Psychology

Building experience is key to starting your career in psychology. Volunteering is a very good way to start gaining this experience while you are at Sussex. There may be part-time work opportunities, too.

Working in a supportive role with relevant client groups is the best way to gain experience for all qualifying routes. This will be particularly important to get onto clinical, educational or forensic psychology postgraduate courses. Here are some ideas for those areas:

 Clinical/counselling

• Volunteering with Mental Health/Brain Injury, Illness organisations (SANE, Mind, Headway, Stroke Association), teaching assistant in a special school (working with learning disabilities), care assistant/support worker (in mental health or learning disability settings eg. paid work with NursePlus), research assistant in a relevant area, graduate mental health worker, assistant psychologist (clinical) and psychological well-being practitioner (NHS jobs). More ideas for experience on the Clearing House page

Educational

• Work with children in schools (after school clubs, homework clubs, breakfast clubs or classroom assistant), volunteering with youth organisations (Barnardo's, Save the Children, NSPCC) or vulnerable/excluded groups (Women's Aid, Friends Families & Travellers), work in nurseries and playgroups (voluntary, private or public sector)

Forensic

• Volunteering with offender/victim organisations (NACRO, Victim Support, YMCA Reaching Your Potential), prison visitor schemes (Sussex Police Authority Independent Custody Visitor Scheme), youth worker, volunteer for substance misuse organisations (Addaction, Drugsline, Sussex DAAT), assistant psychologist (forensic setting). Try searching the Working with Offenders Directory for more opportunities, or our list of local volunteering organisations you can search

Quality, relevance and the application of psychological knowledge may be more important than the quantity or length of experience

Check CareerHub for other psychology placement opportunities: