Jared Wildberger, Research Assistant at a Drug Treatment Center
Alma mater: Hood College
Wondering whether to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology? Meet 13 graduates who landed great jobs thanks to their psychology degrees.
What brought you to psychology?
At first, it was because I wanted to be in a helping profession, but ultimately because I find human behavior, emotions, and cognition very fascinating.
What did you enjoy most about getting your degree?
Hood College was a good school for the most part. The best part about it is that there were smaller class sizes which allowed for more attention. This also allowed for a more personal relationship with one’s advisors. My History of Psychology class stood out the most, as that gave me an understanding of the field. Dr. Farreras is an exceptional teacher in this regard. Anyone who wants to understand human behavior, or go into a helping profession, should have a good historical understanding of the discipline. Also, it is extremely beneficial to understand how the social sciences grew to popularity and how abnormal behavior has been defined over time.
I minored in German, but that was mostly for fun. It allowed me to study abroad, where I took an I/O psychology class and was involved in a psychometric research lab.
Tell me about what you did during your time in school to start preparing for your career?
I did frequent my college’s career center, and they helped me find internships and part-time jobs. If anything, they helped me understand that I did not want to go into a helping profession after a few failed attempts. But now that I am in more academic work, taking time to learn how to conduct good research (and learning statistical analysis/data management) has been more fruitful to starting my career.
What are you doing now? Talk a little bit about the process of getting your job.
I am a research assistant at a drug treatment center. After graduation, I had a good amount of research experience (lab experience, publications/poster presentations, phone researcher experience), so I was getting a good number of interviews for research assistant positions. However, I also had been accepted into my current master’s program. This ultimately landed me my current job; my advisor was contacted by my boss inquiring about student employees. However, there were many other jobs I did not get because the employer wouldn’t allow me to take off to attend classes. That was certainly a confounding factor.
As for the process itself, I just kept applying day in and day out for any entry-level research position. I had been working at a large research firm as a telephone interviewer, so that looked good on my resume. Casting a wide net is probably the best thing I did. For example, I applied to (and eventually landed) a job at an ophthalmologist’s office which taught me a lot about the research process. It’s nice to think of getting your dream job right out of undergrad, but that doesn’t always happen. There’s no shame in working in data entry for a few months to build up your experience.
How do you feel your degree in psychology has helped you with your job?
I use knowledge learned from my psychopharmacology class every day at my current job since I am dealing with substance users. And without a doubt, the research methods and statistics I learned are used. A psychology degree comes into play to anyone who is working in some therapeutic environment or who works with a special population (children, prisoners, military, etc.) because it allows you to understand better the problems they face and how to better interact with them.