Introduction:
Hello and welcome to the psychology opportunities blog series.
My name is Mark Letheby and I am the First Year Representative and Educations and Careers Officer for the Flinders Psychology Students’ Association (FPSA).
In this blog series I’ll be listing weekly psychology opportunities (predominately obtained using the Flinders Career Hub search engine). This will be an effort to make the process of experience hunting as easy and straightforward as possible for everyone.
My hopes are that this will help you keep up to date with new opportunities as they come to exist, and limit or remove altogether the need to search for such opportunities yourselves! I will try my best to ensure the listings are relevant/suitable and organise them as efficiently as I can.
Currently, I have the listings categorised as:
- Undergraduate positions (final year recruiting)
- Undergraduate programs (final year recruiting)
- Paid positions (all years)
- Volunteer positions (all years)
Thus, this blog series should be helpful for students of all study levels and help you fine-tune positions relevant to you with ease.
Most weeks, or at least when I have the time I will also try my best to include some additional information that may be relevant or handy for psych students. Such as the type of opportunities you should be looking for, specifically for Masters (see first blog). Completely up to you if you would like to read these or not, I won’t hold you to it, even if I could 🙂
I am more than happy to hear ideas and suggestions about this, such as, how to improve the series or refine my listings.
I have also set up an email sign up form to which I will send weekly notifications, to let you know when a new blog has been uploaded.
For anyone wondering (given the title) and for those who have already signed up and received the first 4 mailouts, this post signals the transition from email to blogs hosted here on the FPSA website. I believe this medium will allow for greater reach and for an archive of information to be created on the site.
Below are the first three mailouts which have already been sent, some listings may now be closed but there is still some pretty handy information contained within them, especially the first which discusses which sort of opportunities to look for, with special consideration of Masters.
Note that future blogs will be posted to a new blog page 🙂
Blog/Mail Out 1
Hey everyone!
I hope you have had a great week so far!
Thanks for signing up to the psychology opportunities mailing list, I’m glad to know that people were interested in this.
Anyways, since it’s the first email, I’ll start with some general information regarding the importance of undertaking these opportunities. Assuming that many of you are looking to complete your masters, it will be highly relevant regardless of your year of study. Even if you’re not planning on masters many of the points still stand.
When applying for entry into masters and ultimately any other future pathways from psychology, your grades are just part of the picture (albeit still very important). Your capacity to undertake extracurricular activities relating to your field of study is also of great importance.
Experiences which grant clinical skills are paramount for students looking to apply for the Master of Clinical Psychology program. Example clinical positions include crises call centres, drug and alcohol abuse centres and working with disturbed children/adolescents. Positions that would not be considered clinical experience are those such as teaching and mentoring positions. Although these would also be highly valuable positions, seeking clinical roles would also be highly recommended.
Second, to this, Volunteering positions of all forms are also favourable experiences for students to have as it shows they are willing to give their time to help others (in essence, the core value of clinical psychologists). However, it is important to consider that this does not negate the need for clinical skills (more specifically for master’s programs).
Below I have listed some opportunities of both forms in Adelaide that I know – these are not necessarily available or recruiting now, just something to consider or use to tailor your opportunity hunting.
Example clinical positions in Adelaide
Lifeline Australia: https://www.lifelineadelaide.org/volunteer/
Uniting Communities Australia: https://www.unitingcommunities.org/join-the-team/volunteering
Headspace: https://headspace.org.au/about-us/work-for-us/
Relevant non-clinical positions in Adelaide
Flinders Inspire Mentor Program: https://students.flinders.edu.au/uni-life/inspire-mentor-program
Beyond Blue: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-involved/volunteer-with-us
Sammy D Foundation: https://www.sammydfoundation.org.au/support/volunteer
Flinders Psychology Students Association: https://www.flinderspsychologystudents.com/
Notably:
Lifeline Australia has been very popular among psychology and social work students for access to clinical skills.
I have heard good things regarding the Sammy D Foundation (from some of our FPSA members who volunteer there). They are currently looking for more mentors.
Of course, I can’t go by without giving FPSA a plug. Given its on-campus presence, it is a great way to help your fellow students and make connections with campus faculty.
That concludes my spiel, now for some currently available positions. Most of these will be listings from the Flinders Career hub which by no means would be hard to find yourself. I am just trying to make the process less tedious for you. If you wish to have a look yourself, see here: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/Searchtext=psychology&typeofwork=-1&location=
I’ll try to categorize these as best I can, you can assume all positions are in the Adelaide area.
