Your Undergraduate Degree in Psychology

From College to Career

Paul I. Hettich, R. Eric Landrum

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781483320656
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

In Your Undergraduate Degree in Psychology: From College to Career, authors and professors Paul I. Hettich and R. Eric Landrum provide innovative strategies and tools for succeeding after college with an undergraduate degree in psychology. Drawing on current research data, applied theory, and both academic and workplace experiences, they help stimulate self-reflection and improve decision making as students approach their careers. The text covers key topics in the college-to-career transition, including career planning and development, identifying and transferring marketable skills, building and sustaining strong networks, understanding what employers want and don't want, coping with personal life changes, becoming a valued employee, and more.

Part I Get Ready for your Transition to the Workplace

Chapter 1 Meet the New Workplace Realities (and Your Paperback Mentors)

Reality Check: Becoming a Freshman in the 21st Century Workplace

We believe that life is about transitions. We are in a constant state of change, and perhaps change is the only constant; we start over and reinvent ourselves all the time. Think about your transition from elementary school to middle school—it was a chance to start over. Or the transition from middle school to high school— you started over as a freshman. And then the transition from high school to college—you were a freshman (again). Starting over and starting fresh are not just recurring themes in the educational world but also in our personal lives, whether it be with friends, intimate relationships, and so on. Since there will be so many times in your life when you will become a freshman again, your abilities to adapt and be flexible are key for your future success.

You may not wish to admit that entering the “real world” after college is becoming a freshman again, but that is the case. You will begin again in a new organization at a low, perhaps the lowest, level of the hierarchy and in an organizational culture vastly different from college. You will be assigned new and different tasks and must master new skills. You will work with persons as coworkers (not classmates) and supervisors (not teachers), many of whom are older than you. You may have to move to a new location and establish new friendships. Life will be very different, because the transition from college to workplace represents a demarcation—a break—far more drastic than your transition from high school to college. If you read this book carefully and take our advice seriously, you will know what you need to do to maximize your chances for success during your freshman year in the 21st century workplace.

What Does the 21st Century Workplace Look Like?

Your workplace in the 21st century may not resemble the typical scenario experienced in the latter half of the 20th century. Cappelli (2009) reminded us that before the 1980s, applicants were often hired based on their potential. Entry-level positions were just that—entry level—and employers expected to provide additional detailed training, sometimes following an apprenticeship model when it took years beyond the bachelor's degree to acquire the requisite skills and knowledge to be truly successful in the specialized workplace. However, there is less employer-based education and preparation today (Cappelli, 2009), and according to some employer surveys, fewer than half the employers surveyed provide any training at all.

So your future workplace may not even resemble the workplaces of your parents and grandparents, which is just another reason why students need mentoring to transition successfully from college to career. For some, that transition may include a stop-off in graduate school, but the master's or doctoral student in psychology typically also wants a career. Let this book serve as one of your mentors— specifically, your “paperback mentor” (more on this concept later).

So what does the future hold? Well, change is inevitable. According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) longitudinal study currently underway (as cited in Bialik, 2010), workers from ages 18 to 42 in this particular study have averaged 10.8 different jobs. In the BLS study, changing jobs was defined as a change in job title, either within the same company or to a different company. If you think about how you might advance in your profession or career, changing jobs would be a good indicator because promotions ideally mean more responsibilities and benefits, and perhaps a new job title. What about changing careers? In the same article, Bialik also reported that no good data support the typical adage that you will have seven different careers in your lifetime.

The fact of the matter is that you probably will have a number of different jobs over the course of your work life, and your college degree is an essential ingredient for a successful future (of course, you'll need to define “successful” for yourself— more on this at the end of Chapter 2). The series of jobs you hold should build your skills, abilities, and credentials, or as Carnevale (2011) put it:

People rarely leave jobs that require a college education because they have the best earnings, benefits and working conditions. There are many more brain surgeons who used to be cashiers than there are cashiers who used to be brain surgeons. A brain surgeon never starts as a brain surgeon, but would have likely had all types of jobs before entering college and medical school. Most jobs people hold in high school are in retail, food services, and other low-skill, low-wage jobs, and future brain surgeons are no exception. (para. 21)

Of course, you will occasionally hear the success story of someone who made it big without a college education. A few outliers will always pop up, but what do the general trends indicate? Carnevale (2011) reported that at the end of 2010, the unemployment rate for new college graduates (all majors, not just psychology majors) was 9.2%, while the unemployment rate for all U.S. workers was 9.8%. Looking at those two numbers together, it might appear that having a college degree is not much of an advantage compared with the general population, until you consider this—the unemployment rate for new high school graduates was 35%.

