APA's website offers an amazing array of resources and opportunities for students and psychologists alike. As graduate students, you are eligible for many of these resources now, or will be once you graduate and upgrade to full membership. Many questions that you might have can be answered on our website.
Here's a sampling of the key resources geared toward graduate students:
Looking for a new job? The Center for Workforce Studies (CWS) has reams of data that could help you be an informed applicant. The 2009 Doctoral Employment Survey (PDF, 20KB) has starting salaries for many different types of positions. Did you know that the highest median starting salary in 2009 was for direct human service work in the criminal justice system, with a median of $80,500? PsycCareers has hundreds of job opportunities, and you can set up alerts for jobs based on your interests and geography.
Applying for a tenure-track job? The CWS 2013-2014 Faculty Salaries in Graduate Departments of Psychology can provide you with great information on salaries of faculty members by years of service and level. Learn about the hiring process and ways to negotiate a better starting package with tips from Surviving and Thriving in Academia, published by the Committee on Women in Psychology and the Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training in Psychology. The Science Directorate advertises academic career workshops that are held regularly at regional psychological associations to discuss the nuts and bolts of applying for tenure-track jobs.
Do you have a disability? The Disability Issues Office has several key resources for you. They host a mentoring program that can match you with a psychologist mentor. They also offer a resource guide for psychology graduate students with disabilities.
Need a grant for your research project? You can search for grants and awards on the APA website here. Did you know that there are over 180 grants and awards for graduate students in our database? The APA Dissertation Research Award is a great way to fund your dissertation; over 40 projects a year are funded through this program. Any research being conducted by APAGS members is eligible for funding through the Basic Psychological Science Research Grant.
Want to advocate on a topic? Get tools for advocating on legislative issues. Personally, I like the Psychologist's Guide to Federal Advocacy, a useful overview (and a great refresher from high school government class).
Want to publish? Learn about the peer-review process from this guide just for graduate students. gradPSYCH magazine has articles that describe the skills necessary to get published. Did you know that you could become a reviewer for the APAGS journal Translational Issues in Psychological Science® ? That's a new member benefit as of 2015.
Looking to improve your teaching skills? You might be interested in the Psychology Teacher Network, a newsletter published by the Education Directorate with tips on improving your teaching. Also check out the Online Psychology Laboratory, a collaboration of APA, the National Science Foundation and the National Science Digital Library that provides educators (including teaching assistants or instructors) with interactive exercises, such as the Stroop Test.
Need a handout for a client? The Psychology Help Center has resources on topics as varied as talking to teens about stress, coping with exposure to terrorism or tips on making a smooth divorce. Did you know that you can find these resources translated into Spanish? If you're trying to learn Spanish, this is a great way to practice reading and pronouncing psychology words.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Search on the APA website for your areas of interest, and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised by the great resources we provide.