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Careers in Psychology - A Change of Career

Time to move on?

There are many reasons why you might want to consider a change of career. Maybe you would like to increase your earning potential? Perhaps you feel stuck in a rut? Maybe you feel you chose the wrong career and would like to try something different? Maybe you've been made redundant and are looking for new options? Or maybe you've just outgrown your current job or career and feel it's time to move on?

However, a change of career can be very stressful and you should be sure that the time is right for you to change career. You may wish to discuss this matter with friends and family or even speak to a professional careers advisor before making a final decision.

Why choose psychology?

You may want to consider becoming a psychologist if you are interested in working with people and have a 'scientific mind' and enjoy employing scientific methods.

Psychologists work in many areas of society such as business, health, education and sport. They employ scientific methods and knowledge about human behaviour and the human mind to deal with practical problems such as:

• Helping people overcome depression, stress, trauma or phobias
• Easing the effect of parental divorce on children
• Speeding up recovery from brain injury
• Helping to stop or prevent bullying at school or in the workplace
• Ensuring that school pupils and students are being taught in the most effective way
• Making sure that people are happy at work and perform to the best of their abilities
  
• Helping the police, courts and prison service to perform more effectively
• Helping athletes to perform better

Think of just about anything to do with human behaviour and chances are there is a psychologist somewhere researching it.

More about psychology

• Find out more about psychology

What is the quickest route into psychology?

There is no 'quick' route into psychology. To become a Chartered Psychologist you need to obtain something called the Graduate Basis for Registration (usually by taking a course accredited by the Society) and then take an accredited postgraduate training course in the specific area of psychology you are interested in.

There is a lot of competition for postgraduate courses so, as an added complication, most require that applicants have some relevant work experience before applying.

Eligibility for Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR)

If you are a graduate in a subject other than psychology you may be able to gain eligibility for GBR by taking an accredited conversion course, which will normally take one year full-time or two-years part-time.

Some universities offering conversion courses require a minimum of 60 credits of previous psychology study at undergraduate level for entry onto the course. You should contact the universities you are interested in for further information about entry requirements, fees, time scales, funding and course duration.

If you are unable to gain entry to a conversion course, you will need to take an accredited undergraduate degree in psychology to gain eligibility for GBR.

Postgraduate training courses

Psychologists normally specialise in a particular area such as education, health or sport, and the range of accredited postgraduate training programmes available reflects this. Please see Careers in Psychology - Postgraduate for further information.

Is there any age limit for training to become a psychologist?

The British Psychological Society does not set any age limits for members, and it is illegal for employers in the UK to discriminate against someone because of their age. It is worth pointing out that the process of obtaining Chartered Status is very lengthy (up to seven years), so you may wish to consider your options carefully, but this is true for all trainees regardless of age.

Useful link

• Am I too old to become a psychologist? (The Independent)
  

Similar and related professions

There are several other professions which share many similarities to psychology (and which people often confuse with psychology) such as psychiatry, counselling and psychotherapy, which you may also like to consider if you are thinking of a change of career. You can find out more by following the link below:

• Professions related to psychology
  

Frequently asked questions

Please check out our Careers FAQs if you have any queries, including how to contact the Society's Help Desk.

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