Hello there! I obtained a First in my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 2005 and a 2:1 in my Master of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies in 2006. I have been doing administrative work (first, as Asst Coordinator of Marketing, subsequently, as a legal secretary and personal assistant) since the completion of my Masters and cannot even secure an interview in my field. I have applied for well over 100 jobs in the last year, from research positions to various jobs in the NHS but to no avail. The only positions I seem to be considered for are basic administrative positons. I am longing to begin my career in the social sciences field and would like to pursue research in the psychology field in particular. Does anyone have any pointers or advice with regard to my situation? Thanks!

Hello, that does sound tough but unfortunately there are lots of graduates even with Masters so the competition is pretty intense! Especially in a field like pyschology! Have you thought about trying to get some work experience to make you stand out and look very dedicated? I realise that not everybody can afford to do this but it's one way to get your foot in the door! And it's good for getting contacts which are very important to getting a job! I'm afraid I can only offer general advice, hang in there and something should turn up!

Could be because you have a BA and MA, most psychology is BSc MSc, so maybe they feel that you don't have the scientific background. You need to be tartgeting specific jobs as well, not just general psychology RA positions - you need to look at gender for example and go from there.

I'm afraid it's a sign of the times! Given that you have a first class degree, you could always look towards a funded MPhil, and then move into a research role.

Hi! I did BSc Psych, MSc Clinical Psych, and am now studying for a research PhD in Clinical Psychology. I guess it depends on what kind of posts you are applying for. Your MA is quite specific, and many research jobs/PhDs require a Masters degree that has a large research component....if your MA was not research based then this might be contributing to your difficulties. If you want to pursue research in Psychology then I think your best bet would be to either try to find relevant find Research Assistant work or to do a research-based MSc and then think about applying for a PhD- this seems to be the typical route into psychological research from what I know of the other PhD students on my department. Good luck!

I am currently in a post doc research position at a university where I see lots of applications from psychology graduates looking for RA jobs, PhD applications etc. A lot have 2:1s and firsts and others have a wide range of research experiences. Many have publications already (like their undergrad project). Unfortunately for you admin work doesn't stack up well in comparison to someone who has more relevant experience.

The posters below are right in that it is incredibly competitive and we get a huge number of applications for advertised jobs. Most we can't really tell apart. We use a lot of word of mouth, and a lot of people that do join the team usually have recommendations from people we already know.

I know we aren't the only ones to act like this, so it may explain your lack of success so far.