Learn about psychology-related careers and share your discoveries with other psychology students.
The APA Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education (CABE) holds an annual competition for two awards to undergraduate students who produce the best interview videos with someone working in a psychology-related field.
Theme: careers in psychology with an associate or bachelor's degree
Many psychology majors are understandably curious about what kinds of careers they can get with a degree in psychology. While some students will go on to earn a graduate degree in psychology (a master's or a doctorate degree), many will be seeking other training or employment after earning an associate degree (AA or AAS) or a bachelor's degree (BA or BS).
How will you be able to apply the skills learned in your psychology classes to the working world?
What can you do with an associate degree or a bachelor's degree in psychology if you don't go on to graduate school in psychology?
To shed light on these questions, we challenge you to find, interview and film someone who is working in a psychology-related field. Specifically, we want you to locate an appropriate participant, film your interview and create a YouTube video of 5 minutes or less. We will award two prizes of $500 each for the best videos — one created by a community college student and one created by a 4-year college or university undergraduate student. The deadline for submission is typically in early to mid-May.
Locate someone who is working at a job that they found after completing an associate degree or a bachelor's degree in psychology. Your candidate may have gone on to graduate school in another area (for example, law or business), but the undergraduate degree should be in psychology. Avoid interviewing someone with a master's or doctorate degree in psychology — we really want to know about the alternatives to this path.
Your candidate could be working in business, education, health, social services, criminal justice or any other field in which people are applying what they learned while pursuing an undergraduate psychology degree. (Hint: nearly all jobs employ skills and knowledge learned in psychology.) Your psychology instructors may be able to help you locate an appropriate candidate.
Interview Questions
Once you arrange for permission and a time to interview and film your participant, prepare a list of questions that will shed light on how your participant uses his or her psychology skill set. You will want to identify the participant's educational and work history, current position and what kinds of tasks the job requires. You may want to use the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Major in Psychology 2.0opens in new window (PDF, 447KB) to help you think of questions related to skills and knowledge learned in psychology programs, for example critical thinking or effective communication.
Provide an introduction and conclusion to your video, including your assessment of how their studies in psychology prepared your interviewee for his or her current position. Be sure the audience can clearly hear your questions and your interviewee's responses. Please see the scoring rubricopens in new window (PDF, 102KB) to further assist you in producing a winning video. Feel free to be creative.
How to Apply
Your entry should include:
A cover letter describing your interview participant and their employment.
A statement acknowledging your willingness and your participant's willingness to make this video available for other students and the public to see.
Instructions for accessing the YouTube video (e.g., a share link).
Submit your contest entry to:
Martha Boenau
APA Education Directorate
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