Unemployment rates are a function of the economy, and during the second decade of the 21st century the economy has been tough on job seekers. According to Newman (2010), our traditional assumptions about the relationship between education and work have been challenged not only by the American economic climate but also by our global economy. First, you cannot assume that a good education automatically leads to a good job and a satisfying lifestyle. College degrees are “a dime a dozen” in the workplace, given that America graduated 1.65 million baccalaureates during 2009–2010 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011); an increasing number of desirable positions now require a graduate degree. Second, you cannot assume that working hard means your income will continue to increase. In some fields, average salaries have remained stagnant and even decline during a recession. Third, you cannot assume that devotion to your career will produce a comfortable retirement. Many jobs, including some that once required a baccalaureate, are being replaced by outsourcing to foreign countries or technology, or are simply eliminated and forced on other employees. Fourth, you cannot assume that each generation will be better off than its predecessor. View the news media and you will learn about our crushing national debt, burgeoning costs of Medicare, and the costly Social Security legacy later generations will inherit. In addition, student loan debt combined with a poor job market causes many graduates to move back home and to postpone marriage, children, and homeownership—traditional benchmarks of success and independence.

The Importance of Finishing what you Start: Do become that Freshman Again

It seems the phrase “finishing what you start” has become a bit of a cliché in our culture, but it is nonetheless important that we encourage this goal. We believe there are direct and indirect benefits for you if you are able to complete your undergraduate training and earn your bachelor's degree (even if it turns out that psychology was not for you and you complete a different major). Even though each college student is different, many do share similarities—and we want you to think about how your accomplishment of degree completion could positively affect others in your life. For example, think about the message your earning a bachelor's degree would send if you are a first-generation college student in your family. Or think about how you might be an inspiration and role model to those in your life who might aspire to achieve what they saw you achieve, such as nieces and nephews, sons and daughters, your “significant other,” and others close to you. When you struggle, learn, work hard, and persevere, you provide a route that people watching may choose to follow. Of course, there are situations where college students need to drop out or stop out for any number of reasons, but if the capability to finish is within your grasp, we encourage you with our strongest voice to finish what you start.

It's only fair to also let you know about the financial advantages you can experience by finishing college. The overall results, presented in Table 1.1, are fascinating.

So what is the value of finishing what you start? Well, over the course of a typical work life of 40 years, a high school degree recipient would net about $1.5 million, an associate's degree recipient would net $1.7 million, and a bachelor's degree (all degrees considered, not just psychology) recipient would net about $2.2 million. Thus, the value of finishing what you start would be between $500,000 and $600,000. If all the intrinsic reasons to finish your undergraduate degree presented previously were not persuasive enough, perhaps this new information might sweeten the deal and add another positive layer of encouragement.

We opened with the theme of transitions and starting over—that is, becoming a freshman again at many points in our personal and professional lives. The importance of successfully navigating transitions from one life stage to another (in this case, from college to career) is the overarching goal of this book, and we want to give you an advantage in entering into and succeeding within the world of work. To be fair (and as you already know), you have competition. For instance, looking at the most recent data, National Center for Education Statistics (2011) reported that there were 97,216 psychology bachelor's degree recipients in the United States. Although precise estimates are difficult to acquire, about 20% to 25% of those graduates will continue their education in a psychology graduate program or enter some postgraduate education program (e.g., medical school, law school). So that gives you some idea of the annual volume of students you will be competing with for the best jobs. Employers will be able to “cherry-pick” the best and brightest students from this large field of possible employees. We want to help you be the cream that rises to the top—we want to be your “paperback mentors.”

Note: that professional degrees include MD (physician), JD (lawyer), DDS (dentist), and DVM (veterinarian).

1. U.S. Census Bureau (2009), Current Population Survey.

2....

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Acknowledgements
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• About the Authors
• About the Contributing Authors
• Part I Get Ready for your Transition to the Workplace
• Chapter 1 Meet the New Workplace Realities (and Your Paperback Mentors)
• Chapter 2 Yes! You can Succeed in Life with a Bachelor's Degree
• Chapter 3 Make the Most of your Opportunities—Now!
• Part II Know Thyself—Better!
• Chapter 3 What is the Secret of Excellent Career Planning?
• Chapter 5 Your Journey through Psychosocial Development Continues Long after Graduation
• Chapter 6 Know the Skills you Need to Succeed (Course Content is No Longer the Focus)
• Chapter 7 Jump-Start your Job Search
• Part III Onboarding to Work
• Chapter 8 Why are Attitudes, Motivation, and Work Centrality Important?
• Chapter 9 Your First Real Job? It's Primarily about Communicating
• Chapter 10 Avoid False Expectations: Onboarding and Your First 90 Days
• Part IV I Graduated and Got a Job: What's Next?
• Chapter 11 Your Personal Life Changes after College
• Chapter 12 From Know Thyself to Manage Thyself
• Chapter 13 Prime Yourself for more Transitions
• Chapter 14 What Lies Ahead?
• Author Index
• Index