Undergraduate positions (final year recruiting)
Lizard Behaviour Therapist – Windsor Gardens (North-East Adelaide) – AAA Nextt Group Pty Ltd (Nextt) – Lizard Centre Closes – 26 May 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1483390/lizard-behaviour-therapist-win
Undergraduate programs (final year recruiting)
Child & Youth Worker – Residential Care – Pool – MARCH 2021 INTAKE – Department for Child Protection – South Australia Closes – 13 Oct 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1319139/child-and-youth-worker-residen
Paid positions (all years)
Behaviour Therapist – ABA for Change Closes – 31 Dec 2021 (continuous recruitment intakes): https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1392563/behaviour-therapist
Disability Support Workers – Hessel Group Closes – 31 Jul 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1482023/disability-support-workers
Mentors, Community Services AnglicareSA – Closes – 26 May 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1483411/mentors-community-services
Volunteer positions (all years)
Check out those listed previously for ideas, will hopefully have more next week!
Small disclaimer: ensure you research any potential opportunities before applying to ensure their practices are sound. I will touch on this in more detail in the next mail out.
That concludes the first psychology opportunities listing.
Until next time
Blog/Mail Out 2
Hey everyone
I hope your weekend was swell, welcome to the second mailing list send out.
In the previous email, I said that I would touch on ways of identifying suitable places of work and volunteering.
One of our members at FPSA has kindly provided a list of things to look out for (red flags) based on their own experience. The list mainly pertains to support work and behavioural therapy type positions but like most things, the general principles can be applied to all places of work.
– the company is small and/or fairly new (it is better to go with big companies that revolve around mental health, e.g., Sonder, Headspace, Uniting Communities, Autism SA, Anglicare and so forth).
– too short of an induction (for example, a 20-minute induction for a support work position, without covering points such as lifting and handling, what person-centred care is etc).
– too short of a contract, contracts should be very in-depth (for example, a 3-page contract is unlikely long enough).
– not explaining or providing material about the ethics of your job/volunteering (this is a really important one).
– no training and shadowing/supervision or reluctance to provide you with training and supervision (even though you are required to do the usual things like child-safe environments training etc outside of work, the place of work should give you initially on the job training and shadowing).
– empty promises (for example, in a support work interview the boss promises to shadow, but then does not keep that promise).
– not showing you how to write proper case notes. You need to know how to write proper case notes to cover yourself (the way you write case notes might be slightly different depending on what work you do, but places of work should walk you through SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan).
– not explaining exactly what your role involves and what the limits are in your role (if they are not explicit, they could potentially ask you to do more things than what your role actually involves. They should tell you the limits of your role to remain in your scope of practice. For example, telling you that you are only able to do micro-counselling if you are not extensively trained in therapies such as CBT, DBT etc).
– not enough communication between your team of co-workers (this is a big one – for a job like support work where you have multiple co-workers looking after the same client as you, you need effective communication to ensure you are providing continuity of care to the client. If you can’t access notes made by other co-workers, your boss or supervisor should be organising regular consultations for the whole team providing support to a client).
– places of work/supervisors assuming that a 3-year psychology degree means you know what you are doing.
– the company takes advantage of casual workers (for example, 1-hour shifts spread over the weekdays).
Many of the points listed here would require clarification during the interview, but hopefully, they will provide you with some things to consider moving forward. Of course, do your own research and understand that practices will vary depending on the workplace.
And now for the opportunities listing. I will mark closing dates of under a week with red text from now on.
Undergraduate positions (final year recruiting)
N/A this week
Undergraduate programs (final year recruiting)
MDBA 2022 Graduate Development Program – Murray Darling Basin Authority Closes – 1 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1482033/mdba-2022-graduate-development
Capgemini Graduate Program 2021 – Capgemini Australia Pty Ltd Closes – 15 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1480721/capgemini-graduate-program-202
Graduate People & Culture Coordinator – Statewide Super Closes – 31 May 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1484354/graduate-people-and-culture-co
Paid positions (all years)
Living Skills Teacher – Skill Teaching and Resources Inc. (STAR Inc.) Closes – 30 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1474478/living-skills-teacher
Casual Administration Support Officer – PsychMed Closes – 28 May 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1480980/casual-administration-support-
Disability Support Worker – Blossom Support Services Closes – 11 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1483671/disability-support-worker
Health Translation SA: Peer mentors – Health Translation SA Closes – 28 May 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1484599/health-translation-sa-peer-men
Support Worker – Old Reynella – Community Living Project (CLP) Closes – 30 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1484346/support-worker-old-reynella
Disability Support Worker – Australian Carers Closes – 31 Dec 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1477492/disability-support-worker
Volunteer positions (all years)
Camp Mentor – Puddle Jumpers Incorporated Closes – 10 Aug 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1447742/camp-mentor
Volunteer and go on a Holiday – Holiday Explorers Inc Closes – 31 Dec 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1192089/volunteer-and-go-on-holiday
As always, if you have any queries or feedback please feel free to shoot me an email.
