Conducting a Job Search

Assignment 2: Conducting a Job Search

An undergraduate psychology degree provides you with some flexibility when selecting a career. The knowledge of how people think, develop, and behave, as well as the interpersonal skills gained from a BA in psychology may lead to work in the field, but also prepares you well for careers in the fields of public service, marketing, or management, among others. Because most professional careers in psychology require further education, those who do not wish to pursue graduate degrees may need to broaden the scope of careers they are willing to consider.

In M1 Assignment 2, you explored your career interests and identified three careers that seemed best suited for you. In this assignment, you will conduct a mock job search and report your findings using the "Job Search Data Bank" form.

Mock Job Search

Select one of the three careers you identified and discussed in M1 Assignment 2 and conduct a job search for actual openings in your area. If you are willing to eventually relocate, you may choose openings elsewhere as well. You may choose to use at least one source or all of the following sources to find available positions in your chosen career of interest:

• Local newspaper ads (online or printed editions)
• Networking websites such as LinkedIn
• Networking with colleagues, peers, or other contacts
• Your state employment office
• Listings on professional organizations' websites

Refer to the "Job Resources" document to find additional online sources relating to online job searches.

Job Search Data Bank

Click here to download and review a copy of the "Job Search Data Bank" template. Provide the results of the mock job search you completed for this assignment by filling out the table in the template.

• Begin by summarizing your career interests. Briefly describe what you concluded from Module 1 about the types of positions best suited to your career interests. For example, if you are most interested in a career as a psychologist, would you prefer to pursue a position in a clinic, a private practice, or a nonprofit organization? Would you prefer to specialize in working with children? Do you hope to have a research or teaching position instead?
• List at least four positions you found during your job search. These four positions should match the interests you identified in Module 1.
  • Describe each position fully, providing as much of the available information as possible from the ads. Copy the ads and paste them into the table.
• For each identified job opening, indicate the likelihood of your being eligible for the position upon graduating from college with a bachelor's degree.
  • If you would be ineligible, specify what additional training or education you would require to qualify for the position.
  • Indicate whether you are willing to pursue that additional training or education.
  • Describe the amount of time, the cost, and other resources you think you would need to invest to become qualified.
• Put the information in your own words. Place quotation marks around the portions you have quoted from the ads. Cite your sources using APA style in-text citations and a reference list in APA style below your table in the "Job Search Data Bank" template provided.