Hey guys! Does anyone know what life is typically like after serving as a military psychologist? Meaning, what are the career trajectories like for those who served but perhaps didn't retire? Does working within the military open doors for you (that may have otherwise not existed)? Or is it just like any other gig? Thanks in advance!
Life After the Military
- Thread starter Ya Ya
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My understanding is you would get preference in VA hiring if you wanted to do that. From my conversations/what I've read, military psychology gives a very broad base of experience so your options would still be pretty open after leaving unless you choose to specialize in some way (I believe specializations they encourage include Health psych and Neuropsych).
I do know some military psychologists who engage in research, but I'm not sure if that is the norm or the exception. Other posters like Markp probably know more in this area🙂 If you get stationed somewhere where it is very difficult to get your hands in research I could see coming out of the military at a disadvantage if you wanted to move into a more academic track, though most people considering a military career are already trading away immediately going into a tenure-track position.
D
deleted176373
I am no expert here, but most certainly it does open doors that might not be otherwise available to people... it's not the job experience only but the opportunities to network that you might not be exposed to otherwise.
I can give you plenty of examples of people who have taken military careers with and without retirement and have parlayed those experiences into very interesting careers. I have seen civilian, state, and federal positions that were available to former military members and those persons were more competitive or were somehow given an edge as a result of their military service experience. I have seen former military go work for NICOE, FBI, MARSOC, VA, Public Health Service, etc, etc, etc. All very interesting positions. There are, of course, other less visible positions. These are just a few that stuck out to me.
There is little way that military service would not open additional doors for you and could harm your career. So there are "downsides" to military service (like responsibility for personnel management early on and collateral duties), but this one area is where all the additional duties and work that may required of military psychologists can be advantageous.
I do agree that as an academic it could be disadvantageous to be a military psychologist, but even then, there are exceptions to that rule.
Mark
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Markp is very likely going to be able to answer this better than me, but I can say that I've seen quite a few postings for research psychologist positions in the armed forces (they're listed separately from clinical positions), and I've known a couple people who've seriously considered applying for them. Beyond that, though, I can't say much.
D
deleted176373
As a clinical psychologist, it's less common, but they do have military research psychologists.
It's always tough as a young clinician to justify getting a research position when they need you in the clinic. This is not to say it doesn't happen, but the vast majority are clinicians, and occasionally some of them do research. This also may vary by service too.
