An invaluable role

My name is Caitlin, I'm 22 years old, and I'm in the early stages of my career within
psychology. I'm currently an assistant psychologist for a children and adolescent learning disability service. I have been in the role for a year now, and I have to say, I love my job! If you had asked me a few years ago where I would be working in the future, I never would have expected to be where I am now.

My interest in psychology began when studying the subject for the first time during my A-levels, as I was intrigued by the study of human behaviour. I then made the decision to go to university and study psychology. At this point, a career as a clinical psychologist had never occurred to me.

However, I was fortunate to secure a placement within a clinical psychology service where I got to witness the role for the first time, and I decided that this is what I wanted to pursue. If you are on a similar journey to mine, I'm sure you have heard countless times how competitive it can be, and how difficult it is to secure an assistant psychologist post.

Therefore, I committed to gaining as much relevant experience as possible. I had previously worked as a support worker for older adults, and volunteered in a care home. I then went on to secure a summer job as a support worker for children with disabilities and decided to volunteer providing support for disadvantaged children during my final year at university.

I then came across an advert for an assistant post. I was in two minds about whether to apply as I personally did not think I would have sufficient previous experience to be successful, as well as the fact that I had not yet graduated. However, ultimately I decided that I had nothing to lose by applying.

To my surprise, I was thrilled to be offered an interview. Although one step closer, I was still not optimistic for success, and decided to treat it as a learning experience. With this mindset, I was somewhat more relaxed during the interview and was able to just be myself, and to my amazement, I got the job!

The role has been invaluable for me, I have gained so much experience and developed numerous skills. Being able to support families and make a difference to their daily lives is extremely rewarding that it outweighs any challenges that may come with the role. I am now completing an MSc in Family and Child Psychology part-time alongside my work, and I'm looking forward to where my career will take me in future.

My advice as someone in the early stages of a career in psychology would be to put yourself out there and enjoy any experiences you take on, and to have confidence in yourself to apply for the job/opportunity/course, as you never know what incredible outcomes may come out of it.