Hello everyone! I cannot tell you how BU has improved my career prospects! As I am studying MSc Foundations of Clinical Psychology, my examples will be based on my course, but you can see what BU can offer in terms of placement opportunities.

The first week of our classes, the professor came in to introduce herself, and she made an announcement saying she is looking for two voluntary research assistants to help with her new study. We sent our CVs for her to decide and after a week she emailed that she would love my assistance. I was very happy as I would take part in research from BU, get to know the clinical research field better, and also improve my background and receive a good reference at the end of my academic year.

Additionally, both our professor and the departmental team regularly send emails about potential placements, internships (both voluntary or paid) and guest lecturers come and talk about their work which also gives ideas about the correct path you should take.

A month into my course, I received another email from the departmental team that the Intensive Psychological Therapy service at the NHS was seeking voluntary assistant psychologists to be part of their team until the end of this academic year and I also applied to that one, just casually sent my CV! I had been shortlisted for an interview, and at the end of the day, I received a phone call saying I have been successful. If you think it would be hard to manage all the workload, don’t! One is a half day, and the other is one day a week. If you really want to make a difference, BU is there to support you.

If you really want to take part in any of these opportunities and you just don’t know how to, the academic staff are really approachable. It is okay to be shy, just email them, book an available slot from their Doodle page and ask about advice related to your field, and that’s it!

If you think you’re unsure whether you would like to start working in a job relevant to your field, go have a chat with Careers Advice. Make sure you have your CV with you and note down your questions. There are many Career Weeks throughout the year, so you always have the opportunity to go and talk about your ideas and career prospect.

Considering I am a person who values her sleep, nutrition and self-care time a lot, and if I can manage three jobs and a Master’s degree, then you can too!