1. What can Occupational Psychology teach you about careers: evidence and experiences
Dr Vicki Elsey
Chartered Occupational Psychologist, Associate Fellow BPS
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Principal Lecturer

2. My Journey

4. I thought my career would be…

5. My early Career 2000 2001 BSc Hons Psychology Factory work Office work
Bar work
2000
MSc Occupational Psychology
MSc Thesis with management consultancy
2001
Recruitment Consultancy (Admin Role)
Management Consultancy

6. My first “proper” job (2001-2006)
4) Chartered Occupational Psychologist
1) Business Support Role
3) Occupational Psychology Consultant
2) Research Consultant Role
Management Consultancy

7. Management consultancy
Research design, advanced data gathering and analytical techniques
Applying psychology to work and organisations
Learning, training and development
Leadership, engagement and motivation
Wellbeing and work
Work design, organizational changeand development
Psychological assessment at work
Five core areas of OP (from BPS accreditation handbook)

8. What did I learn? How a business works
4) Chartered Occupational Psychologist
1) Business Support Role
3) Occupational Psychology Consultant
2) Research Consultant Role
Management Consultancy
What did I learn?
How a business works
Back to basics – literature, theory, research
Applying occupational psychology to the real world
Becoming a professional occupational psychologist (chartered)
Working in a small organisation gave me more opportunities than I would have had in a large organisation
You have to be prepared to make mistakes…they build your confidence (with support)

9. My early Career - reminder
BSc Hons Psychology
Factory work
Office work
Bar work
2000
MSc Occupational Psychology
MSc Thesis with management consultancy
2001
Recruitment Consultancy (Admin Role)
Management Consultancy

10. Things got messy! 2006 2010 2016 2009 2011 2016 2012 2017 Got Married
University Lecturer
MSc Programme Leader
2006
Start Professional Doctorate in Occupational Psychology
2010
Awarded DOccPsych
2016
Got Married
2009
Had a child
2011
Had another child
2016
Things got messy!
Back to work 3 days per week
2012
Back to work 4 days per week
2017

11. Academic Career Practitioner becoming an academic!
Chartered Occupational Psychologist – that is my identity
Working with the next generation of Occupational Psychologists, while also being one myself
DOccPsych: The Career of an Occupational Psychology Graduate: Employment, Identity, Employability ( ) (classed as Early Career Researcher)
Doing what I originally wanted to do 20 years ago – make a difference to the working lives of individuals
Variety, autonomy, development, challenge

12. My current projects Research: Practice: Wellbeing in the Police Force
The Motherhood Penalty
Values based recruitment tool for a hospice
Employee Silence
Practice:
Development of an approach to support leaders in the health service
Assessment centres for Heads of Service
Graduate coaching skills training and coaching
Supervision of Trainee Occupational Psychologists
Volunteering with the BPS

13. I thought my career would be…

14. My actual career…

16. What have I learned so far?
Early career: the role – finding the right one, making the most of it, getting experience
Mid career: now about managing competing priorities, how to maintain a work identity while having a new identity as wife and mother
I love my subject and my profession!
Going back to my initial interests e.g. career, enjoying work
Adapt, adapt, adapt!

17. Career Theory

18. What is career?
“the evolving sequence of a person’s work experiences over time”
(Arthur, Hall and Lawrence, 1989)
Through education, reflection, experience
Work, life, sports, volunteering
Formal and informal
At all levels
What do you want?
What is important to you?
Values and ambitions
Education
Learning
Participation

19. Important Theories Career Construction Theory Happenstance
“The process through which individuals construct themselves, impose direction in their vocational behaviour and make meaning of their careers” (Savickas, 2013, p.147)
Requires adaptability (4Cs) – concern, control, curiosity, confidence
introduction
Happenstance
Indecision is a normal part of career, unplanned events foster learning (Krubmoltz, 1999)
Interactionist approach
Many theories apply in employability – it is a multifaceted construct

20. My research findings
The Career of an Occupational Psychology Graduate: Employment, Employability and Identity (2016)
Job craft or career craft
What employees do to redesign their own jobs in ways that can foster job satisfaction, as well as engagement, resilience and thriving at work (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001)
Craft for your role or professional identity
Self-efficacy
Confidence, has an influence on employability and career success (se also Abele & Spurk, a)
Comes with experience – positive and negative
Profile raising
Sell your profession, joint responsibility, be proud to be a psychologist!
Destination data
You may be asked to participate in surveys from your university and from the professional body to understand what you have done post graduation – participation helps us to understand the employment market

21. Your Journey

22. Why career matters…

23. Waiting for the weekend
The reality of ‘work’… 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Being a child
Work
Retirement
Having fun
Waiting for the weekend
“getting through it”
Watching the clock

24. What’s your career journey?
Values and ambitions
Education
Learning
Participation
Past Present Future

25. Journeys of people I have worked with

26. Some Tips/thoughts BE AUTHENTIC!
Make the most of opportunities – future success is about more than understanding theories at university! Experience grows confidence (self-efficacy)
Be prepared to adapt – what you want now might not match where you end up – openness and adaptability matter to employability…job craft
Develop an understanding of YOU – what do you enjoy, what makes you happy, how can you measure success…YOUR measure
Be interested – attend careers talks, network, learn about jobs and careers
BE AUTHENTIC!

27. Thank you vicki.elsey@Northumbria.ac.uk
Any questions?