And what about a nonacademic career in scientific psychology?

Future scientists are interested in nonacademic careers?what can they do to prepare?

By Jamie Chamberlin
Monitor staff

Steven Breckler, PhD, says leaving academe is similar to moving away from home for the first time?you feel a little guilty. But Breckler, who spent 11 years rising through the ranks of the psychology department at the Johns Hopkins University, made the transition from academe to government and discovered a career he loved?science administration.

'You just have to realize that your advisor, like your parents, is not going to have control over your life forever,' he said. 'It?s a difficult transition to make, but it?s a matter of rebelling a bit.'

Breckler, a program manager in the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation, talked to students about the realities of pursuing a job outside of academe at APA?s 1998 Annual Convention in San Francisco. With him on the panel at a session sponsored by APA?s Science Student Council and the Board of Scientific Affairs were psychologists Catherine Gaddy, PhD, and Mary Carol Day, EdD.

Gaddy researches the employment and training of science and technology professionals as executive director of the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST), a participating organization of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Day recently left AT&T Laboratories, where she was the technical manager of a human factors and user-interface design group, to start her own consulting firm. The three scientists discussed with students the skills needed to find nonacademic jobs, available opportunities and the possibility of returning to academe.

Above and beyond

The students? primary concern was whether their psychology skills would be transferable to government and industry. The speakers? answers were reassuring: Not only do psychology doctoral graduates have skills that the government and private sector value, their skills help them stand out from other types of scientists.

'There are skills that psychologists take for granted, like general information-gathering skills and the ability to approach a really ambiguous problem and impose structure on it,' said Day. 'Those are skills that, surprisingly, a lot of people in other disciplines are not trained in.'

Breckler agreed that psychologists have a unique edge on their competition. 'In the social and behavioral sciences, psychologists are the best trained in research methodology and statistics,' he said. But he stressed that psychologists need a solid set of computer skills to get ahead quickly in the government and private sector?one that includes a strong knowledge of the Internet. Gaddy suggested students boost their marketability by learning current software, such as C++, Java, JavaScript, and HTML, before entering the job market.

'I didn?t hire anyone in the last five years who didn?t have computer-programming experience,' agreed Day.

Knocking on doors

To land a job outside academe, you must also be prepared to do some of your own nonacademic career research, warned Gaddy. That?s because many faculty advisors have not worked outside of academe and don?t know the scope of employment opportunities.

She suggested investigating where last year?s graduating class at your university found jobs or conducting in-depth research on the Internet. Her organization has published a survey titled 'Employment of recent doctoral graduates in science and engineering: results of professional society surveys,' which offers statistics on salaries, top job-search methods and major employment sectors for doctoral graduates between July 1996 and June 1997. The survey results are posted at www.nextwave.org/survey.

One way to carve yourself a future job outside of academe is to find a place you want to work and create a summer internship for yourself, said Gaddy. The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society has a placement service on its web site, www.hfes.org, that lists internships and job opportunities, Day said. She suggested contacting people who publish in the area in which you want to work and asking them about opportunities at their organization.

Marketing yourself

Students who want jobs outside of academe should highlight their diverse skills and flexibility, said Day. Nonacademic employers value research variety, breadth of methodological technique and the ability to adapt to different settings quickly, she said. 'You can?t predict what you are going to be working on next year,' said Day. 'So people need to come in with a pretty big tool kit.'

When compiling your resume and curriculum vitae, be aware that different kinds of companies and agencies weigh journals differently, said Breckler. Some companies, such as advertising agencies, weigh publications heavily and others don?t even recognize the titles. 'In those settings it becomes very important to be able to explain your research in plain English,' he said. And because many employers don?t understand psychology?s diversity, it?s particularly important to explain your specific skills rather than relying on your credentials to speak for you, said Day.

'A lot of employers don?t know the difference between experimental and clinical psychology,' she said.

Can you go home again?

Many psychologists who choose the nonacademic career path have found that re-entering academe later on is difficult. Most colleges and universities look for candidates who have honed their skills in a specific area of teaching or research, not those who have earned a wide range of business or computer skills, said Gaddy. 'It?s really difficult to go back,' said Gaddy. 'There are people who have been on that path the whole time who have a lot more tickets punched than you do,' she said.

But there are plenty of opportunities for psychologists outside of academe who excel at teaching and want to do it part time, said Breckler.

'Community colleges and university continuing-education centers treasure and value teachers who have real world knowledge and skills,' he said.

And Day added that engineering schools, business schools, human factors programs and industrial/organizational psychology programs value government and industry experience when hiring faculty.