early in their careers (and unlicensed), so you may have more time than you expected to decide which position is best for you. I entered graduate school with specific plans of the setting in which I would like to work when I'm done, and things have not quite panned out as I had hoped. Between my practica and internship, I worked in community mental health, an intensive day program and a school. Since receiving my doctorate, I have worked at two completely different private practices, one that specializes in children on the autism spectrum and one that works primarily with low income adults (and I have been doing forensic evals part time the past two years as well). In my opinion, that's one of the great things about a clinical psychology background; people from my graduate program are now working in a whole variety of settings, and my experiences show that it is possible to try out the different settings. Of course, I don't think that's doable in the long term, so I am trying to focus my experiences more now, but honestly, these different experiences have helped me to more definitively decide exactly where I would like to work and with whom. And yes, sometimes you have to explain in an interview why your experience has been so varied, but so many other people have been in a similar situation that as long as you can explain your various jobs in a positive light, they seem to understand. Plus, at my current practice, they now refer most clients with lower cognitive functioning or school-related issues to me, so you can use previous experiences to become your specializations. So hopefully my experiences will give you hope that having all these interests doesn't necessarily hurt, and you can give them all a try without particularly negative consequences.

Oh, and as for your concerns about forensic psych in particular... my coworker told me yesterday that forensic programs graduate are still relatively new, so as long as you have a strong testing background many forensic sites will take you (he and I both work part time testing for the courts with clinical psych training, so our experiences both support that assertion.) So that setting may actually be one of the more flexible ones... for now, at least.
 
Oh, and as for your concerns about forensic psych in particular... my coworker told me yesterday that forensic programs graduate are still relatively new, so as long as you have a strong testing background many forensic sites will take you (he and I both work part time testing for the courts with clinical psych training, so our experiences both support that assertion.) So that setting may actually be one of the more flexible ones... for now, at least.

Forensic specific programs are very very new and not recommended due to lacking APA-acred. Generalist training with mentorship in the area and then a fellowship is still the gold standard. People can pursue forensic work after training, though it is best done with mentorship, as there are 1,001 ways it can go wrong. There are also many areas within the forensic arena, so it is important to know how they differ. That said, this isn't my primary area, so I'll defer the nuanced differences to those who work in the field.
 
Is this a bad thing? I'm a new grad and I can see myself working in a hospital setting, school setting, and also doing forensic research, working with kids or adults. Psychology just fascinates me in general and thus there are lots of different areas that I can see myself working in. However I notice that a lot of the job ads that I see are very focused on people having experience within those areas. For me, the only experience I have with forensic work is from my undergrad days with my thesis, for example. I'm also wondering what it might look like to a school board if they get an applicant who is transitioning from a forensic research job, again just as an example.

Is this normal or am I just way too scattered with my interests if I want to be jumping all over the place?
Nope. Not normal at all. 😉
Just kidding. I have felt much the same way throughout my training and there are still aspects of psychology that I would like to devote more time to but haven't. One reason I chose the path of being a psychologist is the broad skill set and varied opportunities. I have done all of the above (except for forensic research) and in rural areas I have found that trying to limit yourself is more of the challenge because the community does want you to do it all.
 
I don't know how many people have had similar experiences to mine, but during grad school and shortly thereafter I have actually found myself having to be more flexible and willing to try out different areas of this field because of the limited number of positions available to people early in their careers (and unlicensed), so you may have more time than you expected to decide which position is best for you. I entered graduate school with specific plans of the setting in which I would like to work when I'm done, and things have not quite panned out as I had hoped. Between my practica and internship, I worked in community mental health, an intensive day program and a school. Since receiving my doctorate, I have worked at two completely different private practices, one that specializes in children on the autism spectrum and one that works primarily with low income adults (and I have been doing forensic evals part time the past two years as well). In my opinion, that's one of the great things about a clinical psychology background; people from my graduate program are now working in a whole variety of settings, and my experiences show that it is possible to try out the different settings. Of course, I don't think that's doable in the long term, so I am trying to focus my experiences more now, but honestly, these different experiences have helped me to more definitively decide exactly where I would like to work and with whom. And yes, sometimes you have to explain in an interview why your experience has been so varied, but so many other people have been in a similar situation that as long as you can explain your various jobs in a positive light, they seem to understand. Plus, at my current practice, they now refer most clients with lower cognitive functioning or school-related issues to me, so you can use previous experiences to become your specializations. So hopefully my experiences will give you hope that having all these interests doesn't necessarily hurt, and you can give them all a try without particularly negative consequences.

Oh, and as for your concerns about forensic psych in particular... my coworker told me yesterday that forensic programs graduate are still relatively new, so as long as you have a strong testing background many forensic sites will take you (he and I both work part time testing for the courts with clinical psych training, so our experiences both support that assertion.) So that setting may actually be one of the more flexible ones... for now, at least.

Hi--would like to know if you receive a PsyD or PhD and was it funded?
 
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