You've heard that APA's Annual Convention is a great place to expand your network and hear the latest research in your specialty area, but there are many other ways you can invest in yourself professionally at the four-day meeting, to be held this year in Denver, Aug. 4-7.
1. How to publish.
APA offers annual workshops on "How to Publish Your Manuscript" and "How to Review a Manuscript" to teach you how to get your research in print and the ins and outs of peer review. "You can also talk to the journal editors and hear the common mistakes people make and the kind of thing publishers are looking for," says Nadia Hasan, PhD, the 2015 Board of Convention Affairs co-chair. "It's a great way to get inside information." Also consider attending: "Reviewing for a Journal as a Graduate Student: The Whys and Hows."
2. How to fine-tune your elevator pitch.
Convention is a great place to polish a short and snappy summary of your research or your professional goals since networking happens everywhere — you'll meet people at your departure gate in the airport, on the shuttle buses, at breakfast, lunch and dinner, even in line for the bathroom. Prepare for when you'll inevitably encounter your psychology idol or a researcher in your specialty area whom you've admired for years. (Hint: Look in the main poster session in his or her specialty area, at award addresses and at Sunday and early morning sessions with fewer attendees.) "I was always surprised at the opportunities to meet psychology heroes at their smaller sessions or during times when crowds are smaller," says Andrea Letamendi, PhD, of Pasadena, California, who met Philip Zimbardo this way. Consider attending: "Networking with a Purpose: Making a Plan, Building Relationships and Maintaining Connections" in the APAGS Suite, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2-2:50 p.m.
3. How to build a practice.
Attend sessions on such topics as how to get on an insurance panel or how to run a group practice to learn some of the business of practice basics you've been wondering about. "In our grad programs, we are learning all about skills, approaches and evidence-based practices, but sometimes the basics of how you create a business plan can be challenging," when you go out on your own, says Hasan. "Going to a two-hour workshop with presentations by people who have been doing it for 40 years can be really helpful." Consider attending: "Building and Growing a Private Practice: Realistic Tips on How to Help Others While Still Paying the Bills," sponsored by Div. 42 (Psychologists in Independent Practice).
4. You can get involved with a division.
APA has 54 divisions that host programming, social hours and business meetings at convention. Most are eager for students and early
career professionals to join them and offer ample opportunities to volunteer and learn. Tyson Bailey, PsyD, joined Div. 56 (Trauma) early on and then served as its early career chair for two years. Now, he's a member of the division's executive committee and the practice member of APA's Committee on Early Career Psychologists. He marvels that his former idols are his colleagues. "These are the people I read about in graduate school and now I can email them and they respond and know who I am," says Bailey. Consider attending: The social hour for the division that best fits your interests. Find your match.
5. Open yourself to a new subfield.
"My mentor told me when I was an undergrad that he always went to something not in his field," says APAGS Associate Executive Director Nabil El-Ghoroury, PhD, an autism expert who chose a Festschrift on the work of Stanley Milgram the first time he tried this strategy. "It was completely out of my wheelhouse and I heard the best trivia fact — that Phil Zimbardo and Milgram went to the same high school — and it's a great tidbit I tell people all the time."
Depending on your specialty, try a military psychology session, a psychology and the arts talk, or a workshop on a topic you suspect you need extra training in, such as religious diversity or opportunities in integrated care. "Or, go to something you have a tangential interest in because you never know what you might learn," he says. Consider attending: "Syrian Refugee Crisis: Psychologists' Responsibility for Human Rights and Mental Health."