Have a great week everyone!
Blog/Mail Out 3
Hi everyone
Welcome back to the third instalment of the psychology opportunities mailing.
In the near future, I am hoping to move the content of these emails to blog format (hosted on the FPSA website). This will hopefully allow the content to become more inclusive and create an archive of information that can be more readily accessed, we’ll see how it goes.
Anyways, for this week I thought it would be a good idea to quickly discuss some of the other handy careers and employability services offered here at Flinders – feel free to skip this and see the opportunities listed below, I won’t hold you to it, even if I could.
I’m sure most of you would have heard of Flinders Career Hub. It is a central place to find employment opportunities, career events and resources. Employment (and volunteering) opportunities can be found using their extensive search engine and it is here that the horizon award events are listed for browsing and sign up. Notably for first-year students, through Career Hub you will be able to find critical resources for job applications such as how to write a resume, cover letter and how to prepare for an interview. As I have stated before, this is how I find the bulk of the opportunities I list here. See more at https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/
Second to this is the Flinders Horizon Award. The Flinders Horizon Award program is an extra-curricular university program allowing the opportunity to improve your professional skills and gain new experiences and insights that will benefit you now and in your future career. I have attended a number of these events, they are very informative and would recommend them if you have the time and desire to learn more. It is great knowledge to have under your belt and looks great on a resume, especially for positions that have ties to the university. See more at https://students.flinders.edu.au/support/careers/horizon
Now for the listings, not as many this week as I did a good scouring last week.
Undergraduate positions (final year recruiting)
Domestic & Family Violence Counsellors – Woman’s Safety Services SA Closes – 1 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1487198/domestic-and-family-violence-c
Undergraduate programs (final year recruiting)
N/A
Paid positions (all years)
Positive Behaviour Support, Reynella – The Growing Space Closes – 8 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1486200/positive-behaviour-support-rey
Disability Support Worker – United Abilities Closes – 31 Jul 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1487428/disability-support-worker
Volunteer positions (all years)
School Compassion Program Volunteer – Treasure Boxes Closes – 11 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1486148/school-compassion-program-volu
Volunteer – Riding For the Disabled Association SA Incorporated – No close date: http://www.rdasa.org.au/become-involved/become-a-volunteer
As always, if you have any queries or feedback please feel free to shoot me an email.
Best of luck!
Blog/Mail Out 4
Hi everyone
I hope you’re staying on top of things during these busy times! Cannot believe we are in June and that exams are just around the corner! We’ll be on break before we know it!
From this point forward, the psychology opportunities mailouts will be moved to blog format on the Flinders Psychology Students’ Association website.
Each week I will send out a notification to this mailing list when a new blog post becomes available and include its link.
For this week, it’s just a short one (just the opportunities listing) as I have been busy setting this blog up. I’m sure you guys are flat out as well!
Undergraduate positions (final year recruiting)
Client Services Officer – Central – Relationships Australia SA (RASA) / Australian Institute of Social Relations RTO (AISR) Closes – 14 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1488349/client-services-officer-centra
Social Links Community Connector – ACH Group – Health and Community Services Closes – 13 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1488344/social-links-community-connect
Senior Practitioner – Centacare Catholic Family Services Closes – 18 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1488333/senior-practitioner
Undergraduate programs (final year recruiting)
N/A
Paid positions (all years)
Home Care Assistant – Alwyndor Aged Care Closes – 16 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1488330/home-care-assistant
Intake/Mental Health Triage Officer – Developing Minds Psychology No close date Specified: https://www.seek.com.au/job/52374098?type=standard#searchRequestToken=c9791433-724c-44fb-b68c-029f685b82a3
Volunteer positions (all years)
Community Connector – Neighbourhood Connect Inc Closes – 25 Jun 2021: https://careerhub.flinders.edu.au/students/jobs/detail/1487661/community-connector
As always, best of luck!