How to survive in the working world of psychologists

Due in part to the awareness of the importance of mental health and emotional well-being in all its facets, in Currently, psychology is one of the professions that is diversifying most rapidly and creating new areas of worked. Not only in the clinical context, but also in the world of Human Resources, in sports, in education, in supporting personal development processes, and even in communication and marketing.

However, this does not mean far from it that any psychologist will have it very easy to prosper professionally once the university degree is finished; One thing is global and social trends, and another is the experience of each individual person. If we do not know how to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the labor market, it is useless to have a university graduate or a bachelor's degree.

Therefore, in this article we will review the keys to survive in the working world of psychologists, based on the idea that our professional profile is a project to which we must maintain a proactive attitude and that opportunities do not come if we do not look for them.

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Tips to survive in the working world of psychologists

These are the guidelines and strategies to follow to achieve your goals when facing the world of work in the field of psychology.

1. Continuous training is a must, not an option

Continuing education is essential for any behavioral science professional; We must not forget that although it is very positive that many interesting investigations are published every year, this means that it is very easy to get out of date if we do not update ourselves.

In addition, as we learn more about the human mind and the different areas of life, we are able to develop more specific and concrete intervention techniques and strategies, adapted to each situation.

Continuing training after finishing the degree and carrying out any type of specialization will help us not only to better understand the labor reality of psychologists, it is also essential to ensure that our clients and/or patients find quality services in our consultation that are adapted to their needs. needs, instead of being based on general and too abstract principles.

There are many ways to specialize once we have graduated from university, and there are many training options that We have within our reach: from specialization masters, training courses of all kinds, workshops, congresses, conferences, etc. In addition, currently training can be a very flexible process and easy to combine with work, thanks to the online training proposals offered by organizations such as the Mediterranean School of Psychology.

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2. Maintain contact with other professionals

Psychology is a discipline that almost always involves collaboration between various professionals from the same sector or well from other areas, all with the aim of serving any client with whom we are in the best possible way working. This happens both by having relatively informal conversations with other psychologists and on a frequent basis, as well as for being able to use supervision services for psychologists when the case we are working on require.

Keep in touch with other professionals in our same sector or specialization It is one of the main keys that psychologists have to continue learning spontaneously, practically without intending to. This is not limited to us coming into contact with techniques that can be very useful in our daily practice; it also implies that interesting business ideas and collaborations may even arise. Do not forget that social capital is a very important resource to achieve professional goals.

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3. Create a brand image

The creation of a personal brand image, a process known as "personal branding", is of great importance if we want to become relevant professionals facing the public and also if we want to make it as easy as possible for our potential clients to contact us. It will even help us to have a stronger position when negotiating with companies (since we will not depend so much on being given a job).

Today there are many professionals who can help us create our brand image, as well as position ourselves effectively on the Internet, one of the tasks to which we must devote more attention if we want to reach the greatest number of people possible.

In the field of psychology, as in any other profession, it is essential to have a good positioning on the Internet and not relying exclusively on word of mouth to attract customers to our query. And for this, once again, it is essential to train ourselves in communicative aspects that go beyond techniques to deal with the problems of third parties.

• You may be interested: "8 keys of Psychology applied to Marketing and Advertising"

4. Self-knowledge to learn what really motivates us

Any psychologist who wants to achieve success in his profession should specialize and train in the areas that you really like or call your attention, that is, in those areas of intervention that constitute your true vocation. Not only because this has clear implications for our level of well-being and ease of being happy; In addition, it represents a competitive advantage. We learn in a much more efficient way from those topics that we like, that connect with our way of being.

At present and thanks to online training there is a wide range of options to specialize from home, so that the offer of courses, postgraduate courses and Master's degrees is no longer limited to what is close to where we live.

This means that we should not be satisfied only with what the universities and schools of psychology in our area offer us, but we must carry out an exhaustive search for any type of training offered in the online modality that adjusts to our wishes and needs.

• Related article: "Self-knowledge: definition and 8 tips to improve it"

5. Learn about what is related to our main occupation

To survive in the job market of psychology, it is always recommended to offer those services related to that area in which we have specialized, that is why it is very useful to train specifically in subjects that are not very disconnected from the main type of services that already we offer.

This means, for example, that generally if a psychologist has specialized in child therapy, it is better for him to dedicate his “extra” efforts to develop courses and workshops for groups of fathers and mothers of young children, which to offer group therapy for people with addictions. The labor market privileges who have a clear and easy to understand professional profile quickly.

6. develop social skills

Although social and communication skills are essential in any workplace, in the profession As a psychologist, these elements are even more essential to carry out our work successfully. After all, the human touch that we apply to our work will make a difference, and we must be able to communicate it and translate it through fluid social interactions that make people feel comfortable with us.

There are many social skills that we have to relate to the people who are in our environment or with our clients, and among the most important we can highlight active listening, the ability to give support without prejudging, and the ability to synthesize to know how to "read between the lines" before what we are told.

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7. Self-confidence

Although in the first stages of work things do not go as well as we would like, due to the low flow of clients that we have at the beginning of our professional career, it is of vital importance that we continue to believe in ourselves, in our possibilities and that we do not lose heart at any time. And that It goes hand in hand with accepting our limitations and testing ourselves through constant learning..

Hard and constant work, like in any other profession, will sooner or later bear fruit if we are able to see in our imperfections opportunities to learn.

In conclusion...

Hard and constant work, like in any other profession, will sooner or later bear fruit if we are able to see in our imperfections opportunities to learn. If you are currently interested in improving your professional career in order to have greater job opportunities, we recommend that you continue your training.

The Mediterranean School of Psychology has Masters, Postgraduate and Advanced Courses that will allow you to specialize in the areas that you like the most from psychology such as Neuropsychology, Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology, or Human Resources.